Boston –The Boston Society of Architects/AIA (BSA) and the BSA Foundation announced the launch of the new AIA Guide to Boston app, an innovation that will help advance public appreciation of design in Boston. The app—the first AIA field guide of its kind in the world—puts the power of design exploration in any user’s hands. Effortless to carry and easy to use, the app features concise articles on Boston’s four centuries of architecture. More than 1,000 sites (400 new since the 2008 print edition), color photos, and scores of guides and tours are included on the elegantly designed iPhone app.
“For more than 30 years, Boston has been fortunate to be one of only a few select cities in the U.S. to have its own AIA Guide published as a book,” said 2017 Foundation chair, Laura Wernick FAIA. “It’s exciting to see this updated edition that reflects the city’s rapid development, and even better to have it in a digital format so it can always be current.”
Just by carrying their iPhone, residents and visitors to the city can now have this acclaimed field guide with them all the time. The app can use the phone’s GPS to highlight points of architectural interest and present relevant articles instantly. It also allows sites to be organized and presented in a variety of ways—not just by neighborhood, but also by architect, style, awards, and in walking tours.
Tom Pounds, a Cambridge entrepreneur trained in architecture, partnered with the BSA and the Foundation to produce the app. Pounds drafted and revised entries in concert with local architecture scholars and writers, gathered images contributed by top architectural photographers, and integrated the content onto a custom app platform.
“We believe this is the first comprehensive field guide to a major city’s architecture published as a location-aware mobile app,” Pounds observed. “Once you try it, it’s obvious that an app is the ideal format – particularly when you consider that we’ve doubled the content of the 3rd edition. The BSA and the Foundation have raised the bar for what people will expect from guides like these.”
2017 BSA president Josiah Stevenson FAIA said “The BSA is committed to advocacy on behalf of great design and sharing an appreciation for the built environment with the public. I’m thrilled to mark the BSA’s 150th anniversary with an innovative guide that helps people learn about our city and have fun doing it.”
