Greetings from the AIA California Office,

As problem solvers, we proudly articulate and celebrate how architects utilize the power of design to create a built environment that addresses a variety of challenges. Accessing the places and spaces you design is one of the most fundamental ideas, and that’s why this month, which has been proclaimed “Disability Pride Month, we are pleased to recognize  “the many ways that people living with disabilities—whether visible or invisible, mobility or cognitive, vision or hearing, learning or sensory, developmental or acquired—add to the diversity and strength of California.”

According to the recent proclamation from Governor Gavin Newsom, California is home to more than 7 million adults with disabilities and provides one in seven kids with disability services in schools.

How our profession approaches architecture for neighbors, family members, and colleagues that ensures accessibility and inclusion has grown more sophisticated and integrated in design since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990.

At AIA California, we are determined to share the possible in design for accessibility and inclusion through new courses that go further than simply fulfilling ADA units.

In September, we will launch a series of Case Studies of the award-winning Willie “Woo Woo” Wong Playground by Jensen Architects, and the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth designed by Mithun. Mandatory CE  units required for licensure renewal are a given. But understanding how deftly practitioners channel code requirements to enhance the user’s experience and create an equally accessible and inclusive space inclusion is entirely something else.

These webinars are engaging and inspiring as well as conveyers of precise technical information needed to meet the accessibility code. We’re proud that they continue our library of high-quality, existing on-demand webinars, which you may find here, that are often our most well-attended sessions. Creating learning opportunities that share best practices across the profession, showcase solutions to complex design problems, and ultimately launch dynamic discussions is an important part of how we are working for you.

Till next week,