AIA Convention and Expo 2003

April 4, 2003

SAN DIEGO — Stone shows up in plenty of places nowadays … including the largest gathering of architects in the United States.
Some 15,000 of them will likely pass through the American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2003 National Convention and Expo on May 8-10 in San Diego. And, if they’re looking for it, they’ll find stone.
The event’s trade show will feature a Stone and Tile Pavilion, with more than 30 companies offering the latest in flooring and cladding. It’s also a place to find some familiar names in the natural-stone trade, such as:
• Cold Spring Granite Co.
• Halquist Stone Co. Inc.
• Vetter Stone Co.
• Santa Barbara Sandstone;
• JMS/Jurassic Stone Co.;.and
• Marble Institute of America.
The Stone Federation of Great Britain is also bringing natural stone across the Atlantic and North America to San Diego, with representatives from Dunhouse Natural Stone, Farrar’s Yorkshire Stone, Hanson PLC, the Stirling Stone Group and Axtell Perry Symm Masonry Ltd.
Along with allied companies such as Cathedral Stone Products Inc., Laticrete International Corp., MAPEI Corp. and PROSOCO Inc., the stone faction is part of an expo floor with 600-plus exhibitors covering 135,000 ft² at the San Diego Convention Center. The trade show includes a variety of building-material vendors and other interior/exterior furnishings.
The show’s only part of the event, as the AIA offers more than 170 seminars and workshops for continuing education Learning Units (LUs) under its umbrella theme of “Design Matters! poetry + proof.” While none deal specifically with stone itself, its use is featured in several presentations, including “Plaza Paving and Waterproofing: The Plane Truth” on May 9.
The convention also features daily theme presentations, with speakers Dr. Fred Gage of The Salk Institute for Biological Studies Laboratory of Genetics; Thomas Kelly, general manager of the IDEO industrial design and development firm; and Robert Ivey, FAIA, editor-in-chief of Architectural Record.
The convention’s itinerary also includes 44 professional tours, visiting architectural sites of interest from historic California missions, San Diego’s Old Town and modern Tijuana to the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles and modernism in Palm Springs.