Bob Berkebile, FAIA

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After witnessing Whitney M.\nYoung Jr.\u2019s groundbreaking Thundering Silence keynote address at the 1968 AIA\nconvention, Bob Berkebile, FAIA, then an intern architect, penned an article\nthat challenged his colleagues and community to form a more inclusive and\nequitable profession. Throughout the ensuing 53 years, Berkebile has striven to\nbolster the quality and resilience of all life as his work has grown in\nintensity and scale. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"A student of Buckminster\nFuller, Berkebile was introduced to systems thinking and the concept of\n\u201cSpaceship Earth\u201d early in his career, and his ensuing designs have been\nintrinsically linked to the health and well-being of larger support systems.\nHis early epiphanies continually shaped his path through the profession, one\nmarked by an eagerness to collaborate in an effort to improve designs and the\nquality of the built environment. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cBeyond his noble work to\nensure the environmental friendliness of architectural projects, Bob has\nconsistently stood out as a strong advocate for equity in design and female\nleadership,\u201d wrote U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II, in a letter supporting\nBerkebile\u2019s nomination for the Edward C. Kemper Award. \u201cFor over 60 years, Bob\nhas emphasized the importance of health and wellness in relation to\narchitectural design, while making sure to create equitable and inclusive\nexperiences for all people.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Berkebile is a founding\npartner of BNIM, the recipient of the 2011 AIA Architecture Firm Award, based\nin Kansas City, Missouri. In 1981, when the city\u2019s Hyatt Regency skywalks\ncollapsed and killed 114 guests, he had what was the most sobering of his\narchitectural revelations. After a long night of serving as a member of the\nrescue team, Berkebile emerged with questions about the impact and unintended\nconsequences design has on the people architects serve. In search of answers,\nhe became the founding chair of the AIA\u2019s Committee on the Environment (COTE)\nwith the support of his firm, AIA Kansas City, past presidents, and the first\n$1 million commitment from the Environmental Protection Agency. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Since its inception, COTE\nhas advanced sustainability to the forefront of design, challenging the\nprofession to address the most pressing environmental concerns through\nproactive practice. Berkebile was integral in the development of COTE\u2019s\nEnvironmental Resource Guide and its Top Ten program, both of which have\nbroadened the committee\u2019s vital reach and impact. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cBob has always lifted\nothers, insisted on true collaboration, and demonstrated inclusion,\u201d wrote\nBetsy del Monte, FAIA, COTE\u2019s 2021 chair, in a letter supporting Berkebile\u2019s\nnomination. \u201cHe saw feminine leadership as crucial to the work. His words: \u2018We\nneed a more holistic, integrated approach that\u2019s more nurturing. That will take\nmore leadership from women or from the feminine side of all of us.\u2019 The ranks\nof COTE chairs over time tells the gender diversity story: 12 of 26 have been\nwomen.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Berkebile was also\ninstrumental in the formation of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and\npromoted the pursuit of sustainability at all levels of the profession, from\ndesign to operations. Its establishment spurred a number of important\nadvancements, including the LEED rating system, piloted by BNIM for the\nEducational Performance \u0026 Innovation Center at Montana State University in the\nlate 1990s, and the annual Greenbuild Conference that welcomes design\nprofessionals from around the world. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Following a visit to\nAntarctica\u2019s McMurdo Station in the early 1990s, Berkebile was presented with\nglobal climate forecasts that accurately described what the world is\nexperiencing today. That information further reinforced his understanding of\nthe relationship between the design of the built environment and climate\nchange. As an AIA delegate to 1992\u2019s Earth Summit, he helped draft Agenda 21, a\ncomprehensive action plan for sustainable development. These experiences were\nthe foundation for his later contributions to the Living Building Challenge and\nthe REGEN tool, a critical resource in facilitating regenerative design. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Berkebile has long sought\nto deeply engage communities across the world in support of environmental\nresearch and design. He assembled a team of 110 architects, astrophysicists,\nartists, educators, and others to provide important questions for President\nBill Clinton\u2019s Greening of the White House initiative, and he has worked with\ncommunities in post-disaster situations in the American South to enact\ntransformational change. His focus on community and environmental resilience\ncontinues today, manifesting in initiatives such as the Regenerative Heartland\nPartnership. A collaboration between three nature- and agriculture-focused\norganizations, the partnership seeks to radically alter land management and the\nfood system to transfer carbon from the atmosphere to the soil. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cFor the last 30 years, Bob\nhas toured the United States to inculcate the design and construction industry\nabout the lasting benefits of a truly \u2018green architecture,\u2019\u201d wrote David Lake,\nFAIA. \u201cWhether lecturing and educating students of architecture or addressing\ncivic leaders, Bob\u2019s passionate voice has forever shifted our profession\u2019s\nfocus from the single art art-driven building to the lasting value of an\necologically sound design process.\u201d"]]]]}