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There has been much discussion raised about "Why are women leaving Architecture? and more broadly, Why is the profession losing key talent?"  Both women and men practitioners are disillusioned by the myth of work/life balance: Women are grappling with "have it all" expectations of juggling family time with the demands of full-time work.  Men are struggling to support their families solely on an architect's salary and fall back on asking spouses to maintain their jobs. The lack of affordable childcare and high cost of living only magnifies the challenges.  How did we end up in this modern family dilemma? What can we do to improve the situation?

Why hack 2016? Reflections from 2015 AIA EQxD Hackathon

by Susan Kolber

“Without a doubt, the most significant event of the whole AIA National convention in Atlanta was Equity by Design (EQxD) Hackathon ½ day event. Unique to the convention we were going to do something, on the spot, to improve the profession. The whole afternoon was a microcosm of what I have experienced since I attended my first EQxD meeting a year ago. What I got out of it was a real sense of what it will take to move the profession forward and an even stronger sense of optimism that we will get there. ”
— Matthew Gaul 2015 EQxD AIA Hackathon Participant
2015 EQxD AIA Hackathon participants Phil Bernstein, Melissa Daniel, Ashley L. Dunn, Morgan Maiolle, and Shawna Hammon presents their pitch to Hackathon judges. 

2015 EQxD AIA Hackathon participants Phil Bernstein, Melissa Daniel, Ashley L. Dunn, Morgan Maiolle, and Shawna Hammon presents their pitch to Hackathon judges. 

Conventions often give attendees at best a sense of excitement about what they have learned or who they have met, but usually there is no outlet to immediately apply new knowledge, create partnerships and design.  EQxD’s second annual AIA Hackathon brings a design focused framework and collaboration to solving and imagining the future of architectural practice in a fast paced four hour workshop. When do we have the opportunity to intensely imagine the potential and future of professional practice and who will be leading it?

Last year, EQxD AIA Hackathon judges and participants saw the event as a critical and energizing experience to create hacks promoting equity in architecture; participant Karen Robichaud remarked, “Walking into the Hackathon, I had no idea what to expect from the experience. After all, I’m not a hacker and I’m not an architect! I left feeling inspired, excited and eager to implement hackathons everywhere. There’s so much to hack!”  Participants joined teams and presented their pitch which resolved questions that were proposed at the beginning of the workshop in three minute presentations at the end of the day. Three judges, Obiekwe “Obi” Okolo, Melinda Rosenberg, and Curtis Rodgers  selected the winning based on their ability to measure results and make impact immediately. The 2015 EQxD AIA Hackathon winning team named #BUILDYOUrTribe proposed a new concept for an industry app designed to connect and propose events and engagements between the AEC community, “a sort of industry-specific mash-up between LinkedIn and MeetUp.”  A year later and participants of the event have brought the hackathon framework to other arenas to help solve problems. The 2016 EQxD AIA Hackathon will continue a legacy of challenging the status quo of architecture. If interested, register below.

“I also discovered that hacking for a solution involves identifying the root problem that is often hidden under layers of information. These are the concepts I would like to practice everyday. I would like to bring it back to my workplace and communities I interact with to engage in conversations about equity and bias.”
— Neelanjana Sen
 REGISTER FOR EQxD HAPPY HOUR ONLYSpecial Thanks goes to our EQxD Hackathon Scholarship Sponsors including Autodesk, McCarthy Building Companies, WRNS Studio, HOK and HGA.

 

REGISTER FOR EQxD HAPPY HOUR ONLY

Special Thanks goes to our EQxD Hackathon Scholarship Sponsors including Autodesk, McCarthy Building Companies, WRNS Studio, HOK and HGA.