History of the American Institute of Architects, European Chapter

Origins

The Continental Europe Chapter of the American Institute of Architects was founded in Paris in 1994. Achieving remarkable growth and vitality in its early years, the chapter continues to attract AIA members from Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the Middle East and North Africa.

AIA members from the United States with interests in Europe are also active in the Chapter. About half of our members are US citizens who reside and practice in Europe; the others are Europeans who earned professional qualifications in the US and then returned to Europe to practice.

Aims

We foster professional advancement and fellowship among our 250 members in 28 countries, from Ireland to Russia and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. We work to enhance the international spirit of cooperation and voluntary service among architects with ties to the US, through a range of regular programs and special activities.

Professional Development

The Chapter holds general meetings every six months in a different city. We have already met in Rome, Geneva, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Basel, Paris, Barcelona, Prague, Lisbon, London, Istanbul, Vienna, Dublin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Budapest and Amsterdam. More recent meetings include Florence, Berlin, Bern and Porto. The Chapter returns to Paris in November 2004 to celebrate its tenth anniversary.

General meetings are often co-sponsored by the International Committee of the American Institute of Architects, and held in cooperation with the AIA London/UK Chapter. Our programs involve the active participation of host-country officials and professional organizations, and we often meet with the serving US Ambassador.

Our credit-earning continuing education seminars, lectures, and tours involve distinguished European architects and host-country officials. They focus on each city’s unique architectural and urban heritage, tracing the past to the present, with eyes on the future.

World Wide Web Site

On the Internet, www.aiaeurope.org is the Chapter’s virtual office. It carries up-to-date information on AIA members and member firms based in Europe. It announces forthcoming events and provides direct links to web sites maintained by our corporate partners and by AIA National in the US.

Qualifications and Referral Directory

This up-to-date professional information resource provides details on AIA members and their firms throughout Europe. It offers potential clients as well as European professional colleagues a ready, comprehensive, and accurate view of US-educated and trained expertise. The directory is available on-line.

Newsletter

First published and mailed in printed form, ArchitectureEurope® has now been transformed to a rolling index on the Chapter’s Internet web site, updated as needed. The newsletter has news on events and issues of interest to the Chapter. An e-mail synopsis of this index is distributed quarterly.

Corporate Partnerships

The AIA is one of the only professional societies in the world to require annual continuing education and professional development as a condition of Institute membership. Every year AIA members must complete study courses and structured learning experiences to keep them current on the latest technical developments, with special focus on public health, safety and welfare.

Corporate partners with vital interests in both the US and Europe — including Technal, Lutron, Herman Miller, GraphiSoft, DuPont, AutoDesk, McGraw-Hill, and others — help US to meet this educational mission during full Chapter and smaller Section events.

International Liaison

We maintain regular contacts with professional counterpart organizations throughout Europe, including the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Architectes (France), the Bundesarchitektenkammer (Germany), the Colegio de Arquitectos (Spain), and many others. The AIA sponsors a liaison delegate to the Architects’ Council of Europe in Brussels, and sends a delegation to the World Congress of the Union Internationale des Architectes.

Membership

Architects licensed to practice in a jurisdiction of the United States may become members of the AIA, and AIA members who are resident in Europe will become assigned members of the Chapter.

AIA members in good standing who do not reside in Europe may join the Chapter as unassigned members, but will remain assigned to the AIA Chapter in whose territory they reside.

Architects who are qualified to practice under the laws and regulations of another country, but who are not licensed in a US jurisdiction, may become International Associate AIA members.

For others, the American Institute of Architects offers Associate AIA, Student and Professional Affiliate memberships. AIA Continental Europe welcomes all persons who wish to become “Friends of the Chapter.”

More information on annual membership fees and application forms →