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CITIZEN ARCHITECT: GIVING BACK IN A CIVIC CAPACITY By: Orlando T. Maione, FAIA, Owner, Maione Associates
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rchitects are adept at participating and giving back to the profession. But when it comes to giving back to our communities as “Citizen Architects,” our participation seems to wane.
WHAT IS A CITIZEN ARCHITECT? The term “Citizen Architect” is a title informally bestowed on AIA members, given with great pride and representative of a call to action for Architects to take greater role in the civic advocacy of their communities. As defined in 2008 by the AIA National Board of Directors (https://www.aia.org/ resources/194196-citizen-architect-handbook), the Citizen Architect: •
uses his/her insights, talents, training, and experience to contribute meaningfully, beyond self, to the improvement of the community and human condition;
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stays informed on local, state, and federal issues, and makes time for service to the community;
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advocates for higher living standards, the creation of a sustainable environment, quality of life, and the greater good; and
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seeks to advocate for the broader purposes of architecture through civic activism, by gaining appointment to boards and commissions, and through elective office at all levels of government.
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The program “Citizen Architect: Giving Back in a Civic Capacity” was part of the 2021 Tri-State Conference, held back in early December. The program demonstrated, by example, how volunteering as “Citizen Architects” provides an opportunity to become public educators by default. By serving, Citizen Architects are provided with the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in and understand one’s community. You are offered the opportunity to see “the movers and shakers” as they operate and control the municipality, and because of your direct volunteer appointment, selection or election, you become a part of that team. A well-attended and well received program, I served as the moderator of an interactive question and answer session with four panelists—Brian Kulpa, AIA, Supervisor for the Town of Amherst in New York; Senator Timothy Kearney, State Senator for the State of Pennsylvania; Susan Bristol, AIA, Principal at SPB Architecture LLC; and David J. Pacheco, AIA, Director of Operations, Vice President & Partner at H2M architects + engineers. The program demonstrated how to bring much-needed technical, political perspective to the organizations that lead their communities; how to engage local stakeholders in decision-making by advocating for underrepresented groups; how to participate and influence local politics without being an elected official; and how to utilize every aspect of civic service to educate the public and their individual communities on what “architecture” is all about and what architects do in their professional lives.
