It has been 48 years since 20 million+ people demonstrated across the United States of America in an unmistakable call for environmental reform and to mark the first ever Earth Day. The collective push of those 20 million+ individuals helped spur significant change in environmental policy and practice, including the extension and passage of both the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts along with the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. The progress launched that day in 1970 has never really ceased. Earth Day is now celebrated in over 193 countries and is said to be the most widely-observed secular holiday in the world.  The annual event is broad…

Our Boston office was proud to take part in Architecture Design and Thinking Day on March 23 when we hosted a group of local high school students and guidance counselors for a fun, activity-filled day that introduced them to life in a design office. A joint initiative between the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) Foundation and the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), Architecture Design and Thinking Day sought to connect youth with workforce partners to provide opportunities for students to identify rewarding career paths. Our hosting team consisted of one facilitator (me) and two chaperones, Marisa Nemcik and Jamie Graham. The three of us share a passion for educating youth…

Personalized learning – the idea that educators, designers, etc., can tailor lessons or spaces to different levels of student learning – is a term that’s been growing in popularity over the past few years within education. And while the term has become better defined, methods to achieving personalized learning have broken into new realms of focus – from academic, to socioeconomic, to demographic – based on increasingly diverse student needs. When I was onsite at this year’s SxSW Edu conference, many of the talks and discussions I heard focused on creating personalized learning experiences through establishing differentiation. The methods proposed ranged from new forms of curriculum design through the development…

On March 19th the International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) hosted a BIM Pre-Conference Event at their annual Facility Fusion event in Chicago. This was the fourth annual conference specifically designed to address BIM for owners, facility managers, and service providers with a theme of providing Practical & Effective BIM for Facilities Management (FM) and beyond FM. Speakers shared key insights into the reality of BIM and related technologies, workflows, legalities and case studies reflecting the current state of BIM. The conference began with an overview of a recent IFMA survey to better understand how facility mangers are taking advantage of digital data. The survey’s initial findings revealed only 32% of facility…

I recently had the chance to attend and present at the NASPA Annual Conference, an event that joins over 7,000 student affairs educators and professionals to examine the latest trends affecting every aspect of student life. NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health and sustainability of the student affairs profession, and this year was the 100th anniversary of the conference. While I sat in on many important and thought-provoking sessions, two core themes resonated strongly with my fellow attendees and myself: the growing importance of inclusivity, and the changing needs surrounding student wellness. In regards to inclusivity, conversations focused on gender bias, how institutions can best serve first-generation…

On Tuesday, March 6 the AIA Project Delivery Knowledge Community held its 2018 Symposium titled Delivering the Future at the AIA Headquarters in Washington D.C. The event provided an interesting overview of how project delivery methods have evolved to their current state and how we need to continuously improve and evolve them into the future. This need for innovation and disruption came through clearly during the opening keynote when Barbara Jackson, Director of the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver, told the group “the sweet spot for disruption is where the most complex problems and fewest solutions intersect.” This was a great message…

For sustainable and resilient design enthusiasts, Pittsburgh is an inspiring place to live. Fueled by Mayor Peduto and his team’s very real commitment to advancing Pittsburgh as a sustainable city for the future, there are positive developments all across the city. In the last half of 2017 alone, Next City profiled Pittsburgh’s efforts to foster a clean energy economy, to introduce urban farms that combine housing and healthy eating and encourage bike sharing. Beyond these recent developments, Pittsburgh regularly welcomes international sustainability events from the G20 World Summit to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. Our city is part of the Rockefeller 100 Resilient Cities coalition, C40 Cities Network and Local…

Many people recognize great design as something that’s stunning and incredibly visual. We think of it as something tangible, apparent or obvious. Take for example the bold architectural moves on the façade of a new patient tower. It is evident to everyone that the design is nice, however, there is so much more beneath the surface. Concepts, models, calculations and explorations made along the way ultimately feed into that final result. At CannonDesign, we practice using design throughout the process, instead of just reserving the word to describe a well-constructed project. We should celebrate the small details of our work; the talented teams and disciplines that weave together to collectively…

As we speed through the second month of 2018, it’s not to late to review Forbes’ workplace trend predictions for 2018. Below, we’ve have highlighted a few of the top trends we see influencing our clients (and ourselves) in 2018. There will be a desire for more human interaction and company leaders should encourage this communication method. A recent research study from Western University found a request made face to face is 34 times more successful than an email!   Companies will refocus on providing needed skills to current employees with the goal of retaining talent as the majority of employers find it difficult to fill open positions. In a survey…

Creative energy inspires me. It always has, always will. So, moderating our second Buffalo Urban Futures Forum event at The Martin Group’s new workplace in December proved remarkably inspiring, as it brought together some of the leading creatives voices in the City of Buffalo. Panelists included: Tod Martin, President & Chief Creative Officer at The Martin Group Dana Marciniak, Director of PR and Brand Communications for New Era Cap Aaron Ott, Curator of Public Art for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery Through our discussion, we explored three key themes: The importance of place, what it means to stay creatively relevant and finally where our city’s collective creative energy is headed. Each…