American Institute of Architects. Santa Clara Valley Chapter

Historical Note

Overview and Origins

The American Institute of Architects Santa Clara Valley Chapter (AIA SCVC) is a non-profit professional association serving over 600 member architects, associates and other industry professionals from over 145 firms. The Chapter, founded in 1950, is an action oriented, responsible organization, and one of the larger and more active chapters in the country, providing professional, social and legislative programs for its membership, many of which are open to the public.

The AIA SCVC website gives the following description of its activities:

"The American Institute of Architects, founded over 150 years ago, is the largest and most influential professional association for architects, interns and those directly involved with the practice of architecture in the world. Based in Washington D.C, the AIA has over 300 state and local chapters representing over 80,000 members."

Among its founders was the eminent Palo Alto architect, Birge Clark. Clark opened his office in Palo Alto in 1922, at which time his was the only architectural office in Palo Alto. (Six architectural offices were in San Jose: Ralph Wycoff, Binder & Curtis, Ed Kress, Higby & Hill, Wolf & Higgins and Charles MacKenzie -- and one in San Mateo.)

The Northern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) was the only chapter in the area at this time. The chapter met monthly at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, attended by 18 to 20 members at most meetings. During the 1930s, Clark spent much of his time as chairman of the Membership Committee calling on architects in San Jose as well as San Francisco to convince them to join the Institute. During the Depression, however, many Peninsula and San Jose architects felt that San Francisco was too far away to attend meetings and that the dues were unreasonably high.

Residential architecture was the backbone of architecture before World War II. By 1942, the bulk of the work became war-related: industrial plants, hospitals and war housing. When the war ended in 1945, building restrictions were lifted, and there was a boom in residential and commercial building.

Clark later wrote that post-war California architects were excitedly working to form a more viable political organization and to make for better circulation of information and discussion of problems in larger groups than was possible with separate Chapters. The California Council of Architects (CCA), with Northern and Southern California chapters, was formed in 1945, with membership open not only to AIA members but to all registered architects certified to practice.

Debate immediately ensued about whether the CCA could be part of the AIA or a parallel non-affiliated organization. The talks quickly spread to the national AIA Convention floor, where New York delegates argued that it would be wrong to allow members of such an organization to be part of the AIA if not all of its members had established AIA credentials. A compromise of sorts was worked out, with the California Council granted three corporate memberships in the AIA, while the AIA in turn recognized that any reputable practicing architect who had been certified should be admitted to CCA membership.

The Central Coast Association of Architects, affiliated with the Northern California Chapter, was created in 1946 when a group of local architects, Gentry, Kensit, Hemple, Nichols, Stedman, Stromquist, Curtis, Jeakle, Jones, Kress, Root, Wycoff, Clark, and Richards, was asked to establish an association for Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. They held their first meeting at Rickey's in Palo Alto on September 25, 1946. In 1956, the Coast Valleys Chapter was incorporated as a non-profit organization.

In 1967, after Santa Cruz County members departed to the Monterey Bay Chapter, the Chapter changed its name to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter. A 1995 proposal to change the name to "Silicon Valley Chapter" was unsuccessful.

By 1985, when Lola Huber retired from her 21-year post as Executive Secretary, membership had grown from 40 in 1950 to 353 members. The Chapter's activities had grown from a simple communication and political tool for architects to a community-based organization that sponsored exhibits, design awards, lecture series and scholarships in an effort to promote public awareness of architecture throughout the rapidly growing Santa Clara Valley.

The Chapter's first woman President, Elsbeth Newfield, served in 1990.

The Women's Architectural League was formed in 1950 and enjoyed a successful partnership with the Chapter during the 1950s and 1960s, responsible for hosting yearly home tours and design shows. In addition to showcasing "good" architectural and interior design against a backdrop of residential tract building, the home tours also raised money for architectural scholarships at Stanford.

