The AIA Austin Design Excellence Conference delivers dynamic content through renowned keynote speakers and inspiring breakout sessions through the lens of AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence. Attendees can earn 18+ LUs over the two-day conference, fulfilling HSW and ADA annual requirements for TBAE licensure and AIA membership.
In conjunction with the conference, the BEC Symposium will be held on Friday, August 28.
DEC Theme: Fluid
In an era defined by uncertainty, building design is evolving beyond static forms toward flexible, dynamic systems capable of responding to rapid change.
By emphasizing resilience, human-centered design, and meaningful connection in the age of AI, architects today are challenged to create environments that are both adaptable and deeply human; environments that are Fluid.
BEC Symposium: Beauty and the Building Science
“Form versus function” has long shaped the discourse of architecture. With Beauty & the Building Science, our guest speakers from across the country will seek to explore what “high performance” means in architecture today — not only as a measure of technical achievement, but as a synthesis of practical, social, and global responsibility with beauty, human experience, and the enduring soul of place.
Great works of architecture don’t merely find “balance”; they emerge when “the practical” — bound by constraint — informs creativity and innovation, generating meaningful architecture with depth.
KEYNOTES
AUGUST 27
AUGUST 28
REBECCA COOK
Urban Planner and Project Manager, Gehl
ILLYA AZAROFF, FAIA
2026 AIA President
Founder, +LAB architect
BEC SYMPOSIUM KEYNOTE
AUGUST 28
Photo credit: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
CHRIS BENEDICT, R.A.
Owner & Architect, CBRA
ARCHITECTURE <> CHANGING WORLD
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