Member Spotlight: Wanda Dalla Costa
Aryana Leland
Ashley Morales and I had the immense privilege of sitting down with two (very) busy third-year architecture students in the middle of a deadline, Aleena Hussain and Elizabeth Mayen. As we chatted, Aleena and Ellie joined us with the telltale signs of studio chaos happening in the background - models in different states of completion, bleary eyed students passing by, lots of coffee. They are in the middle of their tower project - a grueling hazing ritual that Ashley and I remember well - and we are lucky to be meeting with them during daylight hours.
While balancing their studio work, Aleena and Ellie are the Cofounders of an ambitious, promising new venture at Cal Poly Pomona: Stable Magazine.
Aryana Leland
There are over 121,000 licensed architects in the United States - yet only 1 in 4 are women.
A licensure candidate in the United States must pass six divisions of the Architectural Registration Exam to earn their license, which can be notoriously difficult. In 2024, the pass rate for the Project Management division was 60%, and 48% for the Practice Management Division. Despite these daunting numbers, the Practice Management and Project Management divisions are often the starting point for licensure candidates, and rely heavily on an understanding of key AIA contract documents. This is where Michael Hanahan comes in, unofficially.
Aryana Leland
Don’t miss the upcoming 2025 AWA+D Symposium - here’s a sneak peek of past events and what to look forward to!
Aryana Leland
In December, the American Institute of Architects published Artificial Intelligence Adoption in Architecture Firms: Opportunities & Risks as part of their The Architect’s Journey to Specification series. The growing use of AI in architecture has prompted an examination into the perception and goals of these tools for firms and organizations, and what a future of AI and architecture might look like. Though this report aims to provide key insights about the profession’s current use and perception of AI, its methodology has glaring issues.
Aryana Leland
This week in Denver, seemingly disparate artists Kneecap and Kent Monkman drew large crowds downtown. On a Monday night, Irish rap trio Kneecap played a sold out show at Summit. A few blocks away, the first major United States solo exhibition of Cree artist Kent Monkman was being set up at the Denver Art Museum; the subsequent exhibition opening and sold out conversation with the artist on Saturday was the largest crowd I’ve seen at DAM. With little in common at first glance, these artists are alike in their use of humor and indigenous knowledge to establish identity and colonial histories, and are now bringing their work to a larger stage.
