EDITORIAL FLORIDA ARCHITECT Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects 104 East Jefferson Street Post Office Box 10388 Tallahassee, Florida 32302 Publisher/Executive Vice President George A. Allen, CAE, Hon. AIA Editor Diane D. Greer Assistant Publisher Director of Advertising Carolyn Maryland Design and Production Peter Mitchell Associates, Inc. Printing Boyd Brothers Printers Publications Committee Roy Knight, AIA, Chairman Keith Bailey, AIA Gene Leedy, AIA Will Morris, AIA Don Sackman, AIA Editorial Board Ivan Johnson, AIA Dave Fronczak, AIA Roy Knight, AIA President Jerome Filer, AIA 7438 S. W. 48th Street Miami, FL 33155 Vice President/President-elect John Tice, AIA 909 East Cervantes Pensacola, FL 32501 Secretary/Treasurer Richard Reep, AIA 510 Julia Street Jacksonville, FL 32202 Past President Henry C. Alexander, Jr., AIA 4217 Ponce De Leon Blvd. Coral Gables, FL 33146 Regional Directors James H. Anstis, FAIA 444 Bunker Road, Suite 201 West Palm Beach, FL 33405-3694 John Ehrig, AIA 7380 Murrell Rd., Suite 201 Melbourne, FL 32940 Vice President/Member Services Commission Karl Thome, AIA P.O. Box 14182 Gainesville, FL 32604 Vice President/ Public Affairs Commission Rudy Arsenicos, AIA 2560 RCA Blvd., Suite 106 Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 Vice President/Professional Excellence Commission William Blizzard, AIA 11300 Fourth St. N., Ste. 100 St. Petersburg, FL 33716 U. O V. 1 BRARIES This is the first of just four issues of Florida Architect which you will receive this year. The decision to cut two issues is clearly budget-driven and I hope, only temporary. Regrets for the abbreviated publication schedule aside, I hope that 1993 will be the year that the economy improves... not just for the ar- chitecture professional, but for everyone in every profession who is tired of hear- ing about the depressed economy. And, I hope each of you shares my fond hope that 1994 will see the return of six issues of FA and many fine projects to fill its pages. This issue is marked by a number of articles related to awards and unpub- lished projects. There is no theme at work here, just a coincidence of related ma- terial arriving on my desk simultaneously. If there is a theme at work here, it is that several of the articles allude to the rebuilding of Dade County, something that all Florida building professionals ought to be concerned about. In addition, there are several features dealing with projects as disparate as equine barns and swimming pools. No theme there. Just interesting designs. While I'm on the subject of awards, I'd like to share with you the substance of a letter (an article really) that I received last fall following the AIA/Florida Awards for Excellence in Architecture program. The author, a Florida architect, was "expecting to see the excellence" that is alluded to in the title of the awards and instead saw projects that were "uninspiring" and he inquired what the basis for the awards selection was. As stated most eloquently, the writer asked: "Are we, in our time, so willing to accept and live and work in and around buildings that are as limited in their ability to move us to something grander than we dare ourselves to feel? Are we so willing to forfeit a grander feeling of the generosity and quality of a space, and perhaps a quieter feeling of repose and shelter? Are we so willing to relinquish a sense of the rightness of all things, of joyfulness with our humanity and our con- nectedness with our world? The abundance or lack of these qualities, can and will, of course, be seen in our architecture, in spite of ourselves." It is not my place to defend the jury's choices. We may agree or disagree with any choices that any jury makes and I've often wondered if, a year later, even the jury members could tell you why selections were made. But, that's not impor- tant. What is important is that individual pieces of architecture are being recog- nized on the basis of a set of criteria which can be unique to a single juror or common to all three. The projects are judged on the basis of photography, not the genuine article. This is a less than perfect way of assessing architecture, or much of anything else. So, until the system of evaluating the submitted projects improves and we can assemble a jury that is truly not regionally or stylistically bi- ased, we may not get a group of "winners" that pleases everyone...or anyone. This probably sounds like a copout to the architect who wrote to me. Maybe it is. But, what's the alternative? That nothing of any quality is being produced in our region. I doubt that. DG FLORIDA ARCHITECT February 1993