6.30.08 | After fighting the Merchandise Mart’'s first floor NeoCon crowds, becoming lost in an east stairwell and finally catching the correct elevator, I found myself in the sanctuary of IIDA’'s new 5^th Floor Headquarters. IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO, Cheryl Durst, herself, was there to welcome me into the new LEED-CI Gold space designed by Kendall Wilson, principal of Washington D.C. based firm Envison.

6.30.08 | The IIDA celebrated five outstanding projects at it's annual awards banquet, COOL. These projects were chosen for recognition out of over three hundred submissions, –and the firms represented in the top five really put the “international” in IIDA.

5.5.08 | There’'s no doubt in anyone’s mind that Charles and Ray Eames left an astounding legacy to the world of design. From film to product design, this couple created timeless pieces that still resonate to fresh minds today. This year, IIDA Northern California chose to honor them at the 2008 Pioneers in Design event. Charles’ daughter Lucia Eames, and her daughter Llisa Demetrios came to the Four Seasons hotel in San Francisco to represent their family legacy, and to share with us many pictures of the couple and their house that had never before been made public.

5.5.08 | As the industry quakes as the present economic difficulties recall the blood-letting earlier this decade, thoughts inevitably turn toward areas less struck by business cycles. Those include government work and, as if to create some silver lining the IIDA (International Interior Design Association (and Tandus are collaborating to produce a series of events in 2008 for government designers, and in particular members of IIDA’s Government Forum.

4.28.08 | This year's Calibre Awards was a bit different and included a 20 year retrospective of all the worthy, proven partners on the design team. Calibre Awards were given in seven categories.

4.21.08 | During NeoCon 07, an alarm was sounded for the interior design profession. The warning was loud and clear: a serious decline in the pool of interior design educators was and is putting our profession in jeopardy. We realized we need to do something fast to continue fostering future generations of interior designers with the ever increasingly complex skill set demanded by our clients. The original Call to Action Dialogue at NeoCon 07 to address the declining pool of interior design educators, sponsored by Kimball Office, was well attended by interior design educators and practitioners. It became clear that the problem has many challenging and disparate components.

4.21.08 | A year ago, I had never heard of IFI- The International Federation of Interior Architects/ Designers but this august organization was formed when interior design was still in its infancy in the United States. IFI was founded in Denmark in 1963 to unite and provide discussion of interior design issues within a handful of European countries. Now, the organization has membership representing 52 member associations, institutions and schools in 45 countries on every continent and, through its membership associations, represents over 25,000 practicing interior designers worldwide. In the U.S., the American Society of Interior Designers is a full member, and several interior design schools are members. Shashi Caan, as an ASID member, is the president-elect of IFI.

3.31.08 | This year’'s first installment of IIDA NY’'s Pioneering Design series was Jonathan Adler, the celebrity designer whose name dons everything from pottery to textiles to interiors. Mr. Adler is also a judge on Bravo TV’s reality show Top Design and one of the bigger, mainstream names that IIDA has reeled in for the series. The evening’s turnout reflected this, with a practically packed auditorium of at least 300 IIDA guests.