Postcard from Washington, D.C.
by Mary-Margaret Zindren, EVP/Executive Director
As I write this column, our Minnesota delegation of AIA leaders is preparing for meetings at Congressional offices. This annual ritual involves briefings from the AIA national staff on the status of pending legislation of concern, distribution of handouts and talking points, and walking the marble hallways of Senate and House office buildings.
All of this is the same this year. Yet it feels very different. The backdrop of these meetings is unlike anything any of us have experienced in our lifetimes. The federal government and the norms it has operated under for generations is so upended that I half expected to see the Capitol building itself teetering on its dome.
The shock and awe approach of the new Administration has left many in our architecture community reeling. In just the past month and a half, there have been too many Executive Orders and Agency actions of consequence to even summarize here.
The members I have heard from are deeply concerned about the destabilization of systems they had long taken for granted. They are angry about efforts to dismantle longstanding promotion of civil rights, human rights, and environmental policy. They are dismayed by removal of history and data sets from federal websites and the defunding of research. They are worried about what these and many other policies (those related to immigration, people living in poverty, and student loan debt, etc.) all means for the people and the work of architecture, schools of architecture, the broader public, and both built and natural environments.
There are tangible consequences happening right now: Firms and researchers have had federally-funded work paused or shut down, and there has been uncertainty around payment for work already completed. There are also clients of every sector pausing or cancelling projects due to the ripple effects of known or anticipated loss of federal support for their programs or anticipated increases in the cost of materials from tariffs. In the face of fear and lack of clarity, most firm leaders I know have assessed their risks and are staying the course with sustainable design approaches and efforts to ensure people of all backgrounds can thrive in their workplaces, but the navigation of all this has left people feeling depleted.
A common, and very human, response to this tumultuous and uncertain time is to disengage; to dissociate. But for our volunteer leaders gathered here in Washington, D.C., their response has been to lean into leadership. To seek to separate what is factual from what is theoretical. To remain steady in staying the course.
Instead of tuning out, these volunteer leaders are tuning in. They are listening to what Congressional aides and Congresspeople of various parties and perspectives have to say about all that is happening. They are representing the concerns and recommendations of the architecture community on climate resilience – advocating for investment in disaster mitigation, resilient design solutions, and the importance of FEMA; on housing policy – advocating for investment in affordable, well designed housing solutions in urban centers, regional centers, and rural areas; on federal tax policy – advocating for research and development and historic preservation tax credits; and federal design policy – pushing back on moves to mandate design styles and advocating for the prioritization of functionality, cost-effectiveness, and community context.
This isn’t to say our volunteer leaders are superhuman. They each have their own ways of stepping back, gaining perspective, and recharging – from yoga and meditation to rock hunting, enjoying art, reading, and spending time their kids.
Yet they are also moved by the imperative of engagement in these pivotal times. Like all great architects, they are embracing the long view and holding onto hope. They know that change is the norm, not the exception. That pendulums swing up and up, sometimes farther and for longer than we anticipate, but they always swing back. That envisioning new and better futures, co-designing with community what is possible, is what architects do.
There has never been a better time for architects to lean into your strengths and to get into the thick of it. Demonstrating your value starts with simply showing up in and for community. Many thanks to our AIA Minnesota delegation for doing exactly this.
Now, what’s your move? How might you lean into leadership and show up on the issues you care about – either within the AIA or in your broader community? If you want to talk through possibilities, please reach out. Don’t underestimate the value you can bring, the good you can do, and the hope you can instill in others.
