The 2024 design exCHANGE exhibit is an annual exhibition of unbuilt projects by local Seattle architecture firms. The projects showcased are located in the Pacific Northwest region and all around the world.
This exhibit is free and open to the public.
Exhibition April 26 – May 9, 2024
Gould Court
Opening Reception: Friday, April 26, 2024 5:30PM
This event is not open to the general public.
The 2024 design exCHANGE opening reception is an invitation only event to celebrate the opening of the annual design exCHANGE exhibit. The opening reception is open to members of the UW College of Built Environments and invited members of the Seattle design community. Please register to attend.
We are proud to announce that four members of the UW Architecture community have been recognized with an AIA Seattle Award this year!
“Each year, AIA Seattle celebrates leadership and achievement in design and the built environment through its member awards program, which recognizes individual leadership and achievement in design and the built environment at the local and national levels. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected by the Fellows & Honors Committee each year to acknowledge excellence and strengthen ties between architects and the many professions that partner with them to make a difference through design.” – AIA Seattle
Gold Medal: Susan Jones, FAIA, atelierjones, Affiliate Associate Professor
College of Fellows: Bill LaPatra FAIA, LEED AP
Community Service Award: Emilia Cabeza de Baca, AIA – 2019 M Arch alum
Allied Organization Award: NOMAS UW – student organization
For more information about each award and to purchase tickets to attend the awards ceremony on January 23, visit the AIA Seattle event website.
AIA Seattle Parti
Tuesday, January 23 6-8:30pm @ The Forum at Town Hall Seattle
Overseas, the exhibition “The Wright Imperial Hotel at 100: Frank Lloyd Wright and the World” curated by Professor Ken Tadashi Oshima at the Toyota Museum of Art (Aichi, Japan) attracted a record 35,000+ visitors while on view October-December 2023. This year it travels to Tokyo to the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art (January 11 – March 10) and the Aomori Museum of Art (March 20 – May 12, 2024).
Here in the United States, an exhibit will open in June 2024. Mona Ghandi, Assistant Teaching Professor, is a recent winner and finalist of the DATMA (Massachusetts Design Art & Technology Institute) public art Installation peer reviewed national competition. Her interactive piece entitled “Mood-Vironment” is a full-scale interactive installation that interacts with the visitors’ emotions and changes itself accordingly. The piece will be built in New Bedford MA and will be on display until October 2024.
In bringing together works from Columbia University’s Avery Library, MoMA, the Library of Congress and Japanese collections, this exhibition reexamines Wright as one of the first global architects pursuing this decade-long project at the nexus of his vast career spanning art, architecture, and design to writing, landscape, education, construction and urbanism. Highlights of the exhibition include film footage of the construction of Wright’s Fallingwater (1936-), a full-scale Usonian House installation and contemporary color animated film of Broadacre City (1929-35). The reexamination of Wright also considers his designs in the context of his travels and passions connecting different landscapes and cultures around the world, and pursuit of high-rises including his 528-story Mile-High Illinois skyscraper (1956). Today, a further evolution of Wright’s vision can be seen in the design of the new high-rise Imperial Hotel (2021-2036) by Tsuyoshi Tane (1979-) that bridges past/present/future.
Wednesday, November 8 5:30PM
147 Architecture Hall
Katie Swenson is a Senior Principal at MASS Design Group, where she leads the Advocacy team. Katie’s work explores how critical design practice can, and should, promote economic and social equity, environmental sustainability, and healthy communities. She has over 20 years of experience in the theoretical and practical applications of design thinking. Katie teaches at the Parsons School of Design at The New School and lectures extensively on sustainable community development and affordable housing. She was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2019 and the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture in 2021. Katie is a juror for the 2023 AIA Awards for Washington Architecture.
This lecture is free and open to the public. AIA Continuing Education credit is available for attendance.
