April 23, 2003

Design Detailings: Green days at Fisher Pavilion

"GreenWorld -- A Collaborative Forum on Sustainable Design" will be held Thursday and Friday, during the week of Earth Day. It will focus on projects and products that advance sustainable techniques in design and execution. The forum will include exhibits at Fisher Pavilion at the Seattle Center Thursday, and project tours on Friday.

The program will showcase guest speakers David Orr, Rob Bennett and Gifford Pinchot III, educational programs, GreenWorld product exhibits, as well as the "What Makes it Green?" project boards and panel discussion.

Pinchot is co-founder of the Bainbridge Island Graduate Institute, which offers an MBA that integrates sustainability and social responsibility with innovation and profit. Bennett is a senior manager of the Office of Sustainable Development in Portland, and Orr is professor and chair of the Environmental Studies Program at Oberlin College.

Thursday's schedule is 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday's is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday's 6:30 p.m. keynote presentation will spotlight Pinchot, speaking on "Sustainable Innovation: Making it Happen in the Real World." Friday will include local tours of sustainable projects, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For costs and times, call (206) 762-6471.

Vital signs of building designs

"The Built Environment -- What's Health Got To Do With It?" will be the subject of a presentation by Dr. Richard Jackson, of the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Environmental Health. Sponsored by the UW School of Public Health and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, the talk will be 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, in Room T-625 of the UW Health Sciences Center.

The way roads, buildings, neighborhoods, cities are built can have a dramatic effect on our health, Dr. Jackson asserts. Smarter building practices can decrease injuries and promote more physical activity, which in turn can reduce the frequency and severity of disease and epidemics. For more information, visit www.sphcm.washington.edu/news/builtenv.asp. The event is free.

SMPS releases local salary survey

The newest SMPS Seattle Salary Survey is available. The survey provides information on regional marketing salaries, benefits, job descriptions and other statistical data. This survey breaks the data into different types and sizes of AEC firms.

For a copy, contact Carol Waterbeck, Streeter Architects, (206) 621-9270, cawaterbeck@streeterarchitects.com or go to www.smpsseattle.org for further information.

I.M. Pei wins construction award

Photo courtesy of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Architects, LLP I.M. Pei’s East Wing of the National Gallery of Art is among the projects honored in the Innovation In Construction Awards.

The National Building Museum and Turner Construction gave I. M. Pei the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology. The prize recognizes notable advances and high achievement in construction methods and processes. During a 55-year career, Pei has worked with engineers and contractors to create buildings and other structures that have set new standards for construction quality.

Architect David Childs, engineer Leslie E. Robertson, and architectural author Carter Wiseman spoke with Pei about his role in innovations in construction technology -- from the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art, to the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, to the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris and the Miho Museum in Japan.

His design for the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong inspired engineers to create the first space truss frame for a tall building. Pei’s glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris required contractors and engineers to develop an innovative structural system to support the panes of glass. And his design and specifications for the Miho Museum in Japan required precision construction and finishing.

UW students enhance the Ave

Fifteen University of Washington architects-in-training will work through May designing new storefronts as part of revitalizing the struggling shopping area along University Way Northeast.

"What we want to do is enhance the quality and identity of the Ave," said Jim Nicholls, the architecture lecturer who will lead the studio. "It will be -- appropriately enough for an area with a university heritage -- a vision that comes from students."

The students are working out of what they call the Storefront Studio, in the former Tower Records store. They will study the present-day Ave, propose an improved streetscape and collaborate with interested landlords to redesign the facades of their buildings. The students will form a $70,000 Façade Improvement Program fund for building materials, administered through the city of Seattle and distributed by the Greater University Chamber of Commerce.

The students' design work is free to businesses, and Nicholls hopes some students will spend the summer helping build facades they design this spring.

As a second phase, architecture students may explore the impact of potential UW outreach offices in the U District -- possibly at the Tower site -- for such uses as the UW Extension or public-policy centers of the Evans School of Public Affairs. Using current land-use codes and design guidelines for the area, the studio will look at how additional UW uses could contribute to the neighborhood.

Special public displays are planned for the University District Street Fair May 17 and 18. For more information, contact Nicholls at (206) 616-4366, or jnicholl@u.washington.edu.

Celebrating Landscape Architecture Week

National Landscape Architecture Week is being celebrated through Sunday around the U.S., to raise public awareness and appreciation of landscape architects and their work.

National Landscape Architecture Week recognizes Saturday's birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903). Olmsted is considered the founder of the profession in North America. Several thousand landscape architects take part in National Landscape Architecture Week. Activities include government proclamations; a variety of community outreach activities, such as collaborative park design and education exhibits; and student design competitions. It is sponsored by members of the American Society of Landscape Architects, government agencies, businesses and universities.