The American Institute of Architects Kansas City
proudly presents the
CENTRAL STATES REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2008.
This conference is a celebration for architects practicing in the five-state region of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Kansas City, Missouri is this year's gracious host. The conference aims to celebrate the recent redevelopment of the Kansas City urban core and surrounding community, to recognize the practitioners and community leaders that have been responsible for the city's progress, and also to discuss, among peers, the relevancy and ultimate importance of the work designers do in and beyond the Central States.
The conference theme, "A Question of Relevancy" will examine the unique nature of practicing architecture in the Midwest with its distinct topography and climate as well as the culture, psyche and traditions of its people. As our collective work touches those inside and outside of our communities and as the global marketplace expands, how will our designer and architect practitioners' unique geographic location impact the built environment?
The following are questions to be explored during the Central States Conference:
/ Are we helping urban, rural and suburban communities within the Central States to understand and sustainably leverage the natural assest unique to the region? Can the place in which we work serve as the foundation to distinguish the way we work?
/ In a region of subtle natural beauty and challenging weather, how can we make the Central States most attractive to young practitioners who have more work and lifestyle choices than ever before? How can we firmly establish that a progressive design culture exists in the Central States that is both distinct and competitive with other reputed cultural centers in the U.S.?
/ What does it mean that the Central States are increasingly awarding design opportunites for their most interesting and well-built work to significant outside architects with international cache?
Though not necessarily wishing to elicit immediate answers to these questions, we hope to provoke awareness that WHERE we work, WHAT we do and HOW we think about the future profoundly impacts the well-being of our world.