Wednesday, October 04 5:30PM
147 Architecture Hall
Søren Nielsen is the 2023 Scan Design Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. Søren is architect and co-owner of Vandkunsten Architects in Copenhagen, one of the country’s leading socially and environmentally engaged offices. Responsible for Vandkunsten’s R&D activities, Søren is devoted to design strategies for sustainability, in particular resource protection, building transformation and the social, cultural, and aesthetic aspects of reuse. With 35 years of practice, he has been the leading force behind multiple innovative projects for affordable housing, adaptability, circularity, and the use of biogenic materials.
This lecture is free and open to the public. AIA Continuing Education credit is available for attendance.
The La Conner Swinomish Library by BuildingWork, a Seattle-based firm founded by Matt Aalfs, AIA (MArch 1999) is featured in ARCHITECT magazine online. As noted in the article, the project “represents a multitude of collaborations and innovations. First, the new building is constructed from cross-laminated timber, making it one of the first publicly funded buildings in the country to be built entirely from CLT, according to its architect. Second, and perhaps more important, the library results from a unique partnership between an architecture firm and a local tribal community.” In addition to Matt, the project team consisted of partner Kate Weiland, AIA (MArch 2009), and project architect Jake LaBarre, AIA (MArch 2009). The project illustrates the commitment of UW Architecture and its graduates to issues of material innovation, community engagement, and social equity.
Alumna Mona Johnston Zellers, AIA (MArch 2010), a partner with Johnston Architects, recently penned an OpEd in ARCHITECT magazine titled “Fostering a Supportive Community for Women Architects.” In this insightful article, Mona reflects on the relationship between a strong and supportive workplace culture and professional growth, particularly among women architects.
We invite you to dive into Mona’s captivating OpEd HERE.
We applaud Mona for this remarkable achievement and dedication to making our profession more equitable and inclusive!
We are thrilled to share that Sam Miller, FAIA (MArch 1992), a partner with Seattle-based LMN Architects, and Justin Schwartzhoff (MArch 2014), LMN’s Sustainability Lead, are featured in an online article in Architectural Record magazine titled “Continuing Education: Architects Zero in on Zero to Define Building Performance.” In this captivating article, Sam and Justin, along with other industry experts, share their thoughts on the complexities of defining and achieving “net-zero energy” buildings.
We invite you to immerse yourself in this thought-provoking article HERE.
This is but one example of our grads’ practice, research, and advocacy having a national impact in making our buildings more sustainable and leading climate-responsible practices across the industry.
We are immensely proud of our alums’ accomplishments and the recognition they have garnered.
The Neighborhood Design Build Studio invites you to the ribbon cutting celebration for this years project, the World Cultural Kitchen for the UW Farm, at the Center for Urban Horticulture. The students have designed and built a circular trellis topped by three roofed areas. The finished project will be used for cooking and farming demos by the UW Farm, celebrations that are hosted at the Center for Urban Horticulture, and as a unique meeting place for visitors to the Union Bay Nature area. The studio is a consensus based group project, working this year with 8 graduate and 8 undergraduate architecture students (2 of which are construction management double majors) to create a beautiful and durable structure to meet the needs of the client. After refining a loose program, the class creates a schematic design presentation to the client, develops a construction document set and budget, and then prefabricates the building elements in studio and installs the final design on site. The ribbon cutting celebrates the hard work and creative solutions to the challenges that have emerged along the way.
Thursday, June 8 5PM-8PM
The Center For Urban Horticulture
3501 NE 41st St, Seattle, WA 98105
Prefabrication checklist.
Roof truss to column connection.
Everything is done as a group... including unloading and mixing the concrete!
The department of Architecture is proud to announce that two of our Master of Architecture students have been recognized as part of this year’s Husky 100!
Please join us in congratulating Jacquelyn Crane and Dana Austin Bass!
