RK Stewart, president of the AIA, seems extraordinarily pleased about the arrangement.  “I’m ecstatic to announce our partnership with Google Earth to launch these new layers in celebration of our the 150th anniversary,” he wrote on the Official Google Blog.  Stewart also encouraged users “to explore architecture’s most popular structures and take away some ideas to help enhance the communities we live in.”

That may not be practical – I’m not sure how many rural towns can pony up for their very own version of the Sydney Opera House.  Still, there’s a lot of neat stuff out there, and the new Google Earth layers provide a great way to find it.  As Stewart noted, many of the points of interest on those layers even qualify as “America’s Favorite Architecture . . .  (as selected though a national poll announced earlier this year).”

For still more information on the project, users can turn to a YouTube video posted by “AIA150Google.”  The clip gives some background and technical information, but, to be honest, your time is probably better spent looking at the actual buildings.

The new layers will allow you to look at 150 different structures, “including many with just created 3-D models of the buildings, ballparks, bridges, and memorials that characterize architecture in the eyes of Americans.”  So have at it.  Just don’t set your heart on building another Thomas Jefferson Memorial.