May 10, 2000

Design Detailings: A look at Link's design and construction

Sound Transit official Joe Gildner on Wednesday, May 17, will discuss the design and construction of the Link Light Rail system, focusing on how Sound Transit has dealt with the challenges involved in the $1.9 billion project to provide rail service from Sea-Tac to the University District.

The event will be held at the Rock Salt Steakhouse, 1232 Westlake Ave. N. in Seattle. It begins at 6 p.m. with a no-host social. The discussion starts at 6:30 p.m.; dinner will be held at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $23. Reservations are requested by Friday, May 12. Call reservations into Shannon & Wilson at (206) 695-6670 or e-mail lkd@shanwil.com. The event is jointly sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Management and the American Society of Civil Engineers' management in engineering committee.

WASLA holds expo and conference

The Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects is holding its spring expo and continuing education conference on Friday, May 12. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Seattle Center in the Northwest rooms.

Seminar speakers include Bob Callans, American Society of Landscape Architects vice president; John Fulford, president of Turnstone Construction; James Sipes, senior associate with Jones & Jones Architects & Landscape Architects; Randy Anderson, engineering manager with David Evans and Associates; and D. Daniel Chandler, an attorney specializing in land use, wetland and environmental issues.

The ticket price includes a breakfast buffet, lunch and chance at a raffle for cash and prizes. The cost is $50 for professionals, $25 for students. To make reservations, call Margaret Hayes of WASLA at (206) 283-7090.

Capitol Hill library topic of meeting May 16

The Seattle Public Library is holding a public meeting on Tuesday, May 16, to discuss the kinds of services, collections and programs residents would like to see in the new $4.4 million Capitol Hill library.

The meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Daughters of American Revolution Hall, 800 E. Roy St., drawing room. For more information, call Douglas Bailey, project manager, at (206) 386-4173.

Library representatives and designers from Johnston Architects and Cutler Architects will attend to solicit comment and answer questions about the project.

The new 10,000-square-foot library is scheduled to open in 2001. It will be constructed on the current site at 425 Harvard Ave. E.

SMPS seminar features Ford Harding

The Seattle chapter of the Society of Marketing Professional Services invites architecture and engineering professionals to share an afternoon on Thursday, May 25, with Ford Harding, one of the best- known sales and marketing professionals in the industry.

An alumnus of Northwestern and Harvard, Harding is the author of two books, "Creating Rainmakers" and "Rainmaking," and is well published in trade journals. He will lead a luncheon program from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., sign books from 1:30 to 2 p.m. and lead a workshop, "What Rainmakers Do," from 2 to 5 p.m.

The event will be held in the Noble Room, first floor of the Washington Athletic Club. The pricing options for this limited-seating venue include lunch only, workshop only or a lunch/workshop combination. For more information, go to the SMPS Seattle Web site http://www.smpsseattle.org or contact Kim Hinckley at (206) 431-2300.

A chance to comment on civic plaza design

On Friday, May 12, the landscape design team of Kathryn Gustafson and Barbara Swift will be presenting and taking public comment on the schematic design concept for Seattle's new civic plaza. This is the 2 1/2-block open space that will connect the new Justice Center on Sixth Avenue, the new City Hall on Fifth and the current Public Safety Building block between Third and Fourth avenues. The space will be created when the Municipal and Public Safety buildings are demolished.

The discussion runs from noon to 1:30 p.m. at City Council Chambers, 11th floor of the Municipal Building, 600 Fourth Ave. Comments expressed at the workshop will help the design team prepare the final schematic design, which is due in the summer. For more information, call (206) 233-3905.

Women in Architecture holds social

The Association for Women in Architecture is holding a social at 6 p.m. on May 16 at the new office of Mithun Partners on Pier 56, 1201 Alaskan Way, suite 200, Seattle.

AWA invites women who are new architects, as well as those in related professions, such as art and marketing, to attend. Food and refreshments will be provided. The event will also include discussion of the AWA's participation in the Summer Solstice Festival, the Denise Hunt Fellowship at the University of Washington, membership expansion and the organization's goals for the future. To make reservations, call Debbie McCauley at (425) 259-0868 or e-mail Debbie@bnharch.com.

5 firms designing San Francisco runways

Peratrovich, Nottingham & Drage and Parsons Brinckerhoff were among the five engineering firms recently awarded contracts to develop concepts for proposed new runways at San Francisco International Airport. The airport's plan calls for new runways to be placed in San Francisco Bay as a way to end chronic bad-weather delays, accommodate larger jets, improve safety and reduce noise in surrounding communities.

The other finalists are AGS, Dutra Group of the Netherlands, and T.Y. Lin International of China with Ben C. Gerwick and Han-Padron Associates.

Each firm has been awarded a $250,000 contract to further develop initial design concepts. Each firm will present its completed design concept to the airport in August. The airport will render a decision on these concepts in September.

NBBJ designer becomes honorary AIA member

Rysia Suchecka, director of NBBJ's interior design studio, has been declared an honorary member of the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The AIA extends honorary membership to a person "of esteemed character who has rendered to the profession of architecture a valuable service ... and has conspicuously upheld the aims of the profession."

Suchecka, who was recently made a partner at NBBJ, has received national and international recognition for her work, including her 1998 induction into the Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame.

She and other designers receiving awards will be celebrated at the AIA Seattle 2000 Honors Gala on Saturday, May 20.

Benefit dinner for CAUP students

On Friday, May 12, the University of Washington's School of Architecture will host a dinner and auction event to benefit students in their Rome program. The Italian dinner, which will be catered by the Wild Thyme Catering Co., will be held at Gould Hall Court at the UW. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Friends of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning pay $40 to attend; students pay $20. All proceeds benefit students in CAUP's Italian studies program. For reservations, call Caroline Orr at (206) 685-8406

"Tangible media" topic of UW lectures

On Monday, May 15, the University of Washington hosts a discussion of "tangible media projects," a research effort at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that seeks to give physical form to digital information -- "seamlessly coupling the dual worlds of bits and atoms." The talk will be held from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at Gould 208J, the architecture department office.

On Tuesday, May 16, the discussion focuses on "computational expressionism, a model for drawing with computation." The talk will be held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Gould 100, ground floor.

Joanna Berzowska, a former researcher with MIT Media Lab's Tangible Media Group, is the speaker for both events. She is currently the director of design for a high-tech startup.