Jacquelyn Crane 2023
Master of Architecture, Sustainable Systems and Design emphasis; Design Computing Graduate Certificate
Dana Austin Bass 2023
Master of Architecture; Graduate Certificate in Housing Studies; B.A. Architectural Design; B.S. Real Estate
Each year, the Husky 100 recognizes 100 undergraduate and graduate students from the UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses in all areas of study who are making the most of their time at the University of Washington. The Husky 100 include students who have founded start-ups, created artwork, served as mentors, conducted research and advocated for social justice. They work on our campuses and in our communities. They are leaders and innovators.
These students are united in their efforts to actively connect what happens inside and outside of the classroom and apply what they learn to make a difference on our campuses, in their communities and for the future. Through their coursework, research, volunteer and leadership efforts, internships and jobs, they have created their own unique Husky Experience.
Exhibit Duration: May 15, 2023 – May 26, 2023
Closing Reception: Friday, May 26, 2023, 5:30PM
Gould Court, University of Washington College of Built Environments
3950 University Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Entry Deadline: Board must be uploaded to Riot Creative Imaging by 5PM on Monday May 8, 2023
(one week before shows begins)
design exCHANGE 2023 will highlight emerging architectural and landscape projects designed by regional practitioners. This preview of un-built work and the design process behind built projects gives students and the public a rare glimpse into the studio process and provides a forum for public discourse between the region’s academic community and practitioners. An overview of the design innovation and influence of regional practitioners both large and small, design exCHANGE 2023 offers an exciting preview of future projects to be built regionally, nationally and globally. The closing night reception, with food and live music, is open to students, professionals, and the Seattle design community.
In the historically white–dominated field of architecture, Black architects have created some of Seattle’s most important landmarks and continue to change the industry. Their work is grounded in guiding principles of community-centered design and empowering underserved communities. Join three generations of Black architects in the Pacific Northwest for a discussion on their work, inspirations, challenges, and hopes for the next generation.
Presented by MOHAI in partnership with AIA Seattle Diversity Roundtable, The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, The Nehemiah Initiative Seattle, NOMA Northwest, University of Washington College of Built Environments, and the Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development.
Speakers include: Renée Cheng, University of Washington College of Built Environments, moderator Donald King, Donald King Architecture Whitney Lewis, GGLO Meredith Everist, Baylis Architects
UW Architecture connected to four of the sixteen 2023 National AIA Architecture Award winning projects and more!
The AIA Architecture Award is the highest recognition the U.S. architecture profession grants to a recently completed project. This year, as in most, Seattle-based firms won more than their share of awards. This includes two projects by Seattle’s LMN Architects (Scott Crawford, M.Arch 2008/MS Arch 2010, and Sam Miller, MArch 1992, Partners) which received awards for the Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal and the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences Middle School. The Seattle office of Perkins + Will was recognized for the University of Washington Life Sciences Building (Devin Kleiner, MArch 2004, Associate Principal and Project Architect). On the other side of the country, designLAB architects (Sam Batchelor, MArch 2004, Partner) of Boston was recognized for the Worcester Blackstone Visitor Center.
In addition, Seattle-based Miller/Hull (Professor Emeritus Dave Miller, Founding Partner and Brian Court, MArch 2002, Ben Dalton, MArch 2005, Rob Misel, and Sian Roberts, MArch 1992, Partners) won a 2023 National AIA Interior Architecture Award for its Student Success District at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Congratulations to all of these notable alumni and firms!
It is with great sadness that we note the passing of Douglas Stewart Kelbaugh, former Chair and Professor in the Department of Architecture, on February 18, 2023, at the age of 78. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Kathleen Nolan, son, Casey, and daughter, Tess.
Douglas S. Kelbaugh FAIA was born in Brooklyn NY on January 25, 1945, graduating from Memorial High School in Houston, Texas in 1963. He received his B.A. in architecture Magna Cum Laude from Princeton University in 1968. He then participated in a Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program in Trenton NJ for two years (1968-70). He graduated with his M.Arch. from Princeton in 1972. While in graduate school Doug joined in anti-war protests and peace marches in DC, also building inflatables for events on campus and play structures for the “People’s Workshop”—a Community Design Center in New Brunswick NJ. After graduating Doug worked as a senior planner and architect for the Department of Planning and Development, City of Trenton (1972-78).
