The Emerging Professionals Committee of the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects will start a new event series this month called “Square Table” to provide a multi-generational forum for discussions about architecture.

Designer Melissa March of the DOWA-IBI Group organized the first event in the series. The forum “How Important is Licensure Anyway?” will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m., at the Portland State University Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 S.W. Park Ave., in Portland.

March has a master’s degree in architecture and is pursuing her license. She said the pros and cons of licensure have been a major topic of discussion among young architects. She hopes the forum will attract architects and designers from a range of generations.

“It’s an open forum for discussion, and we titled the event that way to encourage participation. We are interested in all different perspectives,” March said.

March said the forum will have a facilitator but only to introduce a topic and give background information and talking points.

“It is intentionally unmoderated because we felt it important that we didn’t drive the discussion in a particular direction and have (a topic) audience members can explore,” she said.

Robert Hoffman, executive vice president and CEO of AIA Portland, said when he was first approached about the forum he was somewhat thrown off by the title.

“It’s not a flippant subject and is very important,” he said. “We do want to have the sessions talking about it but we don’t want the general public to feel that with AIA it is debatable. It’s a very important part of the public trust in what we do and the complexities of the practice are vast.”

But Hoffman added that he thinks the discussion will be beneficial for all.

“I think it will be good to have us all in the room. AIA doesn’t question licensing and will try to help make the process better,” he said. “It should be an interesting discussion with the generation coming up. We want to understand their perspective and be supportive but explain the reasons licensing is very complex and very needed.”

More information about the forum is available at the .

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