The American Institute of Architects' annual architecture & design event AIA Conference On Architecture 2020 has been postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. 

This year's conference was originally scheduled to take place on May 14-16, 2020 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, but it has now been postponed until further notice. 

In an announcement by the AIA on March 13th, it said the AIA is currently exploring options to reschedule the event and will update its members with details when the new dates are available. 

The AIA Conference On Architecture 2020 is only one of several postponed events and conferences so far, see the full list of postponed or cancelled events around the world here. 

"AIA has been closely monitoring directives from city, county, and state officials, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization throughout this crisis" said AIA 2020 President Jane Frederick, FAIA. 

"The health and safety of our members, colleagues, exhibitors and speakers is paramount and we feel compelled to postpone the annual conference to minimize the risk to our valued participants and partners." 

"By making this decision in advance, we also hope to minimize any stress or inconvenience for our participants and partners," added Frederick. 

The AIA is also issuing refunds to its registrants. Complete details can be found on the AIA Conference on Architecture 2020 website.

This year, the event was expecting to host over 500 sessions, tours, parties, networking and host over 650 exhibitors at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Expertly curated, exclusive, architect-led tours were going to give participants special access to LA’s high-profile, historic, and avant-garde architecture.

Bjarke Ingels, founder and principal of BIG, was a special guest for this year's conference, as well as Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated actress Ashley Judd and architect-trained fashion designer and artist Virgil Abloh.

Many schools, design centers, institutions and museums have also closed its doors to the public and its community to prevent the spread of the outbreak. The Met, MoMA, SFMOMA, AIA Philadelphia, AIA New York and Center for Architecture are only a few of them closing its doors until second notice. 

US is one of the affected countries and the seventh country that has the most Covid-19 cases after China, the origin of the outbreak. At the time of the writing, 6,496 cases have been detected and 114 deaths have been reported in the US until now, including Washington, New York, California, Florida, Louisiana, Colorado, Indiana, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey and South Dakota.

Top image courtesy of Los Angeles Convention Center

> via The AIA