The sputtering economy and markets might mean more than a shrinking 401(K) and a mortgage at odds with reality.

This Foster design is planned for Moscow

I’m not talking about hunger, job losses or increased poverty: I’m talking about plans to build crazy skyscrapers coming to a halt. Architect David Chipperfield told Bloomberg this week that the global financial crisis will take the wind out of the sails of the “wow” building industry.

Chipperfield said “wow” buildings are a result of an excess that just can’t be counted on to fund such projects anymore. I’m not sure if we’ve really reached that point in places like Dubai and the former Soviet Union where announcements for new record-setting buildings still seem to come in at a pretty good clop.

I do wonder what kind of architecture will spring from the coming decade. Will it be borne of necessity, hinged on frugality, or greased by lots of public dough? What will it look like if it’s all of the above? Will it at least stop getting taller and taller and taller?

What about here? We all know about the staggering number of public projects built in the U.S. during the Great Depression. Some are still “wows,” others might best be categorized as “hows?” Construction on Seattle’s own Viaduct and seawall started in 1934.

Monday night’s AIA Awards were a departure from last year, when the jurors gave four of seven awards to posh private residences and lamented a lack of civic engagement among Seattle firms.

Woodway Residence was the only single family winner this year

This year, there was only one single family award winner. And multifamily infill and public projects dominated the winners.

Some local firms cleaned up. Weinstein A/U lugged home three awards, two of them Honors. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, The Miller|Hull Partnership and E. Cobb Architects each took home two.

The jurors scolded some award-winners for not including enough contextual and site information. They applauded AIA Seattle for including actual site tours as part of the decision process. Those tours helped them cut a few projects that had looked good in the pictures but they said didn’t work on site.

Check out detailed descriptions of the 14 winners and read more about why the jury picked them online.

In recent years, the rich deep colors of autumn leaves and “Halloween orange” have added a pastel partner – PINK! With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the typical color spectrum seems to have a sea of pink washing on its shores.

Leisure's Agave restaurant

Now, more than ever, pink is everywhere. The breast cancer movement lead by the Susan G. Komen Foundation chose pink as their identity color for this predominantly female disease. Since the onset of their visibility and that of other breast cancer organizations the color pink appears more frequently in clothes and household products. Historically, pink was more associated with Flamingos, Barbie and little girls’ fashion.

After World War II, during the post-modern era of design, it was popular for interior finishes. The film Pillow Talk prominently featured shades of pink in Doris Day’s Manhattan apartment, including oodles of pink pillows (Doris played interior designer Jan Morrow). Even the posters were primarily pink in color.

Let’s not forget your Aunt Edith’s pink tile bathroom with the matching vanity and toilet. A few years later, Aunt Edith traded in her pink for that 60’s “avocado period.”

Gatsby in pink

Pink had a minor resurgence in the 70s -This time it was the boys wearing it. Instead of burning bras, men found their own sense of liberation ditching the traditional blue and black suits for more modern colors and patterns. Some might credit the psychedelic revolution for that, but personally I believe this trend was inspired by Robert Redford appearing in a pink tuxedo for the film The Great Gatsby. For some of us, he looked as yummy as strawberry ice cream on a hot summer’s day.

Today, pink finally has its rightful place in design. Take for instance the Mary Kay Cosmetics headquarters in Shanghai. This is no dull “dusty rose” hangover from the 80’s. Designed by Gensler Architects, and finished in 2007, this is a seriously well designed modern office. A combination of color, sophistication, light and functional flexibility, it may well be one of the best palettes of pink ever used in a corporate office space. Its design gestures inspired by roses create a very inviting place to work and visit.

Bouganvillea at Night

Some of you might ask: Do pink and sustainability go together? The answer is an emphatic yes. There are some wonderful eco-products available in pink. Ecohaus for example carries Geostone recycled tiles and Sandhill tile made from 100 percent recycled glass. They also have some interesting combinations from the Yolo Paint’s Petal line.

