The AIA Conferences: TAP, Integrated Practice, and National Convention

The annual AIA National Convention and Expo 2006 was held in Los Angeles from June 8 to 10, and as was the case the year before, it was preceded by the AIA TAP (Technology in Architectural Practice) conference, held as a pre-convention workshop. However, unlike last year, where the AIA TAP conference was held over the course of two days, the TAP conference this year was limited to a single day. It was followed the next day by an associated, but separate event, the AIA Integrated Practice conference. While both conferences had a similar format, the TAP conference was more focused on the application of technology within the architectural profession while the Integrated Practice conference took a broader look at technology and process changes across the building industry as a whole. AECbytes will capture the highlights of all three events in separate articles this month, starting with the TAP conference, followed by the Integrated Practice conference, and finally, the National Convention and Expo.

The Tips and Tricks section this month features for the first time, a tutorial on VectorWorks ARCHITECT, often referred to as the "BIM application for the small firm," as well as a tutorial on RenderWorks, which is the rendering application that integrates with VectorWorks. In addition, a detailed tutorial takes you step by step through the process of using cover fills for 2D/3D ceilings in ArchiCAD.

Thank you!

Lachmi Khemlani

Editorials > June 2006