On behalf of the Program Committee, we are pleased to invite you to the 68th Annual Association of University Architects Conference at UMass Amherst – the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system. The conference will take place from Sunday, June 23rd to Thursday, June 27th 2024.
Founded in 1863, UMass Amherst is the largest public research university in New England and is located in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, only 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. It has a diverse and inclusive community of 32,000+ students supported by over 6,400 staff and for the 7th year in a row is ranked #1 in Princeton Review’s best campus food. UMass Amherst offers more than 200 distinct academic programs - including highly ranked programs in business, computer science, health care and the social sciences. With over 14,000 beds, It is in the top 10 largest residential university housing programs and is part of the Five College Consortium that includes Amherst, Smith, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke colleges.
The campus is home to an eclectic collection of facilities spanning the 18th to 21st centuries, over half of which were built during the postwar period by prominent mid-century architects. The theme for the AUA conference is “Reinventing the Modern” and the Program Committee is developing an exciting program to support its content and the sub-themes for each day.
We will introduce you to award-winning facilities across the UMass Campus each day and have planned a day on the Smith College campus, as well as events for you and guests at colorful local venues and museums.
And we have reserved the entire Murray D. Lincoln Campus Hotel designed by Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard in 1970 – you may reserve a room early and at the conference rate of $159/night by using this link (click Book Now, and Change Request to specify dates). Consult the UMass Hotel FAQ’s and Getting to UMass websites for additional information. We will be reaching out to get a sense from members about your conference preferences, travel and guest needs.
As a preview of the UMass Amherst campus, our conference hotel and the many local attractions please have a look at our Welcome to UMass Video.
We look forward to seeing you in June!
Richard Yeager, AIA, Host
Brent Stringfellow, AIA, Program Committee Chair
New AUA Members present their campus master plans and outline their new projects currently under construction or in development. Presentations focus on how they are creating campus-wide approaches and project specific solutions to the topics of resiliency, sustainability, accessibility, carbon reduction, social justice and diversity.
Prerequisite Knowledge:
No prerequisite knowledge is required for attendance; the material is directly relevant to those responsible for Campus planning, design, and Implementation of policies.
HSW Justification:
This presentation session focuses on multiple topics associated with HSW including CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS (delivery methods), DESIGN (master planning, urban planning, site design, safety and security measures, accessibility), ENVIRONMENTAL (community relations, sustainability, resiliency), PRE-DESIGN (land use analysis, programming), and PRESERVATION (campus culture, historic preservation, reuse, adaption).
Learning Objective 1:
Participants will be able to examine how other campuses are addressing the issues of resiliency, sustainability, carbon reduction, accessibility, social justice and diversity.
Learning Objective 2:
Participants will be able to determine if any of these approaches and solutions are viable to incorporating into their campus development.
Learning Objective 3:
Participants will be able to examine how their own campuses are approaching these same issues and view them firsthand during the conference.
Learning Objective 4:
Participants will be able to examine the development of new members campuses related to historic preservation and reuse of existing facilities.