The AIA Wyoming Annual Fall Conference returned to Jackson Sept. 16-18, 2021. The conference was themed “Proximity” and focused on state-of-the-art thinking and solutions. Speakers and exhibitors alike followed this theme throughout the three-day event.

We want to thank the planning team: Brandon Daigle, AIA, Stephen Dynia, FAIA, Carl Kohut, AIA, Lewis Matthew Miller, AIA, Susan Menghini, Suzanne Norton, AIA, and Charlie Van Over, AIA. And, an additional thank you goes to Leslie Gillessie, Acoustical Elements, and Brandon Daigle, AIA, for providing our aerobic boost of energy at each break.

The conference kicked off Thursday with two Membership Development events. These pre-conference sessions for continuing education credits allowed our members to network in enjoyable, lively settings. The first event, “Pathways of Teton County Volunteering – Cattle Tunnel Mural,” led by Carl Kohut, AIA, featured hands-on painting of the pedestrian tunnel under Highway 22. Later that evening, a Save the Genevieve Block event allowed participants to be guided by John Carney, FAIA, through the landscape and businesses within this large greenspace at the center of the Town of Jackson adjacent to the Town Square. Both events provided our members of all ages the opportunity to mingle and get to know each other better.

The conference heated up beginning Friday morning at the Snow King Resort Hotel within the Town of Jackson. This large facility allowed proper social distancing and an integrated exhibitor layout for superb networking. A special thank you to our Executive Director Susan Menghini and Charlie Van Over, AIA, for their extra effort in making this conference successful, in large part by engaging our generous sponsors and exhibitors.

Victoria Ellery and Brandon Williams began the day by introducing our chapter to CarbonCure’s innovative solution for improving the strength of concrete by injecting recycled C0₂ into ready-mix concrete. The “Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Concrete” presentation provided the technical reasoning for concrete to remain a durable but now faster-curing and sustainable solution for architects. Jim Ford, with the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, expanded on the topic of carbon with his presentation “Considering Carbon in Building Design; Advanced Carbon Technologies Leading to High-Performance Materials & Low Carbon Intensity,” which was moved to a remote web presentation thanks to Tim Schenk, AIA and Dale Buckingham, AIA. To round out the discussion on carbon, Stephen Dynia, FAIA, presented “Wyoming Coal to Carbon Fiber,” which combined an ongoing architectural project and the technology innovation of converting coal into carbon fiber, one of the client’s programmatic uses for the newly designed and developing facilities.

To begin the afternoon sessions, Kate Vanderputten, AIA, provided the second remote presentation of the conference: “Healthcare Design Post COVID,” sponsored by Martin/Martin Wyoming. We then enjoyed Alex Vondeling presenting the interactive “Missing Middle Housing for Small Rural Towns,” which included an introduction of Opticos, the planning firm for the Northern South Park neighborhood plan within Teton County. The interactive planning exercise was a hit with the conference participants and led to an interactive and delightful site design session. This session was sponsored by Hawtin Jorgensen Architects, whose namesakes Bruce Hawtin, FAIA, graciously hosted our Thursday AIA Wyoming board meeting, and Arne Jorgensen, our Town Council member, co-hosted our Save the Genevieve Block meet up.

We closed out the primary day of sessions with a special guest from Arizona, Richard Begay Jr, our regional keynote speaker. Richard’s presentation “Storytelling through the Built Environment; An Indigenous Perspective on Uncovering a Deeper Meaning on Cultural Design” included the presentation of the Dine College Shiprock campus Library in New Mexico. Richard is a graduate of the University of Arizona, and a few of the AIA members attending the AIA WMR Regional Summit were able to visit the Shiprock campus, which was an excellent way to cap off our AIA Fall conference season.

Returning to an in-person format for our conference was a refreshing reminder of the closeness and stability of our chapter and the value of the network of professional relationships we enjoy in our dynamic organization.

We look forward to seeing everyone again in Cheyenne next April!