Activities

One can track the intersection of architectural design, political and social climates through the activities and focus of the Chapter. During the 1950s and early 1960s the Chapter included a National Defense Committee and advertised continuing education seminars and certifications in designing structures to withstand nuclear detonations, including fallout shelters. In the 1970s, during the oil crisis, the focus was on energy efficiency and sustainability, and the Chapter sponsored an "ecology awareness" event at Herbert Hoover Middle School in San Jose. In 1975, the Bulletin featured a five-page debate on nuclear energy. In the 1980s the focus returned to aesthetics and offices for high-technology firms. Later in the 1990s the impact on the environment and designing more sustainable architecture came back to the fore.

Birge Clark wrote that in 1946 political representation was one of the main incentives to joining forces. Over the years, the Chapter has worked hard to reach out to local and State government to represent the interests of its members. Some of the issues and legislation targeted in the first years were the architectural licensing act, architectural liability for faulty construction, social security for architects, re-organizing the State Division of Architecture, the San Jose City Hall architectural selection process, and supporting Proposition 10 (which would have allowed the State to hire private architects and engineers; it was defeated, notes Kent Mather, by State employees).

In the 1960s and 70s the lobbying activities included naming an architect to the County planning commission, supporting a design review board in San Jose and supporting the hiring of private consultants by the State. These types of issues continued to be of concern to the Chapter - government practices for hiring and issuing contracts, licensing and accreditation practices, building codes, permit processes, and especially Proposition 224, "Taxpayers for Competitive Bidding - A Committee for Proposition 224, Sponsored By Professional Engineers in California Government," defeated in 1998 due in part to the Chapter's "No to 224" campaign.

Another of the Chapter's aims was to increase awareness in the local community and to build ties with governments and residents. The Women's Architectural League started this almost immediately with a traveling exhibit as well as design events. The Chapter got involved with civics and redevelopment projects such as a park building design for the City of San Jose in 1960, discussions with the merchants association over downtown First Street rehabilitation in San Jose; offering advice to Los Gatos and the city of Santa Clara in 1963, and supporting the San Jose Theatre bond in 1964. In 1970 they began holding monthly meetings with the San Jose City Planning Director.

Architecture Week events, which appear to have started in 1980, brought many of the Chapter's public relations activities front and center for a week, sometimes a month, to celebrate and promote architectural design. In addition, with the Design Awards, started in 1967, the Chapter began to recognize the work done by its own members and also to engage the local community in a dialogue about the benefits of good design. The Design Awards were small events up until 1980, when the "Orchids & Onions" awards were held in conjunction with Architecture Week. In the 1990s the Awards were followed by a traveling exhibit of winning projects, and winners published in San Jose Magazine, a level of publicity previously not seen. In 1993, the Chapter sponsored a film festival, "Sex, Lies and Architecture," in downtown San Jose. In 1998 when the AIA national convention was held in San Francisco, the Chapter hosted a tour of Stanford with publicity for the occasion. Every anniversary celebration was also an opportunity to engage the public, with architecture student displays, art exhibits, and lecture series.

As part of its responsibility to architectural education, the Chapter reached out to students and local architectural programs. A scholarship program began in 1950 for architectural students and Chapter representatives began meeting with student chapters at Stanford and California Polytechnic Universities. In the 1960s they began visiting high schools for career days, and in 1969 and 1970 offered advice on the curriculum for the new architecture school at Southern California University and the Engineering School at Stanford. They also held receptions for newly licensed architects. In 1998 the Chapter launched its website, aiascv.org, which amongst other purposes, offers a centralized space for sharing job postings, resumes, and career advice for future and practicing architects.

The Chapter has faced its share of membership issues. With each economic downturn came renewed membership efforts, as members did not renew or could not see the benefits of joining. The Chapter has been forced on several occasions to re-think its dues structure and obligation to its members. In 1983 the Chapter issued its first decrease of supplemental dues and voted in 1989 to eliminate supplemental dues by 1994 by starting a non-dues revenue program. A design and construction industry slump produced by the 1991 recession began to impact membership as well as business. In 1994 the non-dues revenue program was established through sponsors and fund-raising activities such as golf tournaments. By 1995, as the recession was breaking towards an economic upturn, the supplemental dues had been eliminated completely.

Office Addresses

Executive Secretaries/Executive Directors

Past Presidents

From the guide to the American Institute of Architects Santa Clara Valley Collection, 1946-2008, (1953-2004), (History San Jose)