In addition, I would recommend checking out Madison & Grow’s wallpaper. They are 100 percent toxic free, made from recycled content. I especially like “Bouganvilla at Night;” it’s a fairly traditional pattern, with a wonderful shade of pink on a gray background.

One of my favorite local design firms is Leisure Corporation. They are uber-creative folks with a great sense of humor who add this magical sense of delight to their work. I recently spoke with Justin Zier, their founder, about his project Agave, a hip Las Vegas restaurant. Here’s what he had to say:

“I think pink is the new Friday. I like pink so much I have four pink Christmas trees. The interior color palate of one of our restaurant projects in Las Vegas was inspired by a Mexican Begonia. It’s wicked pink.”

By the way, I share Justin’s sentiment, but I only have one pink Christmas tree for now. I proudly display my vintage pink reindeer along side of it.

Chandegra's Routemaster, from the Standard

The UK’s Evening Standard had a story today on an NBBJ architect’s vision for “the 21st century Routemaster,” that iconic red double-decker bus you’ve probably seen on postcards, in Austin Powers movies, and maybe even on the bustling streets of modern London.

Paresh Chandegra’s design is not your mum’s double-decker, though. The curvier, shinier model includes onboard digital navigation screens for passengers, and, while it includes the “hop-on hop-off feature of the old Routemaster” at the rear, the front has sliding doors.

Chandegra’s design is one of 225 entered in a competition for a revamped Routemaster launched by London Mayor Boris Johnson. The winner could be announced next month.

COOP 15 Architecture's Kaneko Pool House

Check out the competition. AIA Seattle 2008 Honor Awards entries are now available online.

Unbuilt entries include Eastgate Elementary School, the 99 K house and a project that takes its inspiration from a lightning bug.

The Museum of Flight Pedestrian Bridge, Alki Statue of Liberty plaza, Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center and Northgate Library are among the built entries.

My google alerts on local architecture firms were off the hook this morning. Here are some of the interesting links that popped up:

Seattle design stands out

Metropolis had fun delving into Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen’s design process on the new Wing Luke Asian Museum.“I fell in love with the building in its worst possible state,” muses Rick Sundberg in the article. “It took me a long time to calm down enough. But, eventually, I began to see what I was talking about.”

Architectural Record has a story on how architectural firms are faring in the economy, including a brief snippet on Mahlum and how slowing of school work in Portland means some Portland architects are working in the firm’s Seattle office.

Mahlum is hiring, though. Check out AIA Seattle’s job board.

Speaking of the economy, the DJC is also running a series, “Downturn hits home,” on the impact the economy is having on the local A/E/C industry. Monday’s story was on contractors, Tuesday we touched on architecture and engineering firms, and today’s story had tips for job seekers. A fourth installment on real estate will run soon.

The Coloradan also reports that LMN was picked to design a performance hall near Fort Collins. Sustainable Industries had a story today on High Point.

And in local blog news, a recent blog start-up that talked smack about local condos has been removed from the Web.

Have a few more minutes? AIA Seattle has an online questionnaire that will help them shape a climate change education program to update the 50>>50 Initiative.

Several Seattle architects sitting on a ULI panel last week said their firms had decided not to take The 2030 challenge. But it’s not who you think, and their reasons might surprise you.

"Enviro Tower" by Eco-Logikal

Sandy Mendler, now a principal at Mithun, said Mithun isn’t taking the challenge because it doesn’t fit with the firm’s goals of improving urbanism and working toward less sprawl. She said meeting carbon targets on large standalone buildings is not the way to go. An environmental challenge should focus more on what really happens in urban buildings, she said.

Robert Miller, a principal at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, said his firm also hadn’t taken the challenge. His problem was with the commitment to meeting the challenge on all new buildings. He said the wording should be changed to commit a firm to meeting the challenge “on average,” throughout all of its work.

