BC3 Principal, Jason Tapia Appointed to AIA National Post as Florida Representative

Miami - Building Center No.3 (BC3) Principal, Jason Tapia, AIA, NCARB, CDT, LEED AP was appointed to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Small Firm Exchange (SFx) as the Florida Regional Representative. The appointment is a two year commitment which involves meeting twice a year in person, and bi-weekly conference calls.

SFx Mission  
The mission of the AIA Small Firm Round Table is to advance the mutual interests of architects practicing in small firms. Objectives of the AIA Small Firm Round Table are three-fold. 
(1) Advocate for small firms within the AIA and in outside organizations and agencies. 
(2) Promote leadership in Small Firm professional development and practice
(3) Facilitate and support the local component round tables and small firm networks. 

“I am looking forward to contributing at the national level and using this opportunity to establish, with the support of the AIA Miami Chapter, a Miami Small Firm Round Table. The goals would be to build the network of small firm practitioners, encourage other architects interested in starting their own practice, and offer, through the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, periodic learning seminars to assist practitioners with the successful management of their firms.”

https://network.aia.org/smallfirmexchange/home

BC3 Principal Jason Tapia, AIA Presents at DASH for Second Year

Miami - Jason Tapia, AIA, Principal at Building Center No.3 (BC3), a design firm in Downtown Miami, presented for the second consecutive year at Design Architecture Senior High (DASH) in the Design District. Invited by architecture faculty member, Eric Hankin, this year’s presentation focused on the value of a professional degree in architecture and the alternative career paths available to graduates of these programs.

DASH is a Miami Dade magnet high school with intensive curriculum in architecture, industrial design, visual communications, entertainment and fine art. The architecture program is lead by instructor Eric Hankin. For the last two years Mr. Hankin has extended an invitation to Jason to speak before students in architecture and industrial design. This year over 50 students were in attendance, and asked a number of questions ranging from: 
“Where do get your inspiration from as a designer?" to “What motivated you to start your own design firm?”

The presentation was titled, Critical Thinking: The Merits of Architecture Degree. The topic was loosely organized around what skills are taught in architecture school and how those skills can be applied to fields outside of the architecture profession. This year’s presentation featured Cornell University Graduate, Amanda Williams, Artist and Professor of Color Theory at the Illinois Institute of Technology; MIT graduate Jenna Fizel, former co-founder of Continuum Fashion;  Columbia graduate, Michael Szivos, founder of SOFTlab; and MIT graduate, Skylar Tibbits, Computer Scientist and Professor at MIT. Each individual completed a degree in or a concentration in architecture but went on to practice and earn success in disciplines beyond the conventional architecture practice. ”The goal was to connect with students interested in an architecture degree but apprehensive  about the longer term commitment to the profession. I wanted them see that the degree was not a constraint but rather a launch pad for other creative interests,” said Jason. “I wanted the presentation to  be about the important skills all architecture graduates learn; I chose to work in the field and eventually start my own practice, but there are other paths just as rewarding.”

See the presentation below
 

BC3 Principal Jason Tapia Co-Presents at AIA Study Group Seminar

AIA Miami hosted a study group seminar at the MCAD to encourage Associate members, students and aspiring architects to pool their resources and form study groups. The presentation was a joint effort between BC3 Principal, Jason Tapia, AIA; Elizabeth Camargo, AIA; and Christian Mejia, Associate AIA. See below for the contents of the presentation: