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Student activities foster social awareness, mutual respect and support among the students. The students of the School of Architecture have a very effective and well-supported American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) chapter. It serves as a vehicle for student representation on School committees and takes a leading role in organizing and performing numerous community service projects linked with academic requirements. The activities of this group enhance the students’ learning environment and clearly reveal their leadership skills.
In 2007 the AIAS Hawai‘i Chapter will mark its 20th anniversary. Over the years, the organization has received 14 awards of honor from the National AIAS Office, the most for any one chapter. They have been named three years as Top Chapter, four years with the Top President and three years with the Top Educator. Leighton Liu, Spencer Leineweber and Joyce Noe were all successfully nominated. Other awards include special accomplishment and student research honor awards.
Every year, the AIAS FORUM brings together students from around the country, Canada and Puerto Rico. Members from the Executive Board and the chapter travel a great distance to the annual convention, and as many as 30 students have attended in a single year. The members themselves raise much of the money by designing and selling t-shirts, architectural books, supplies and a successful snack-shop program. This year, the organization has added a souvenir kiosk fundraiser through the University’s Rainbowtique stores. Donations from the School, the University, the community, and private businesses have also helped students attend the convention.
AIAS activities are strongly supported by the local AIA chapter and alumni association. The president of AIAS is an honorary board member for both the AIA Honolulu Chapter and the UH School of Architecture Alumni Association. The AIAS and AIA associates organize ongoing project field trips and office tours conducted by AIA architects. There is also a brown bag lunch lecture series where local architects from the AIA, as well as other members from the professional community are invited to speak on topics of current interest including IDP, software skills development and green building, among others. AIAS participation in public events such as the Hawai‘i Building Trade Expo and other industry events enables students to meet and interact with contractors and other professionals in the local building industry.
The AIAS sponsors an annual Career Fair in the spring, where students can explore employment opportunities and summer internships. They also actively participate in the International Symposia on Asia-Pacific Architecture held at both the University of Hawai‘i and at Tongji University in Singapore.
Students are also very active in the community. Through the facilitation of the AIAS, the school hosts several annual events. There is the Pumpkin Carving Esquisse and Treat Street building in the fall, and a Sandcastle Esquisse in the spring. AIAS has just added an annual CAN-struction Esquisse held during the summer. For the pumpkin carving Esquisse, in it’s 32nd year, students are given two hours to carve Halloween pumpkins, which are thereafter donated to local hospitals. In line with this activity, the annual Treat Street, in it’s 20th year, is designed to create a safe neighborhood environment for children to spend Halloween. Students design and build a series of façades that are used in the Bishop Museum’s annual Halloween event, which is attended by over 8,000 members of the community each year. The sandcastle building contest, in it’s 30th year, is held for the public’s enjoyment at Kailua Beach Park on the northeast shore of Oahu. And the newest event, CANstruction, sponsored for the first time in Hawai‘i this past August by AIA Honolulu and the Hawai‘i Foodbank, involved a student team that designed and built a structure out of over 800 cans that was exhibited at Pearlridge Mall and eventually donated to the Foodbank. These activities are known to the entire city and enables our students to engage in the process of project development, while serving as a positive and welcome service group for the community.
Student entry in design competitions at all levels is encouraged and supported by the faculty. For years, Walt Disney Imagineering has invited a select group of universities with predominate minority representation to participate in the Imagi-Nations Student Design Competition. Our design teams have been finalists seven times in the competition. Students are also encouraged to participate in design competitions sponsored and promoted by the National AIAS, including the annual Chair Affair and Design Review, which has a category just for students in the first and second years in the architecture program.
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