It is said that travel broadens the mind, and beginning in 2017 the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is offering a new global travel program specifically focused on broadening the architectural mind.
Architectural Adventures, as the program has been dubbed, will offer small-group trips tailored for the discovery and appreciation of architecture. Every Architectural Adventures tour will feature subject-matter experts, hand-picked by the AIA, to guide travelers and enliven their awareness of the world’s architecture. The tour guides will offer an up-close view of not just the iconic landmarks and buildings in the various cities, but also an explanation of how the historical, political and cultural events helped shape the cityscapes.
Architectural Adventures provides individuals with the opportunity to participate in special excursions, gain exclusive behind-the-scenes access, and get insider knowledge to popular sights as well as lesser-known, yet equally fascinating architecture.
2017 destinations and highlights are listed below:
- Havana: In March, set forth on a six-day immersion in the Cuban capital that spans from Old Havana and the 16th century stone fort that guards Havana Bay to the city’s early twentieth-century Art Deco wonders and its most prominent contemporary projects.
- Barcelona:  In March, discover Antoni GaudĂ’s Modernist marvels and see the city’s medieval Gothic Quarter.
- Chicago:Â Â In April, explore the varied works of Frank Lloyd Wright and see why Chicago is known as the first city of American architecture.
- Lisbon to London:  In April, cruise Europe’s Atlantic coast, stopping to see its most spectacular sites and structures, like the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain and France’s Mont Saint-Michel.
- Northern Italy:  In May, immerse yourself in the Renaissance world of Andrea Palladio and visit Venice for an exclusive tour of St. Mark’s Basilica.
- Cities of the Baltic Sea: In June, sail from Copenhagen to Gdansk to Tallinn to St. Petersburg to Helsinki to Stockholm, stopping to see the Baltic’s grandest designs.
- Along the Danube:  In June, experience Central Europe’s signature cities, including Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest.
- London:  In July, wander London’s charming back streets and towering triumphs like Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
- Portugal and Northern Spain: Â In October, take an epic 17-day journey from Lisbon to Barcelona by way of the seminal cities of the Spanish Pyrenees.
- China: Â In October, spend two weeks exploring Chinese culture and design in Beijing, Pingyao, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.
Accommodations, most meals, tour transportation, and logistical details of the trip are included in the tours. For more details on booking availabilities and new trip announcements visit architecturaladventures.org.
Related Stories
| Apr 14, 2011
U.S. embassies on a mission to green the world's buildings
The U.S. is putting greater emphasis on greening its worldwide portfolio of embassies. The U.S. State Department-affiliated League of Green Embassies already has 70 U.S. embassies undergoing efforts to reduce their environmental impact, and the organization plans to increase that number to more than 100 by the end of the year.
| Apr 14, 2011
How AEC Professionals Choose Windows and Doors
Window and door systems need to perform. Respondents to our annual window and door survey overwhelmingly reported that performance, weather resistance, durability, and quality were key reasons a particular window or door was specified.
| Apr 14, 2011
USGBC debuts LEED for Healthcare
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) introduces its latest green building rating system, LEED for Healthcare. The rating system guides the design and construction of both new buildings and major renovations of existing buildings, and can be applied to inpatient, outpatient and licensed long-term care facilities, medical offices, assisted living facilities and medical education and research centers.
| Apr 13, 2011
National Roofing Contractors Association revises R-value of polyisocyanurate (ISO) insulation
NRCA has updated their R-value recommendation for polyisocyanurate roof insulation with the publication of the 2011 The NRCA Roofing Manual: Membrane Roof Systems.
| Apr 13, 2011
Professor Edward Glaeser, PhD, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention
Edward Glaeser, PhD, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University and director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, as well as the author of Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Healthier, and Happier, on how cities are mankind’s greatest invention.
| Apr 13, 2011
Southern Illinois park pavilion earns LEED Platinum
Erin’s Pavilion, a welcome and visitors center at the 80-acre Edwin Watts Southwind Park in Springfield, Ill., earned LEED Platinum. The new 16,000-sf facility, a joint project between local firm Walton and Associates Architects and the sustainability consulting firm Vertegy, based in St. Louis, serves as a community center and special needs education center, and is named for Erin Elzea, who struggled with disabilities during her life.
| Apr 13, 2011
Virginia hospital’s prescription for green construction: LEED Gold
Rockingham Memorial Hospital in Harrisonburg, Va., is the commonwealth’s first inpatient healthcare facility to earn LEED Gold. The 630,000-sf facility was designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with commissioning consultant SSRCx, both of Nashville.
| Apr 13, 2011
Office interaction was the critical element to Boston buildout
Margulies Perruzzi Architects, Boston, designed the new 11,460-sf offices for consultant Interaction Associates and its nonprofit sister organization, The Interaction Institute for Social Change, inside an old warehouse near Boston’s Seaport Center.
| Apr 13, 2011
Expanded Museum of the Moving Image provides a treat for the eyes
The expansion and renovation of the Museum of the Moving Image in the Astoria section of Queens, N.Y., involved a complete redesign of its first floor and the construction of a three-story 47,000-sf addition.
| Apr 13, 2011
Duke University parking garage driven to LEED certification
People parking their cars inside the new Research Drive garage at Duke University are making history—they’re utilizing the country’s first freestanding LEED-certified parking structure.
