AIA Continental Europe and How It Got That Way

AIA Continental Europe is about to enter its 20th year as a Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.  Our charter encompasses all of Europe, so we meet every six months, each time with a conference in a different city.  That allows our members to attend at least one meeting each year, where they also earn their CES credits.  Here is our web site: www.aiaeurope.org

The Chapter was my idea -- I organized the small group that founded it.  With help, I did all of the initial work: the chartering petition, the long term plan, the short term plan, responses to the AIA “component performance criteria,” pro forma budgets, our bylaws.  Our first sponsor, the Herman Miller Company, at the time had a showroom on the Champs-Elysées.  They made things very much easier for us from the outset. 

Most of the early help — and it was substantial — came from Françoise Vonier. She handled the mail (it was all “postal” then, with some business conducted by facsimile).  She wrote, produced and mailed our print newsletters.  She wrestled with the French bureaucracy and handled most of our correspondence.  She organized our first great meeting in Paris, graciously hosted by the then US Ambassador, Pamela Harriman.

Another generous and bright woman, D Marie Wagner Assoc AIA (who was trained both as an architect and as an attorney, and who is now a lawyer in Texas), also gave very freely of her time.  She drafted the French articles of incorporation and helped us to get them through the French system.  Alan Schwartzman FAIA offered advice and support.  Several other people came to our early organizing sessions and signed the original petition.

The Chapter owes gratitude to several other people from early days:  LW “Bill” Chapin II, the Institute president in 1994, and Terry McDermott Hon AIA, the chief executive at the time, were very supportive.  They signed our charter and presented it personally to a group gathered at Jean Nouvel's Fondation Carier in Paris (monsieur Nouvel also attended the ceremony, characteristically late, but just in time for a long lunch).

James P Cramer Hon AIA, a former Institute chief executive, and W Cecil Steward FAIA, a past AIA president, also helped.  Werner Rüegger AIA and Betrand de Sénépart AIA (both still in Switzerland) were in it from the beginning—Dominique Tomasov AIA (still in Barcelona), Charles Croigny AIA (still in Belgium) and Jocelyn Brainard AIA (still in Paris), too, along with Dieter Waldschmidt AIA (still shuttling between Germany and Maryland).

Building AIA Continental Europe is among the most rewarding experiences I've had as a volunteer.  For nearly everyone involved -- and this is hundreds of people at this stage -- the Chapter has created lasting friendships, unparalleled business opportunities and many wonderful occasions.