The Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture (ACADIA) is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

active in the area of

computer-aided architectural design Computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) software programs are the repository of accurate and comprehensive records of buildings and are used by architects and architectural companies for architectural design and architectural engineering. As ...

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CAAD Computer-aided architectural design (CAAD) computer software, software programs are the repository of accurate and comprehensive records of buildings and are used by architects and architectural companies for Building design, architectural desig ...

Mission statement

Begun in 1981, the organization's objectives are recorded in its bylaws:

''"ACADIA was formed for the purpose of facilitating communication and information exchange regarding the use of computers in architecture, planning and building science. A particular focus is education and the software, hardware and pedagogy involved in education."''

''"The organization is also committed to the research and development of computer aides that enhance design creativity, rather than simply production, and that aim at contributing to the construction of humane physical environments."''

Membership

Membership is open to anyone who subscribes to the objectives of the organization, including

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s, educators, and software developers, whether resident in North America or not. An online membership registration form and directory is available via the organization. The organization is primarily governed by the elected Board of Directors. The organization is led by the elected President, who presides over Board of Directors meetings, but does not vote except in the case of a tie.

Presidents (elected)

Activities

Annual conference

ACADIA sponsors an annual national

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

, held in the autumn of each year at a different site in North America. Papers for the conferences undergo extensive blind review before being accepted for presentation (and publication). Membership is not a prerequisite for submission of a paper.

Proceedings

Each year the conference papers are gathered into a proceedings publication which is distributed to members, and available to the public via the

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

database CumInCAD.

Awards

Started in 1998, ''ACADIA Awards of Excellence'' are "the highest award that can be achieved in the field of architectural computing". The awards are given in areas of practice, teaching, research and service, with at most one award in each category per year. Past awards have recognized various significant contributors to the field of architectural computing. The current awards given annually or biannually are the Lifetime Achievement Award, the Digital Practice Award of Excellence, the Innovative Academic Program Award of Excellence, the Innovative Research Award of Excellence, the Society Award for Leadership, and the Teaching Award of Excellence.

Lifetime Achievement Award

Innovative Research Award of Excellence

Digital Practice Award of Excellence

Society Award for Leadership

Innovative Academic Program Award of Excellence

History

ACADIA was founded in 1981 by some of the pioneers in the field of design computation including Bill Mitchell, Chuck Eastman, and Chris Yessios. Since then, ACADIA has hosted over 40 conferences across North America and has grown into a strong network of academics and professionals in the design computation field.

Related organizations

Sister organizations

There are four sister organizations around the world to provide a more accessible regional forum for discussion of computing and design. The major ones are *

CAADRIA The Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) (founded in 1996) provides a platform for CAAD-related academics and professionals to share experiences, best practices, and results in education and research in As ...

- The Association for Computer Aided Architectural Design in Asia, since 1996. *

SIGraDi The Sociedad Iberoamericana de Gráfica Digital, SIGraDi (Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics) gathers researchers, educators and professionals in architecture, urban design, communication design, Product Design and Art whose work involves t ...

- Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics, since 1997. * ASCAAD - The Arab Society for Computer Aided Architectural Design, since 2001. * eCAADe - The Association for Education and Research in Computer-Aided Architectural Design in Europe.

Other related organizations

* CAAD Futures - Computer Aided Architectural Design Futures, since 1985. * CUMINCAD - The Cumulative Index of Computer Aided Architectural Design, with public CumInCAD records available via an Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) feed and records are available via multiple bibliographic archives and citation indexes online.

References

External links

Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture
{{Authority control Information technology organizations based in North America Architectural design Non-profit architecture organizations based in the United States Charities based in North Dakota