Schools in A Flat World (CAE)

The AIA Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) is a knowledge community committed to enhancing educational facilities of all types through thoughtful, research-based, and collaborative planning and design. Our goal is to raise awareness among architects, educators, and allied professionals of the need to be conversant in current educational trends so that schools are truly designed to serve the future.

Accessing and understanding research on learning provides a foundation for the effective planning and designing of learning environments. Tools such as exemplary models and case studies show educators and the public that they do not have to settle for what they’ve been getting. Thoughtful and informed design can deliver exemplary, intelligently designed facilities at a comparable cost that will accommodate future trends in teaching and learning and that are flexible, sustainable, and sensitively integrated into their communities.

Schools in a Flat World:
Global Perspectives on Pedagogy and the Built Environment

Click here for CONFERENCE AGENDA.

Click here for SPEAKER BIOS.

Globalization now affects every industry, as journalist Thomas L. Friedman illustrated in the bestseller, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century.

CAE invites you to attend “Schools in a Flat World,” a conference that will explore educational design solutions ranging from a small Arctic high school to a 100,000-student university in India. This gathering will attract architects and school building professionals from six continents, who will share their unique challenges and design solutions.

Helsinki and its architectural treasures will form a memorable backdrop for meeting, learning from, and networking with education-facility architects from Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. Best of all, “Schools in a Flat World” will deliver a program packed with sights, sessions, and stories that you will find nowhere else. Guided tours will visit Helsinki schools that show how design and construction can improve and enhance the learning environment.

Conference attendees will be eligible to recieve up to 18 LUs. 

Registration Fees

Advance Registration Deadline Extended to August 29!

*Fees include all educational programs, tours, receptions, breakfast and lunch on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and dinner on Saturday. 

A cancellation fee of $ 150.00 will apply. Cancellation requests must be made in writing. Deadline for cancellations is August 29, 2008. No refunds for special events/tours after the cancellation deadline. Registration received by August 29, 2008 will appear on the advance attendee roster. Forms received after this date will  appear on the final attendee roster sent after the meeting and will be processed on-site.

*Advance registration extended and will be available through August 29.  Attendees wishing register after August 29, may do so onsite.

Conference Registration

Registration is now only available onsite at the hotel:

Scandic Hotel Marski
Mannerheimintie 10, 00100
Helsinki, Finland
www.scandichotels.com

Special Needs
The AIA is committed to making meetings and conferences accessible to all to the degree reasonably possible.  Please notify us at the time of registration if you have special accessibility needs or specific dietary requirements.  Contact Tonya Horsley at 202-626-7465.

Registration Confirmation
Registration confirmations are emailed weekly. If you do not receive a registration confirmation within 10 business days after you register, please contact AIA Meetings. If you fax the registration form, please keep the fax transmittal confirmation for your records.

Registration Policy
Registrations postmarked after August 15, 2008 will not be processed in time to be included on the attendee roster.  Registration and nametags will be produced on-site. All registrants will receive a registration confirmation via email within 10 business days of sending your registration.

Cancellation Policy
Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee, will be made for cancellations received in writing by Friday, August 15, 2008. No cancellation refund is available after August 15, 2008.  Please fax your cancellation requests to AIA Registrar, 202-626-7365.

Accomodations

A limited block of rooms has been reserved at Scandic Hotel Marski, Mannerheimintie 10, 00100 Helsinki, Finland. Reservations must be received no later than Friday, July 18, 2008 for the group rate; however, the block may sell out prior to the deadline. You are responsible for making your own reservations. To make your reservation, send the hotel reservation form via fax at +358 (0)9 642 377 or marski@scandichotels.com.  Mention reference code NEX090908 to receive the group rate of $262.50  for single and $292.50 double plus VAT at 8%.  You can not secure your reservation online only fax, email or telephone. 

All reservations must be guaranteed with a credit card when you make your reservation.  The group's cancellation policy requires cancellations be made by 6:00 pm day of check-in. 

The hotel is located in the absolute centre of Helsinki close to businesses, restaurants, shopping and everything the city can offer.  The hotel is a 30 minute drive from the airport.  There is wireless internet access throughout the hotel at no extra charge.  Unwind in one of the3 saunas, gym, restaurant or bar.  For additional information on the hotel, visit their website.  Also, please see the restaurant list for the closest restaurants to the hotel.

