Recovery & Rebuilding

//byline Nicki Dennis Stephens, Hon. AIA Greetings from the AIA California Office, Since we originated these by-weekly emails in 2023, we’ve focused on actions AIA California takes to support practitioner and firms bottom line. How are we increasing efficiency, reducing use of time resources, or advocating in ways that streamline work. But this week, for once, indulge me a pivot: what we can accomplish together at times of greatest need. As wildfires raged throughout Southern California in January, the AIA in California banded together to support individuals and communities. Now, as the first days of the disaster seem to fade, it’s important to notice our capabilities, and by doing so, keep our shoulder to the wheel for neighborhoods and neighbors with extreme losses. AIA California connected the local AIA components in Los Angeles, Pasadena & Foothill, San Fernando Valley, and Long Beach/South Bay to create a unified plan for response, recovery and rebuilding to better help the thousands of neighbors and friends impacted by the disaster. The goal of this coordination effort was to develop a plan to help the AIA – at every level – to more efficiently provide meaningful, actionable, and sustainable contributions to start the long process of recovery and rebuilding. The fires in Altadena, the Palisades, Malibu, and beyond, underscore the vital importance of uniting architects to create a more just, equitable, and resilient future. Here is what AIA in California is or has been working on: Advocacy: from outreach to the Governor’s office about release of building plans to connection with the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office about expedited permit review, to support a professional certification initiative, to outreach to FEMA to extend the deadline to file a claim AIA in CALIFORNIA has engaged with elected officials to advocate for policy solutions that positively impact the built environment. Professional Development: AIA Los Angeles has developed a six-part series to help architects and design professionals understand the rapidly changing policy environment, the complex insurance landscape, while also sharing best practices about resilient design strategies, home hardening techniques, and sensitivity to the diverse of needs of each community. Click here for recordings and upcoming sessions. Public Outreach for Property Owners: AIA Pasadena & Foothill launched “Ask an Architect,” connecting individuals who had lost their homes with a team of architects who could provide an overview of a pathway forward, supplying volunteers with information and training. It held a series of events to connect with the public, provide useful and actionable information for homeowners navigating the complex rebuilding process, and launched a landing page – the “Ask an Architect” program was recently featured in the news. To expand the reach of these efforts AIA California then launched – “Here to Help” a FB & IG social media ad campaign featuring short videos of architects providing, real, useful, actionable information for property owners impacted by the disasters (View the Phase 1 of these reels, here.) The campaign was intended to develop connection between community members and architects. Both boosted Instagram Reels and Facebook ads forwarded viewers to AIA P&F’s Ask an Architect page. If you’ve read this far, aren’t involved yet, and are asking what you can do… here are two options in addition to what your local chapter may have: Volunteer to participate in AIA P&F’s Ask an Architect program; sign up here. Or, if you are interested in increasing your capacity to serve clients through resilient design, the following article has seven things you can do right now to design for resiliency—regardless of whether you’re responding to a disaster or designing for the future changing conditions: Resilient Design: Why It’s Important to Architects/ Bringing people together, maximizing resources, gathering industry research to educate the profession, reaching out to the public to demonstrate how we can help, providing tangible tools you can to design for resiliency…are important resources AIA California can and will continue to deliver. Nicki

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