May 1, 2002

Design Detailings: Pace-setting architect speaks May 8

Space.City and the Naramore Foundation will co-sponsor a talk by architect Brad Cloepfil on Wednesday, May 8. He will speak in the auditorium of Seattle Art Museum at 6:30 pm. Tickets will be sold only at the SAM door, starting at 5:30 p.m., for $10 each. For information, call (206) 654-3100.

Cloepfil formed the Portland-based firm Allied Works Architecture in 1994. Allied Works has been recognized for the completed Maryhill Overlook in Goldendale; Wieden + Kennedy's office in Portland's Pearl District; Blue Lake House in Oregon's Cascades; the Forum for Contemporary Art in St. Louis; and for its latest project, the Booker T Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.

Attempting to identify the architects who are setting the pace for the future, Phaidon Press asked 10 critics to each select the 10 architects they felt were producing the most exceptional work today.

Terry Riley, chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York said of Cloepfil, one of his selections: "Brad Cloepfil's work bridges a number of gaps in current architectural culture. The Maryhill Overlook engages architecture and the landscape in an astoundingly provocative way. Alternately, the project frames distant panoramas, provides shelter, serves as a viewing platform and acts as a metaphor for the desert landscape in eastern Oregon.

"As with all architects who have a real feel for the relationship between theory and practice, Cloepfil reminds us through his work that tectonics is first and foremost a visual phenomenon, to which function and technology are secondary. Furthermore, his natural tendency is to fulfill the potential of any theoretical project, to realize it in such a way as to test and perfect the building art."

Bellevue 2020 plan on display this week

CollinsWoerman, in conjunction with Street-Works, has teamed with the city of Bellevue to develop a new downtown Bellevue 2020 plan.

CollinsWoerman will be exhibiting the urban design component of the plan through May 7 in Gould Court, on the first floor of Gould Hall at the University of Washington's College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

CollinsWoerman will also be introducing the plan in a series of three presentations. The presentations will be hosted at Gould Court from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Monday.

The presentations will be free and open to the public. Those planning to attend should RSVP to bnolander@collinswoerman.com.

SW Washington AIA has new quarters

The American Institute of Architects Southwest Washington Chapter has moved to 1201 Pacific Ave., Fountain Court Level, Suite C-4, Tacoma, WA 98402. E-mail (karin@aiasww.org), phone (253) 627-4006) and fax (253) 572-2634 will remain the same. The move provides increased exposure to the general public and an opportunity to display architectural projects.