We’ve all seen them. You know the ones. The super-sleek, super-sexy stair designs. The ones that, without fail, attract the design-minded like moths to a flame. We know them well; they’re always defying gravity with open cantilevered treads and enigmatically hidden connections. Handrails, when actually implemented, are a mere wisp of steel delicately gliding above the composition. This elite class of stair is generally white and always lead to some lofty, exclusive eden – a place where one leisurely lounges, nibbling on figs, admiring the stair. And they usually float above a pool of water or any variety of objects found in the “Dangerous To Fall In” category. Admit it, you’re fascinated by them.
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[Image Credit: BUILD LLC]
Last weekend we had the rare opportunity to visit one of only 3 Frank Lloyd Wright houses here in Washington State. Recently touted as one of Seattle’s 10 Greatest Homes, the Tracy House is a mid-century gem located in Normandy Park (approximately 30 minutes south of Seattle), and it also has the distinct honor of being listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The house was designed and built for William and Elizabeth Tracy from 1954 to 1955, and they were the sole owners until Elizabeth’s passing a couple years ago. We were extremely honored to see such an exceptional piece of architecture and want to extend our thanks to the organizer, tour guide, and Wright aficionado, Larry Woodin.
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We recently interviewed Will Bruder for the spring issue of Arcade Magazine. In addition to being a master architect, Bruder is acutely insightful and the discussion was full of wisdom that you’ll be able to read all about in the next issue of Arcade. In speaking about academics and the learning process of an architect, Bruder said something that really hit home. Here’s a teaser:
BUILD: As a self-trained architect and a teacher, you bring a fresh perspective to the nature of academics; are architecture schools preparing students to be good architects?
Will Bruder: It’s challenging to teach architecture in such a way that students capture the spirit of understanding. We’re so fascinated with the machine and the software that it’s often at the expense of the intellectual tools. Once you’re in line at the laser-cutter, so much of the design is already lost.
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Years ago when we built the Park Modern building we were required to install a ship ladder to the roof so that firefighters could get to the elevator penthouse in the event of an emergency. Fine, we thought – that makes sense. But once you have a ship ladder to the roof, there is a life safety issue with the potential of people climbing the ladder and accessing a roof that doesn’t have guardrails. The building code then requires a security gate on the ship-ladder with a lock. And once it’s locked you need a key. Since the nature of the ladder is for emergencies, it’s the firefighters who need access to this key –so, again per the building code, a fire engine red “break in case of emergency” key box was required adjacent to the gate. The whole thing just seemed much more complicated than it should have been.
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Recently, we found ourselves in one of those situations. All of the sudden, we started noticing references to the same thing or the same person popping up in a variety of different social circles. It was one of those when-it-rains-it-pours scenarios. In this case we noticed it with a handful of wiser, well-experienced architects. And again with some younger cutting edge architects. And on blogs. And then it came up at dinner parties. It was undeniable: All roads were suddenly leading to Sigurd Lewerentz. Though we had briefly brushed up on this architect back in college, we never really sunk our teeth into his portfolio of work. So we decided to take seriously the signs pointing in Lewerentz’s direction and started to do some homework on his projects. Based on our discoveries, we think you’d enjoy reviewing his work as well, so enjoy, and let us know of anything significant we missed.
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This edition of OtR is overflowing with incredible design, designers, and design events. No better way to kick off a new year than with some highly inspired activity brewing within the creative community. Let us know what’s been grabbing your attention and spinning your wheels these days in the comments section below.
LEARNing
Get familiar with Theaster Gates. Chicago-based artist, designer, cultural change-maker. His time is ripe in Seattle with an ongoing exhibit at the SAM and an upcoming lecture at the University of Washington.
[Image Credit: kavigupta.com]
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In part one of the series we reviewed the logic and benefits of retaining an existing foundation and reusing it in new construction. Today’s post gets into the nitty-gritty of some items you’ll want to consider and check off the list with an existing foundation. These factors often determine the viability of reusing a foundation in “new” construction or a substantial remodel. Our top 10, here goes:
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More and more in our residential design-build work, we’re reusing existing foundations. Even some of our projects that look like brand new homes have actually reused the existing concrete of a previous home on the site. There are a lot of important reasons for doing so, here are ten:
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More and more, we’re being asked to lecture about our design-build work, office culture and social media strategies. And while we’re no experts at lecturing, we’re really starting to enjoy it. Giving a presentation on what you love doing for a living is a ton of fun and it’s always an honor to receive invites from the organizations and institutions that host us.
In any lecture (architecture or otherwise), there are careful decisions to be made: which slides to choose and how many, what direction the narrative thread should follow, what thoughts you leave the audience with, the level of interaction in the room, and so forth. The number of dials you need to keep your hands on can be overwhelming, and a good lecture balances all of these variables with one another.
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If you haven’t had the pleasure of staying at one of the four ACE Hotels around the country, we highly recommend booking your next vacation based on the hotel first and the location second. For architects, designers and well, anyone design-conscious, staying at an ACE Hotel is an exploration in fresh ideas and smart implementations. Every time you turn a corner, enter a new room, or decide to hit the gym, you are pleasantly surprised with a dose of innovative design. An important part of the design chemistry is that there’s usually clever signage that gives your day that little boost of happiness.
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