FEBRUARY 3RD, 2012
By BUILD LLC
It’s been a few years since we’ve visited the high altitude urbanism going on in The Centennial State. On a recent visit last month, it had become clear that with each passing year Denver is becoming known as more than a city within striking distance of a high altitude playground. The mountains will always be an integral part of the culture and growth of this city, but in the past year alone, Denver has (and by the looks of it will continue to) put itself on the art, culture, culinary, and architectural maps. So when you book your next ski trip to Vail, it’ll be worth spending some time exploring the ever-changing Mile High City.
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JANUARY 27TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
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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JANUARY 24TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
[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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JANUARY 20TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
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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JANUARY 17TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
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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JANUARY 13TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
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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JANUARY 10TH, 2012
By BUILD LLC
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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DECEMBER 20TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
[All photos by BUILD LLC]
As you know, we love modernism around here; but modernism also comes with some baggage. There’s a tendency to think that all things modern must be stark and white and free from irregularity. And while this philosophy of modernism appropriately applies to designed objects in the vein of cell phones, cars and appliances, it doesn’t quite apply to everything in the built-environment. An authentic and honest connection to architecture doesn’t necessarily imply perfection. The connection may simply be a worn leather handle of a door or the mill-scale on a steel handrail. These pretenseless and subtle details allow for a relationship to the work; they offer an understanding. Lately, we’ve been incorporating more of this into our own thinking: this idea of introducing more grit, more truth of material, and basically more nature into the work.
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DECEMBER 16TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
Along with the holidays come all of those holiday parties. And along with most any holiday party comes the potential for uneasy conversation and awkward small-talk. You’ve been there, you know you have; the only question is which side of the fence you were on. If you’re going to be in a room with one or more architects this holiday season, we recommend brushing up on some things not to say. We’ve rounded up our list of favorite taboo quotes, complete with mind-reading translations of what the architects will be thinking, should you elect to go there. Enjoy.
I always wanted to be an architect
Translation: I took an architecture course in college for about 6 minutes; you people are nuts. While you were toiling away in studio I was showing the entire Alpha Phi sorority how to make vodka Jello.
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DECEMBER 9TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
Our latest round-up of inspiring links culled from our readers, friends, and in-house team.
ARCHITECTing
Check out the noteworthy work of JSa out of Mexico. Javier Sanchez has a background in both architecture and real estate. We’re happy to see a growing presence of architects in real estate development.
-thanks to Prentis
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