the Third Thursday

March 21, 2024

CiV : : the Center for Architecture + Design

251 Riverside Drive, Memphis, TN 38013

PARKING GUIDANCE BELOW

11:30am Doors Open

12:00pm Program Begins

1:00pm Go. Do.

AIA Continuing Education: 1 LU (pending)

$30: AIA Memphis Member & Corporate Partners

$40: Public

Registration is non-refundable.

Sponsorships available:
$250 Tabletop Display

(Scroll down for booking form)

Sponsored by:



AI/AIA : : Survive or Thrive

Amber Lombardo

AIA Memphis & CiV Executive Director
2024 AIA Global Board of Directors
2023 President, AIA Global Council of Architectural Component Executives (CACE)

Originally presented at the AIA Global Leadership Summit on March 1, 2024, in Washington DC, this session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) had standing room only and has since received 3 invitations to present at other components and conferences.

Analogous to the disruption by AI on the architectural profession, Lombardo shares her experience in the web development industry as it saw rapid evolution from hand-coding to consumer-driven solutions, redirecting her career into the architectural industry. See interviews with members of the AIA Global Strategic Council: Kathy Hancox, AIA, HK Associates; Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, Brooks Scarpa; and Ayodele Yusuf, AIA, Perkins Eastman. Learn about key design use cases presented by Dan Stine, AIA, Lake|Flato.

• Learn about other professions that have weathered similar disruptors
• Explore how architects can use AI in practice
• Hear about the AI work of the AIA Global Strategic Council
• Engage in a discussion about the ethics of intellectual property.

Amber Lombardo is the Executive Director of AIA Memphis and founder of CiV, the Center for Architecture + Design in West Tennessee. She serves on the 2024 AIA Global Board of Directors and Government Advocacy Committee (as liaison to the Strategic Council's Artificial Intelligence working group). Previous AIA Global service includes 2023 President of the Council of Architectural Component Executives (CACE), 2023 Strategic Council, 2022 Secretary's Advisory Council, and 2019 Advocacy Capacity Building Group. 

Lombardo has a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies in Architecture, Civil Engineering and Marketing from Mississippi State University. Upon graduation, she worked as a web developer for a variety of organizations (most notably the National Science Foundation Engineer Research Center) in the then-emerging tech industry. In 1999 she began her own web shop and sold it 17 years later after it evolved into an advertising agency, community magazine, art gallery and digital print shop, garnering over 70 industry awards ranging up to international recognition. 

In 2016 she returned to architecture through grassroots advocacy efforts for the Mississippi Historic Tax Credit and later, in coordination with the National Trust, the Federal Historic Tax Credit. She has presented at several AIA Global conferences, at the National Main Street Conference, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Action's National Preservation Week and more. Her creative works (photography, writing, etc) have appeared in numerous notable publications including National Geographic Traveler, Preservation Magazine, Where to Retire, Southern Bride Magazine, and others. She has launched three magazines, Elevation the Journal of the Mississippi Heritage Trust, TourCollierville Magazine, and Folio the Annual of AIA Memphis. Recent awards include the 2021 AIA Memphis President's Award, the 2022 Memphis Business Journal's Women Who Lead in Architecture, and 2023 AIA Global Louise Blanchard Bethune Fellow. 

She is a native of Enterprise, Mississippi and currently resides in Collierville, Tennessee.

GETTING HERE

• Uber and Lyft are both reliable services that are usually less than the parking fee and provide front door service.
  
• Groove-On-Demand costs just $1.25 per ride and can accommodate several guests
  
• The Memphis Trolley has a stop at our front door. Just $1 per ride.

PARKING

Over 2,000 parking spots are within 2 blocks of CiV. We suggest the following (in order of distance):

• 1 min: Free Rockstar Parking at the front door is available to those with mobility issues (prior reservation by emailing Amber) and cars of 3+ guests.
  
• 3 min: Tom Lee Park has free streetside parking along Riverside Drive
  
• 4 min: 210 Wagner Place (use discount code LUNCH)
  
• 7 min (w stairs): Downtown Mobility Center at 60 Beale Street
  
• 8 min (w stairs): MLGW Parking lot
  
• Downtown Street Parking: Access the Cutbank Bluff from Lynne Jordan Turley Plaza where Vance Avenue meets the Bluff Walk (formerly Vance Park).