In 1978 Doug joined with Sang Lee to form the partnership Kelbaugh + Lee. This firm did numerous projects and received awards for multiple pioneering passive solar buildings and other designs. Kelbaugh’s activities in the early solar design movement were marked by the design of the first Trombe Wall house in Princeton NJ (1973-75). Over the course of his activities in practice, Kelbaugh’s firms won over 15 regional and national design awards and competitions, and their designs appeared in over 100 books and magazines, and in many exhibitions in the USA and abroad. While at Kelbaugh + Lee, Doug began visiting teaching appointments, including lecturer positions at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania. Over time he became convinced that design of urban areas rather than single buildings would make a bigger impact on the issues of global warming and climate change.
In 1985 Doug accepted an appointment as Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington. During this time, he was instrumental in bringing a younger generation of faculty into the Department. He also instituted the Department’s student-run publication, Column 5, and initiated a program of design charrettes that took on urban design issues in Seattle. Through the charrette program Doug became involved in the New Urbanism movement. He partnered with Peter Calthorpe, another co-founder of the passive solar and New Urbanism movements, in the firm Calthorpe, Kelbaugh & Associates (1989-98).
Doug’s first books grew out of the design charrette program and reflected his growing commitment to urban issues. In 1989, he edited The Pedestrian Pocket Book (Princeton Architectural Press), a national bestseller in urban design that introduced the concept of Transit-Oriented-Development to a broad audience. In 1997, Kelbaugh authored Common Place: Toward Neighborhood and Regional Design, a book on urban theory, design, and policy, followed by its sequel, Repairing the American Metropolis in 2002.
In 1992, Doug stepped down as Chair of the UW Department of Architecture and in 1998 he accepted appointment as the Dean of the Taubman College at the University of Michigan, a position he held for ten years. At Michigan he continued creating and participating in design charettes, and he brought numerous notable speakers to Michigan leading to his edited book The Michigan Debates on Urbanism: Everyday, New, and Post, published in 2005. He was the co-editor of Writing Urbanism in 2008. From 2008 to 2010 he served as executive director of design and planning for a Dubai-based development company with a portfolio of large sustainable projects in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Kelbaugh co-chaired multiple national and international conferences on energy, urbanism, and design; he spoke to hundreds of professional and community groups and wrote numerous articles on sustainable design. His most recent book, THE URBAN FIX: Resilient Cities in the War Against Climate Change, Heat Islands, and Overpopulation, was published in 2019.
Among his many accolades, he was Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Fellow of the Congress for a New Urbanism, and in 2016 was awarded an AIA/ACSA Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education—the highest award given to an educator by the two organizations with only one Topaz award given each year. In announcing this award, Kelbaugh was praised for the “transformative impact he has had on architectural education” by Harrison Fraker, Dean Emeritus at University of California at Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design. Fraker also noted that during his time as the University of Washington, Kelbaugh “demonstrated a more activist role for schools of architecture in their cities.”
Following retirement, Doug returned to Seattle in 2020. He taught the class “Climate Change, Architecture and the City” in the UW College of Built Environments during Autumn Quarter 2020 and was schedule to give a lecture, “Architecture, Urbanism and Climate Change” on Thursday, February 16, 2023.
Through the course of his thirteen years at the University of Washington, Douglas Kelbaugh championed sustainable urban design and placemaking, transformed our curriculum, and strengthened relationships between faculty and local practitioners. His impact on the people and culture of the Department of Architecture is immeasurable and he will be sorely missed.
Come and meet Environmental Artist and Activist Thomas Dambo to hear about the upcoming Northwest Nordic Troll project!
