Letter From AIA Europe 2017 President Tiffany Melançon, Int'l Assoc. AIA
Dear Members,
Many of you, like me, are American born architects who live and practice in Europe, while others are European architects who have worked or studied in the United States. Most of us choose to keep ties to both continents, and being a member of AIA Europe is an excellent way to do it.
The Continental Europe Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has over 250 members from 34 countries and the international ties of our membership is indeed the chapter's lifeblood; it's what makes our acclaimed conference series possible. The four-day programs of site visits, lectures, and tours are organized by AIA Europe members living in the conference locations and they volunteer because they are proud to share their cities' best practices with other architects.
More than anything else, AIA Europe is about sharing and exchange, between members, between cultures and different approaches to building. At the start of this new year, our profession in both Europe and the United States is being called to renew its commitment to building practices that open up more possibilities for human exchange, not ones that diminish and delimit possibilities.
The built and natural environment in Europe, the United States, and cities around the world, benefit tremendously from the continued exchange of factual information and ideas. How lucky we are to have AIA Europe to facilitate real-world sharing, every six months, in a different city and country. If you haven't made it to a conference yet, we hope you can join us this year in Menton/ Cap Martin, France in May or Prague, Czech Republic in October (see www.aiaeurope.org/upcoming-conferences). And to those who regularly attend from Europe, the United States and beyond, I look forward to continuing our conversations, just where we left off.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Melançon, Int'l Assoc. AIA, SIA
