February 26, 2003

Design Detailings: Lecture at UW on "Case Study Homes"

The curators of "Seattle Case Study Homes" will host a lecture and exhibit at the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, in Room 147 of Architecture Hall. Seattle architects Blake Williams, Cory Harris and Joel Severud will present the plan book of modern, single-family houses for Seattle.

"Seattle Case Study Homes" is available Peter Miller Books in Seattle. The Northwest design journal Arcade is distributing free copies to new subscribers.

The book includes pages of project plans, perspectives and descriptive information. Similar to the original "Case Study Houses," published in Arts and Architecture from 1945-1966, it is a forum for architects and designers to demonstrate their skill in designing superior housing for Seattle. Eighty-four proposals were submitted by local, national and international architects and designers over a Web site.

Rasmussen elected to registration board

Peter Rasmussen of Tacoma has been elected regional director of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. Rasmussen, a member of the Washington Board of Registration for Architects, will represent the council’s Western Conference, which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Rasmussen is president and founding principal of Architects Rasmussen Triebelhorn (A.R.T.), a Tacoma-based firm.

Students help plan International District

International District community groups have called upon the skills of budding designers from Asia and University of Washington. Eleven landscape architecture students from Japan's Chiba University will join their UW counterparts to develop urban design proposals for key sites in the Chinatown-Nihonmachi-Little Saigon-International District, where community groups are trying to preserve the area's heritage amid development pressure.

The Japanese students will see the neighborhood for the first time this month, but they have been working with UW students via the Web since September. In this global classroom project, students from the two nations collaborate not just on International District improvements but also on designs for a historic Japanese neighborhood near Tokyo called Kogane.

"This really is an experiment in cross-cultural collaboration," said Jeffrey Hou, assistant professor of landscape architecture. "We're discovering that you really can communicate ideas across borders."

The students hope to contribute to the International District urban design master plan under way. Key sites there include Hing Hay Park, King Street, 12th and Jackson, the Union Station area, Canton Alley and access to the Danny Woo Community Garden. For more information contact Hou at (206) 543-7225 or jhou@u.washington.edu. The project's Web site is www.caup.washington.edu/html/larch/chiba/.

AIA seeks projects for green forum

As part of the observation of Earth Day 2003, the AIA Seattle Committee on the Environment is looking for both built and unbuilt projects that show regional efforts to integrate environmentally responsible design methods and materials into buildings. Materials about the projects will be on display at the "What Makes It Green?" forum on sustainable design April 24 and 25, at Fisher Pavilion.

Projects must be located in Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Western Canada. Master planning, building or interiors projects can be submitted in either the built, not-yet-built or academic categories. A project submitted in a previous year is no longer eligible, unless it was submitted as not-yet-built and would now be in the built category.

Submitted projects must be built in an environmentally responsible way that exceeds industry standards (meeting energy code is not sufficient to qualify as energy conservation). Projects will be evaluated for quality as well as quantity of strategies, with an emphasis on results. Recognized rating systems (LEED & Built Green) can be used to clarify project information, although there is no specific point requirement for a project to be accepted.

On-line Submittals are due 11 a.m. Friday, and exhibit boards are due April 2, at AIA Seattle, 1911 First Ave. A fee of $50 will be due payable to AIA Seattle with the online registration. For more information, go to www.aiaseattle.org/wmig2003/.