In the civic spirit: AIA New York to host seminars on GSA program.

Ten years ago the agency responsible for all civilian federal buildings, the U.S. General Services Administration, inaugurated its Design Excellence Program. The goal: to help the federal government to commission inspiring, contemporary civic architecture that reflects and promotes American ideals.

What has the GSA's Design Excellence Program achieved since 1994? How do the nation's finest architects, artists and designers now collaborate with the federal government? From September 13 through November 10, the public may learn some of the answers in a new exhibition "Civic Spirit: Changing the Course of Federal Design" at New York's Center for Architecture.

The exhibition comes at a time when New York City is embarking on its own design excellence program. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on July 12 that the City of New York would soon be actively seeking out the best and brightest architects, designers and engineers for municipal building projects through an innovative procurement process.

Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to see models, photographs, renderings and site plans of 19 exemplary projects, both completed and in progress, that have been undertaken over the past decade under the Design Excellence Program. These projects represent a wide range of building types--courthouses, border stations, federal office buildings-in locations throughout the United States. "Civic Spirit" also features images of artworks created for new federal buildings, as well as an original light installation by artist Leo Villareal designed for Antoine Predock's El Paso courthouse. In other parts of the exhibition, visitors will explore the process by which GSA now works with architects, artists and city agencies around the country; view video interviews with participating architects; and see a video of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan discussing the principles behind the Design Excellence Program.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Center for Architecture will present more than 15 public programs focusing on topics such as environmental stewardship, security challenges and the interplay between federal design excellence and public policy.

The exhibition and program series will kick off at 5 p.m. on Monday, September 13, with a discussion of "Design Excellence: Building for the American People," featuring Commissioner of Public Buildings E Joseph Moravec and Chief Architect Edward A. Feiner. An opening reception will follow, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Admission to the exhibition "Civic Spirit: Changing the Course of Federal Design" is free. Gallery hours at the Center for Architecture are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A complete schedule of public programs for "Civic Spirit" is available online at www.aiany.org/civicspirit. For further information on the Center for Architecture, the public may call the AIA New York Chapter at [phone].