February 12, 2003

Design Detailings: Skilling opens Chicago office

The Seattle-based structural and civil engineering firm Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire has opened an office in Chicago.

The firm’s current Chicago projects include 2 East Erie, 111 South Wacker Drive, The Shoreham, the Chicago Courtyard Marriott and Epic Systems Corporate Headquarters, as well as Boeing’s recent move into the Morton Salt Building.

Ron Klemencic, president of Skilling, said "Chicago is the first city where Skilling is employing a satellite approach. Linking the force of our Seattle office with the flexibility of Chicago personnel provides a unique opportunity to serve our clients in a new way."

Skilling’s headquarters will remain in Seattle, where the firm has been based for 80 years. The Chicago office will be lead by Kerry Galbraith. Galbraith has a 15-year background of work from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Middle East, Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur, the Philippines, Seattle and Chicago. Klemencic, who also serves as chairman of the International Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, says Skilling is optimistic about future opportunities in Chicago and the Midwest. "We’re betting on Chicago and believe that it offers long-term growth and continued vitality."

Skilling's local projects include Safeco Field, Seahawks Stadium and the Experience Music Project. World Architecture’s January 2003 issue named Skilling one of the top 10 structural engineering firms in the world.

Hiawatha Park on Olmsted tour

Seattle Parks Foundation on Saturday hosts a walking tour of Hiawatha Playfield as part of the Olmsted Park Centennial Celebration. The tour begins at 10 a.m. inside the Hiawatha Community Center, Hiawatha Park, 2700 California Ave., in West Seattle’s Admiral District.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Olmsted-designed park and boulevard system. The centennial will include events and festivities all year long, organized by the Seattle Parks Foundation, Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks, Seattle Parks and Recreation and community partners and businesses around the city.

Hiawatha Park was the first park designated as a city of Seattle landmark. Designed by the Olmsted Brothers in 1910, it was at the time the largest public playfield in Seattle. Upon Hiawatha’s completion, the Parks Board deemed it the "most sightly and best laid out playground in the system." The park’s original design has undergone changes since its creation, which representatives of Friends of Seattle’s Olmsted Parks will outline.

The Hiawatha Park tour is the second in the 12-month series of park tours. The Olmsted firm designed Seattle’s boulevard system, 37 of its parks and playgrounds, the UW campus, and other public and private landscapes. For more information call (206) 332-9900 or see http://www.seattleparksfoundation.org.

Miller/Hull talks about AIA honor

As part of its Honor Series, AIA Seattle sponsors a discussion with designers from Miller/Hull at noon Feb. 20.

In December, Miller/Hull won the AIA Firm Award -- the highest award the AIA gives to an architectural firm. Miller/Hull is the first Washington firm to win the award. Past winners include Cesar Pelli & Associates and Skidmore Owings and Merrill. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership has also won the award in 1991, and amember of the firm will join the Miller/Hull speaker for the Feb. 20 event. Cost is $35, at the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel. For information, call (206) 448-4938.

Lecture on 'rural studio' for architects

Andrew Freear, co-director of Rural Studio at Auburn State University, will host a lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Freear will discuss the Rural Studio, green design and recent projects. The lecture, held in Room 147 at University of Washington's Architecture Hall, will be introduced by U.W. architecture professor Steve Badanes.

In 1993, two Auburn University architecture professors, Dennis K. Ruth and the late Samuel Mockbee, established the Auburn University Rural Studio within the university's School of Architecture. The Rural Studio, conceived as a method to improve the living conditions in rural Alabama and to include hands-on experience in an architectural pedagogy, began designing and building homes that fall. Mockbee and Ruth sought funding to begin the studio and, through the years, it has received additional funding which has helped it become a vision of a process to make housing and community projects in one of the poorest regions of the nation.

Students who attend the Rural Studio expand their design knowledge by building what they have designed. The studio seeks solutions to the needs of the community within the community's own context, not from outside it. The Web site is http://www.ruralstudio.org. For a campus map showing Architecture Hall, go to http://www.washington.edu. For information on this free lecture, call (206) 616-2441.