Travel
The AIA is pleased to offer discounted airline and car rentals for this conference. To make your reservations, log on to the AIA Web site and click on the Travel Accommodations tab or contact the AIA's official travel agency, Travel Technology Group, 800-388-8814 (or 312-527-7300 for international callers).

Air
AmericanAirlines offers special rates and numerous discounts on round-trip fares in the United States. Attendees will receive a 5 percent discount off coach and first-class fares by using discount code A19998AB.

You can book your flight in one of three ways: 

• Contact your travel agent and advise them to call the American Airlines Meeting Services Desk toll-free, 800-433-1790, and refer to discount code A19998AB.   The hours of operation are 5 a.m. midnight Central Time every day. Reservations for the hearing and speech impaired are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-543-1586.
• Call American Airlines Meeting Services desk directly toll free, 800-433-1790, and refer to discount code A19998AB.

Reservations may also be made directly through TTG or by logging on to the AIA Web site. 

Or you can book your travel online with Kayak.

Car Rental

Hertz: Special meeting rates are yours with Hertz.  Hertz operates in more than 150 countries with almost 1,800 locations in the United States alone, including more than 1,000 suburban locations.  Please contact Tonya Horsley for discounted rate.

Airport Ground Transportation
The approximate cost for a taxi cab from the Helsinki airport to the hotel is $100.00 US.  You can also schedule a sedan pick up at the airport for $144 US.    Additional information regarding sedan pick up will be included in your registration confirmation.

About Helsinki
Helsinki is set apart from other big historical cities by two factors; the great physical presence of nature and the very clear grid pattern used to design the city's streets.  Most big cities have a limited number of parks.  In Helsinki, parks can be found behind almost every corner.  Even in the most densely-built districts of the city center, dense parks have been introduced to liven up the landscape.  Both the overwhelming presence of nature and the clear street pattern - the network of straight, symmetrical wide streets, which make finding any address a simple task - are the creation of the city's two main designers, Johan Albrecht Enrenstrom and Carl Ludvig Engel.

Helsinki is first and foremost a city of great architecture and stunning nature.  Fabulous buildings are everywhere, from the historical buildings around the Senate Square to the mighty Parliament House, the Functionalist silhouette of the Olympic Stadium, to the luster of the Kamp Gallery and Stockmann department store, as well as the several modern buildings designed by the renowned architect Alvar Aalto.

Want to learn more about Helsinki?  Visit www.visitfinland.com for additional information about Helsinki or to explore possible things to do while in Helsinki.

Passport Information
For information on passport requirements for travel to Helsinki, click here.

Greening the Meeting
To help create an environmentally sustainable conference and reduce waste, the AIA is not distributing printed handouts and printed attendee rosters. As an alternative you will receive the advance attendee roster via e-mail a week prior to the meeting if you register by the August 15 deadline.

You are encouraged to do your part as well to assist in greening.  For example, offset travel emission by participating in a "carbon balanced traveler" program such as www.my-climate.com or www.greentagusa.org. 

Force Majeure

The performance of this agreement by either party may be affected by force majeure (including, but not limited to, acts of God, acts of war or other acts of enemies, government  regulation, disaster, strikes, floods, civil disorder, curtailment of transportation facilities, or other emergency or event beyond the control of the parties), thus making it inadvisable, unsafe, illegal, or impossible to provide required accommodations and/or meeting facilities, hold the meeting, or travel to the meeting.  In event of force majeure, either party to this agreement may terminate the agreement upon providing written notice to the other party without penalty or obligation.  Such right of termination shall not be unreasonably exercised.

In addition, the AIA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel this meeting.  In that event, the AIA shall refund to you all registration fees that it has received from you for this meeting, but shall have no further obligation to you of any type, whether monetary or otherwise.  Accordingly, the AIA shall in no event have any liability to you based on claims for indirect, special or consequential damages of any type whatsoever, and shall have no other obligation to you of any type except as expressly stated in the preceding sentence.


Conference Banner Image: The Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex,  Architect: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, 2008 Educational Facility Design Awards, Award of Excellence Winner.

Photo by TIM GRIFFTIH