Tuesday, February 7 @ 5:30
Gould Hall Court
The Northwest Nordic Troll Hunt is a public art project that will feature tea series of giant hand-built trolls by internationally acclaimed environmental artist, Thomas Dambo from Denmark. The trolls will be built during the summer of 2023 on publicly accessible sites across the greater Puget Sound region. Fashioned entirely out of recycled materials, the art installations turn trash into treasured trolls who tell a tale of protecting nature and honoring our land. This is with a focus on understanding human impact on life in the water, salmon, and orca protection, as well as advocating for environmental protection of the watershed.
The Department of Architecture at the University of Washington is pleased to announce the return of the biannual Alumni Awards!
After a hiatus in 2021 due to COVID restrictions, we are soliciting nominations for notable alumni who have made significant contributions in two distinct categories.
The Distinguished Alumni Award honors an alumna or alumnus whose career achievements in the profession of architecture and the broader community have made a significant contribution to the built environment of the Puget Sound region and beyond. The recipients of this award are individuals who have had a distinguished career as evidenced in the excellence of their built work, the significance of their impact on the community, and the generosity of their commitment to the education of architects.
The Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) Award recognizes the accomplishments of an alumna or alumnus of the UW Department of Architecture within ten years of their graduation. The recipients of this award show great promise for expanding the impact of the profession of architecture through creative forms of practice and civic engagement.
This third cycle of the alumni awards is being conducted under the theme of “an architecture for the public good.” Our hope is that this will encourage nomination of graduates who have been active in proposing and executing projects, and pursuing models of practice, that establish a strong connection between architecture and the broader public.
Nominations will close on Monday, 6 February 2023 @ 6:00 pm PST
Jack Travis established his namesake design studio in June 1985. To date the firm has completed projects for clients such as film director Spike Lee, actor Wesley Snipes, John Saunders of ABC sports and fashion retailer Giorgio Armani. Currently Travis is working on the flagship exhibition for the Museum of Black Civilization in Dakar, Senegal. Jack Travis encourages investigation into Black history and culture where appropriate in his work, and includes forms, motifs, materials and colors that reflect this heritage.
Please join us for a reception and lecture from architect and designed Jack Travis this Friday, December 2nd. The reception will take place 5PM-6PM in Gould Court followed by the lecture in Gould 332 from 6PM-8PM. Please RSVP here.
Governor Jay Inslee and his wife Trudi paid a surprise visit to the UW Rome Center on Tuesday, November 8th during a layover in Italy on their way to the Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. He met with faculty and students in our Architecture in Rome studio program, and engaged them in a lively conversation about the important role that architects will play in helping to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change in the future.
Grazie for joining us, Gov. Inslee!
Governor Jay Inslee with students and faculty of the 2022 Architecture in Rome Program. Governor Inslee with faculty members Jennifer Dee, Sonia Cohan and Peter Cohan
Associate professor Tyler Sprague and senior architecture student Sierra Miles discuss the Benjamin McAdoo Research Collective, which seeks to share and cultivate appreciation for the work of Benjamin F. McAdoo, the first registered Black architect in Washington. | Seattle Times
The UW Department of Architecture is pleased to announce that Master of Architecture student, Daquan Proctor, was awarded the WRNS Studio Foundation Scholarship in January 2022.
The WRNS Studio Foundation scholarship and advisory program seeks to cultivate a thriving higher education scholarship program that will encourage more Black students to pursue careers in Architecture, by providing multi-year educational financial support and enhanced access to enduring professional relationships. Recipients will be assigned an advisor from WRNS Studio for the duration of the awarded scholarship term to help establish contacts and build relationships within the field.
Architecture Chair and Professor Kate Simonenwas asked by Governor Inslee to host a substantive discussion as he continues to develop policies and charge working groups to achieve better carbon futures. In Gould Hall on December 6, Governor Jay Inslee met with approximately twenty building professionals, think tank leaders, and researchers. Professor Simonen framed the discussion on how we can achieve lower carbon in construction, including with building materials from lower emissions manufacturing. The Governor also toured the campus with President Cauce. Following the meeting, he expressed that he is “thankful for this group of collaborative and intelligent minds to continue the fight against climate change.”
