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Dear Members of the Retail and Entertainment Knowledge
Community (REC):
As the 2008 chair, I thank you for your decision to join REC. This
is the start of our 3rd year and our membership has just passed
1,150 members (almost double our membership at this time last
year)!
As we continue to move forward, please keep the REC Vision in
mind:
The Retail and Entertainment Knowledge Community (REC) will
foster the creation, discussion and dissemination of knowledge
about the retail and entertainment environments among
practitioners, clients, retailers and the general public, to
advance the practice and improve the quality of retail and
entertainment environments.
I would like to take this opportunity to bring you up to speed on
REC’s accomplishments for 2007 and inform you of our plans for
this year:
Last year, REC held two Focus Group Receptions,
one in San Antonio as part of the AIA Convention and the other in
Phoenix as part of the ICSC’s Centerbuild conference in
December, in order to reach out and open a dialogue with both AIA
members and reach out to allied organizations and their members.
Our goal was to validate our internal ideas about how REC can best
serve the interests of these groups. It was through these
receptions that we invited participation in our mission and vision.
The knowledge captured and the connections made will be invaluable
as REC continues to grow and build upon its past projects.
REC organized a full day workshop at the last year's AIA National
Convention, entitled “A Tale of Two
Malls.” Participants first visited two regional
shopping malls located across the street from one another and then
engaged in discussions with the individuals that were responsible
for most of their developement and history. As a unique twist, we
divided the attendees into two groups. Each group was tasked with
developing different strategies as though they were the
owner/developer of their respective malls. Collectively, we then
discussed their strategies and successes (along with the actual
owner/developers) and determined what worked and what did not. The
workshop was a success in that it was filled to capacity and the
general feedback was that participants had never participated in a
workshop that was structured in such a manner.
The REC Advisory Group was asked to nominate jurors for the
Retail Traffic Magazine’s annual SADI
Awards. Of the nine jurors, five were affiliated with the
AIA REC. Along with the announcement of the SADI Award winners, AIA
REC members contributed to an article, "Current and Future Trends
in Retail Architecture" which was included in the awards
supplement. As a member of REC, you received this special retail
traffic issue.
As you can see, 2007 was a year full of success and we hope the
value you received as a member of the REC was just as exciting.
2007 has been a building year culminating with the announcement at
the Knowledge Leadership Assembly that, after two incubator years,
REC had been elevated to an official AIA Knowledge Community.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Michael
Lingerfelt, AIA, of McGillivray Consulting Group for his tremendous
leadership and vision as the 2007 REC Chair. We are lucky to have
Michael serving again in 2008 as Past Chair.
I also would like to extend a most sincere thank you to Ed Shriver,
Jr. AIA, of Strada. Ed is one of the main reasons that REC is here
today and that retail and entertainment architecture gets the
exposure it clearly deserves. Thanks to Ed’s efforts, almost 4
years ago, we now have a Knowledge Community dedicated to the work
that we do. As of December 31, 2007, Ed has stepped down from his
role on the REC Advisory Group, but still remains active in the
Knowledge Community. We will miss his enthusiasm and insights, and
thank him for his integral role over the past 4 years.
As we begin 2008, I welcome our newest member, Kiku Obata, of Kiku
Obata & Company to the REC Advisory Group.
It is with tremendous excitement that I assure you 2008 will
provide REC members with even more value than last year:
REC will continue to work with allied
organizations actively engaged in promoting quality retail
places, such as the Urban Land Institute (ULI), International
Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), International Downtown
Association, Project for Public Spaces, International Association
of Amusement Parks and Attractions and the Themed Entertainment
Association. Our goals are to strengthen our connections with these
organizations and to look for ways to share knowledge and
resources.
We hope to engage AIA REC and other local AIA members in
contributing issues, knowledge, and questions that will help
identify topics where new research or resources would be most
valuable. We plan to begin to grow the content on the REC Web site and encourage anyone
interested to submit articles or relevant case studies to our
attention at rec@aia.org.
For the 3rd straight year, REC will hold a one-day pre-convention
workshop at the 2008 AIA
National Convention in Boston, entitled
“Downtown Crossing Boston”. This will be a
review and case study of the development of the commercial and
retail core of this classic American city. Sitting atop the
intersection of four subway lines, surrounded by local and national
retailers, Downtown Crossings has all the elements needed for
successful urban retail - but sucess continues to elude it! Newbury
Street, Boyleston Street and even Copley Square are Retail
successes, while Downtown Crossing is mired in mediocrity. Today
Downtown Crossing is undergoing a surge of planning, in order to
improve and strengthen this prime retail center. Participants will
be provided a detailed abstract of the program which was used in
the evaluation process, and which describes how the specifics of
the program relates to the theme. The workshop will end with each
group reporting the key factors and lessons learned, which will
in-turn be captured in a case study to be published on the REC Web site and presented as a
seminar at the 2009 AlA National Convention.
I hope you can tell by this email how excited I am to build upon
the past success of the REC. The Advisory Group, can-not do this
alone, however, and we encourage everyone to become engaged in some
fashion.
If you have any questions or comments, or wish to become more
involved in REC please email rec@aia.org.
Sincerely,
Charlie Kridler, AIA - 2008 Chair
Gensler
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