About UCFA
The Utah Center for Architecture educates the public about the power of the built environment to shape our lives, communities, and culture.
The Utah Center for Architecture (UCFA) supports education and initiatives focused on contemporary architecture as well as Utah’s architectural past, our urban environments and created landscapes. We invite Utah’s citizens to gain a new understanding of the places that surround us, join the conversation about “good design”, and support our initiatives to create great places.
Our purpose:
- To educate the public as to the benefits and positive impacts of architecture and the built environment with a variety of programming for people of all ages.
- To provide a platform for communication and the interaction of design professionals and the public in order to promote critical thinking about the built environment and its impacts.
- To document the past and ongoing architectural works within the State of Utah and assist in the education of the public about historic buildings, public monuments, and public and private works.
- To improve the quality of public space through site-based projects, tours, exhibits, presentations, assistance to communities with visioning, and other activities in keeping with our mission.
- To cooperate with and act as the charitable partner of the Utah Chapter of The American Institute of Architects.
UCFA BACKGROUND
In 1983, the Utah Chapter of The American Institute of Architects formed the Utah Foundation for Architecture and the Built Environment as a separate non-profit organization for public outreach and education. This Foundation was active for about a dozen years, offering public lectures, TV segments, and sponsoring special projects. It then became inactive until 2008, when a special project—the Utah Architects Project—inspired AIA Utah to reinstate the Foundation. In doing so, organizers saw a very different potential for public involvement than the one created a generation ago and re-created the organization as the Utah Center for Architecture (UCFA). It is broadly inclusive of all built environment design.
A volunteer board directs the UCFA and collaborates with other organizations on projects of mutual interest.
