February 5, 2021

The Washoe ArTrail was a multiyear Washoe County place-making project supported by ongoing grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. A first of its kind for Northern Nevada, the ArTrail led to the creation of a rammed earth monument at Crystal Peak Park in Verdi, Nevada.

As baby boomers grow older, they increasingly need places to do so with grace. Sometimes, this is a design solution that converts a home so the elderly can “age-in-place,” but it often means relocating to an assisted-living facility or nursing home. This evolving building type is open to many design innovations, from technologies and ways of making spaces feel like home to finding new ways for residents to create communities in their new surroundings.

Overlooking the surrounding Sierra Nevada Range, the Spine Residence was designed to capture the site’s remarkable views, maximize solar collection, increase shade and shelter from the sun. The home is divided into two realms: public and private, separated by an exposed concrete spine wall.

How do you make a dream come true? How does a flicker of thought turn into a viable, physical reality? That is what the Owner of the Bently Heritage Distillery in Minden, Nevada asked the team of designers, engineers and other creatives in 2015. The ten-acre former manufacturing plant “campus” had been abandoned for years. Though weathered and outdated, three of the seven buildings on the campus were deemed salvageable and targeted as the main structures for starting a new era of use. Two of those structures, which are directly adjacent to one another, the Mill Building and the Creamery, were vacant and of historical significance, aged over 100 years. The third, a windowless warehouse, was being leased to a small charter school.

As with most events in 2020, this year’s AIA Northern Nevada Awards Gala was thrown a curveball. What would traditionally have been a night of food and fellowship in a restaurant like the Wild River Grille or Twisted Fork, took a new take on what it means to gather. Not to be deterred, this year’s awards were still presented “in-person”… as long as a 50′ tall projection of the award presenters counts!

While our entire country has wrestled with unexpected changes this year, AIA National has repositioned its efforts to meet our members’ needs through these uncertain times. Although there are many more initiatives not listed here but being developed by the AIA board of directors, strategic council and staff, we’ve come a long way in 2020 on many below. We’re also pleased to share that our very own 2020 AIA Northern Nevada President and longtime local and regional board member Nate Hudson, AIA, was recently elected to the AIA National board of directors! Congratulations Nate!

Meadowood Mall was abuzz March 11th with 13 teams separately coming together to use cans of fruit and vegetables as the brick and mortar for the building of 13 uniquely different structures in a competition designed to bring awareness of hunger in the community through the build of artistic structures using food as the medium — it was CANstruction Reno 2020. This was the 17th year that AIANN teamed with the Food Bank of Northern Nevada (FBNN) for the local CANstruction event and over 26,000 pounds (29,491 cans) of food were specially ordered for the task at hand, all of which was donated to FBNN after the event at a critical time of the year. Even more so this year as CANstruction was able to wrap up just a day or two ahead of the pandemic lockdown, giving a boost to the Food Bank shelves just in time.

YoDeNG, or the “Young Designers Networking Group,” serves as a support network for local design professionals to meet and learn from one another. Like most organizations that focus on in-person gatherings, 2020 has challenged us. Nevertheless, YoDeNG (pronounced “yo-dang”) has adapted its efforts to ensure young designers’ continued support in the community.

HISTORY
The AIA Northern Nevada’s Scholarship Program was established in 1994 by local architects who wished to reach out to students and support their development into architects. The Chapter has been awarding scholarships in varying amounts each year since 1995. All Scholarships are awarded to students in May / June each year and then applied towards tuition for the following school year.

On June 10th, the AIANN scholarship committee reviewed and discussed the 2020 Raymond Hellmann and Graham Erskine Scholarships’ submittals. The committee members present were Max Hershenow, Greg Erny, Mark Johnson and Nate Hudson. We received a total of six applications this year [five Erskine and one Hellmann], up from what we received last year. While most of the applicants were for the Erskine Scholarship, we will need to better market to the region’s high schools next year to find more interest in the Hellmann Scholarship, our typical gateway.