In 1998, co-founders Joshua Aidlin and David Darling joined forces in a small woodshop studio crafting furniture. As that partnership grew, they took their approach to sensible and functional design to their work-a-day jobs as architects. Eventually joining forces and launching their own design firm, Aidlin Darling Design in San Francisco, they found a way to take their ethos and approach to custom furniture design to large scale projects. This podcast excavates the many layers and nuances Aidlin and Darling employ to integrate biophilic design, all the human senses and sustainable design into high-profile projects. Their approach to each project is client and site specific, and includes open communication among clients, consultants, fabricators, and builders to achieve innovative, unexpected results.

From projects like the AIA Center for Design in San Francisco, to the University of Virginia Contemplative Sciences Center, Aidlin and Darling practice an architecture of restraint that has a focus on nature, coupled with sensorial engagement of occupants.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the inspirational approach to design of Aidlin and Darling.
2. Explain how Aidlin and Darling reached out to the local art community to elevate the AIA Center for Design project.
3. Discuss the deliberate intention of incorporating biophilic design into the UVA Contemplative Sciences Center.
4. List the ways that Aidlin and Darling believe the next wave of architects can be cultivated and encouraged to pursue a career in design.

Credits: 0.5 AIA LU/HSW

Speaker: Aaron Prinz