Last year, while the AIA National Conference was held in Boston, the best AIA-related event on digital technologies at the conference was actually a private event sponsored by Boston architecture firm CBT Architects and numerous tech company sponsors, along with media sponsors like Niknaz Aftahi of aec+tech.
This year, Nirva Fereshetian (CIO of CBT Architects) and Niknaz Aftahi, CEO of aec+tech, will be hosting a similar event at the beautiful Carrier Johnson + Culture office in downtown San Diego during the AIA National Conference on Architecture & Design, the United States’ premier annual conference and exhibition for the architectural industry.
‘archi+tech’ Social Night
The evening event is a mixture of a social get-together with short presentations by technology providers and leaders in the global AEC industry. But largely, it’s a social event where attendees can have real conversations with members of the digital tech community in attendance.
A kind of class picture from last year’s first-ever ‘archi+tech’ Social Night at AIA National in Boston 2025. The event had sponsors from numerous AEC digital technology providers, including the industry’s largest companies.
Carrier Johnson + Culture is a larger architecture and planning firm in San Diego (with offices in Los Angeles and Seattle) with an award-winning portfolio spanning project types. They have graciously offered to host the event in their San Diego office.
Event Details
‘archi+tech’ Social Night will take place at 5:30 pm, Friday, 12 June 2026 (register here), during the week of the AIA Conference in San Diego. This year, the event is focusing on “innovation” and bringing together people who are actually shaping how technology is used in the architecture and AEC industry.
Nirva and Niknaz are curating a group of around 100 to 120 people at the intersection of design and technology, including:
- Architects and firm leaders
- CIOs, CTOs, and innovation directors
- BIM and design technology leaders
- AEC technology founders, investors, and accelerator teams
What is special about this event is the intimacy of the room and the opportunity to showcase the host firm’s location as a bit of an exhibition of their technological prowess. Last year, CBT Architects displayed a stunning set of digital solutions, specialty technology spaces, model shops, and interactive technology tools to give attendees a sense of what practice is like at a tech-forward large firm.
Registration
If you are attending AIA San Diego in early June and would like to attend this event, please register here: https://luma.com/dfmu0kut