Chris Pardo of Pb Elemental said his firm also hasn’t taken the challenge. He said on the projects that Pb designs and develops, they are choosing to design to standards of the challenge because “we believe it’s something we should be doing no matter what.”

Peter Greaves of Weber Thompson and Margaret Montgomery of NBBJ also sat on the panel. Both said their firms have taken the challenge.

“It’s not achievable if we don’t try,” Montgomery said.

I’ll talk more about comments made by the panel in a story running on Wednesday’s A/E page.

The New York Times had an interesting story this week on the promise of modern pre-fab.

Reviewing MOMA’s “Home Delivery” exhibition, Allison Arief laments that the show lauds designs that are never actually built, ignoring those designers who bring pre-fab fantasies to life (see some local examples here, here, here and here.)

A pre-fab apartment might not look as appealing behind glass as Archigram’s living pods or Instant City airships, but people actually rest their heads there at night.

Archigram's Instant City Airships, c. 1969

Speaking of the way we live, the Oregonian reported Tuesday on Portlanders tearing up their lawns for gardens. The article cites a chain-reaction that occurs where one lawn goes garden and neighbors break out spades to follow suit.

The article asks the question: Do we keep our lawns just to keep up appearances? In Seattle, a lot of us let grass go brown in summer. But when one lawn goes gleaming green, neighbors quickly follow suit with sprinkler and fertilizer.

(The article also said lawn mower fumes make up one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in certain urban areas, though the source was not clear. Yikes!)

With people growing gardens street-side, going green on top isn’t much of a stretch. The Portland Tribune reports on the Rose City’s coming green roof grants.

How do we live in the Northwest? How should we live?

If you find yourself spending too much time ruminating on these questions, consider attending the coming Design for Livability Conference, Thursday’s Envisioning the Future of Architecture, or touring Friday’s local Park(ing) Day sites. In addition to the parking spots listed there, AIA Seattle and Site Workshop are transforming a spot in front of AIA Seattle at 1911 First Ave., and Owen Richards Architects and HyBrid Architects are rethinking a spot in front of their shared office at 12th and East Pike in First Hill.

Still thirsty? Check out my colleague, Katie Zemtseff’s blog for more upcoming events.

Ann Sperry deisgned this fence for a Seattle City Light station

A fence, like a garage or front door, has a fairly utilitarian purpose in design.

But it can be much more with the right designer.

We’ve all seen fences that elevated a project and fences that cut the project off from the world.

This fence at High Point tells a story

Seattle’s recent design changes for multifamily projects include changes for fence heights and discussion of where they are appropriate.

Chicken-wire, white-washed picket or something else entirely, check out this blog on wacky fence design and get inspired.

It was Memorial Day weekend, a few years ago. A warm day but not hot. Great time to visit the Space Needle observation deck. Of course the Center was packed with Folklifers that day. Looking at this mass of people from 520 feet taught a surprising lesson.

Seattle residents love sun, right? They’ll do anything to get more of it. We design our parks and buildings to capture as much of it as possible. All good? Well, to a point.

New amphitheatre proposed at Memorial Stadium

Almost directly below the Space Needle is the Mural Amphitheatre, one of the Center’s larger concert venues. At first glance that day, it looked 1/4 full. On second glance, the people were there, but they were packed around the shade trees on the perimeter. People were out in droves, but avoiding the sun.

What does that mean? Clearly, anecdotal evidence isn’t a mandate. Sunlight is important. But it’s an interesting window on what people, many of them, really prefer.

A new amphitheatre is being discussed for the Memorial Stadium site. Will this have lots of trees around the edges? Perhaps a nice shady grove or two? I hope so. People sit in amphitheatres for long periods. Heat and glare are just the start. Two hours can be bad-sunburn territory. Other walkways at the center should have trees as well.

And yes, let’s add more street trees. For those of us who take long walks and aren’t sun worshippers, nothing is worse than block after block in blazing sun. And few things are finer than the cooling effect and ambiance of a canopy of huge trees, or at least mid-sized ones.