Partner Organizations

AIA Philadelphia boasts nearly 1,000 architects and related professionals as members, and is one of the most active AIA Chapters in the nation. The Chapter founded two organizations to serve the public: the Community Design Collaborative and Charter High School for Architecture + Design. In 2008 the Center for Architecture was established for the charitable and educational work of AIA Philadelphia. The AIA Bookstore offers a unique selection of gifts at its Arch Street location and through its online store.

AIA Bookstore & Design Center

aiabookstore.com The AIA Bookstore & Design Center began as a resource and information center for members of the American Institute of Architects attending the 1976 AIA national convention in Philadelphia. Over the last 28 years, the store has evolved from just a bookstore into the place for unique gifts, as well as a resource center for architects and people who value quality design.

The store offers a wide selection of books on architecture, interior design, renovation, preservation and landscaping, as well technical and theory books for students and design professionals. The store also carries a broad and unique selection of quality-designed gifts, jewelry, stationery, children's toys, lighting, housewares and other unusual and interesting objects. The Bookstore offers the Holiday Shop at the end of each year featuring Philadelphia's best selection of holiday ornaments and other holiday items.

Center for Architecture

philadelphiaCFA.org The Center for Architecture conducts charitable and educational activities in the Greater Philadelphia Region that advance the knowledge of architecture and further the appreciation and improvement of our communities and the built environment. Activities include advancing the education of children about the built environment and providing interpretive materials and programs for the general public. Programs currently supported by the Center include Architecture in Education, Community Design Collaborative and Charter High School for Architecture + Design.

Current programs include:

• The Louis I. Kahn Memorial Lecture continues a 20-year lecture series to honor the memory of noted Philadelphia architect Louis I. Kahn.
• The Architecture in Education program provides enrichment services to children in the region's schools. The program is delivered through volunteer architects and students of architecture.
• The Architectural Guide to Philadelphia is produced by the Center for Architecture. The book is currently being revised.

Charter High School for Architecture + Design

chadphila.org Curious students...engaged faculty...and a compelling mission. The Charter High School for Architecture + Design is a learning community committed to providing an innovative program of study that integrates the design process with the mastery of a strong liberal arts education. The school offers each student the opportunity for success and the preparation for life-long learning and responsible citizenship. CHAD is a thoughtful academic environment that engenders a love of learning, intellectual curiosity, and new ways of seeing, while preparing students for higher education.

CHAD was founded in 1999 by the American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter, as the Legacy Project for the AIA National Convention held in Philadelphia in May, 2000. Located at 7th and Sansom Streets in Center City, the school is a 26,000 sf building within close proximity to Independence Mall, Washington Square Park, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia (a private architectural library). The first charter school of its kind in the country, CHAD opened its doors to approximately 400 students in grades 9 through 11 in September, 1999, and graduated its first class of 49 seniors in June, 2001. Today, it enrolls over 500 students.

Community Design Collaborative

cdesignc.org The Community Design Collaborative is a volunteer organization that offers preliminary design assistance to nonprofit groups. The Collaborative meets with nonprofits at the beginning of a project, develops a scope of services to fit their needs, and recruits design professionals to provide the services pro bono. Nonprofits need preliminary design services early in the development process-when they are refining proposals, gathering support, and raising money. Unfortunately, funding is scarce for preliminary design work. The Collaborative is committed to giving more nonprofits access to preliminary design services.

Each year, the Collaborative:

• Provides 30 nonprofits with preliminary design services valued at up to $15,000 per project,
• Assists more than 100 nonprofits seeking preliminary design services, advice, or referrals,
• Places nearly 200 architects, landscape architects, preservationists, interior designers, urban planners, engineers, and cost estimators on projects, and
• Hosts programs and events that bring together over 1,000 people from the design, community development and nonprofit fields.