Prof. Simonen is the director of the Carbon Leadership Forum, whose goal is to eliminate embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure by inspiring innovation and spurring change through collective action.
“There’s a tremendous economic opportunity for Washington to be a leader in supplying low–carbon materials,” noted one of the stakeholders in attendance. “It’d be great to bring in workers and manufacturers that can put a face on and speak to that opportunity.”
“It was great to be sitting next to the Governor and in the room with [Rep.] Davina Duerr discussing embodied carbon policy options for Washington State,” said Simonen. “We had a productive discussion about both demand and supply side strategies.” Following the meeting, Inslee expressed that he is “thankful for this group of collaborative and intelligent minds to continue the fight against climate change.”
We are saddened to share the news that Wang Chiu-hwa, one of Taiwan’s most prominent female architects, passed away on June 14 at the age of 96. Wang came to the University of Washington from China in 1946 and graduated with her BA in 1947.
At that time, the UW did not yet offer a postgraduate degree in Architecture, so after graduating, Wang went on to earn her M.Arch at Columbia University. She then practiced in the US until 1979, with projects completed in New York, Cleveland, and Detroit. She came to Taiwan in 1979 and continued a successful career in practice and teaching at Tamkang University. She was often called the “Mother of Libraries” in Taiwan, for her work in modernizing the library design in Taiwan since that time. Stemming from her love of learning and education, Wang earned this nickname not only for the many libraries she has designed but also for pioneering the earliest modern, open-stack university library in Taiwan.
Wang has described architecture as “an indispensable part of a complex built environment, full of human emotions and social significance, transcending form and function, beauty and practicality.” She has also said that “as a designer, you must concern yourself first and foremost with the well-being of the majority, not just the interests of a few wealthy people.” (See Taiwan Ministry of Culture, The Mother of Taiwanese Libraries, Wang Chiu-hwa.)
In 2020, President Tsai Ing-Wen presented her with the Taiwan National Award for the Arts, which is the highest honor for the profession in that country.
Much of Wang’s archive now resides with M+, a new museum of contemporary visual culture based in Hong Kong. This acquisition marked the beginning of M+’s efforts to uncover the histories of women architects, whose work often lacks documentation and research. Wang was a key honorary founder of Women in Architecture Taiwan. It was one of her wishes to encourage women architects to do great work in the field.
You can learn more about Wang’s remarkable career and contributions to architecture here:
With great sadness, we share the news that UW Professor Emeritus Daniel M. Streissguth passed away on Saturday, November 20, at the age of 96.
Prof. Streissguth made significant contributions not only to the University of Washington Architecture department but to our greater region as well. Starting as a student and rising to a professor and designer, Dan’s enthusiasm and passion never wavered. He was as committed to his craft as he was to his students. Dan’s kindness and friendship knew no bounds; he was an integral part of the CBE community. As Dan led the design for our own Gould Hall we are grateful to always have a permanent reminder of his impact and legacy. He will be dearly missed.
A tribute to Dan’s life can be found on this page:
The AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture is a nationally-recognized program that provides an important opportunity for the design community to share and celebrate its achievements, both among practitioners and with the community-at-large. The 70th Annual Honor Awards for Washington Architecture was held last week, and gave us all plenty to celebrate. Their first-ever virtual live event revealed and celebrated 20 award winners and the greater design community. Among the awardees were a sizable number of UW Architecture alumni, faculty, and PAC members. We are pleased and proud that this community maintains such strong ties with our department and its students.
A partial list of the UW community’s awardees can be found below, and the complete awards catalog is now available online at this link. (If you were among the awardees and we missed your name, give us a shout.)
Congratulations to all who were recognized for their stellar design work in our region!
Honor Awards Committee
Cody Lodi
Hilary Schnack
MacKenzie Cotters
Kailin Gregga
Siyu Qu
Award of Honor
Burke Museum of History & Culture
Olson Kundig: Tom Kundig, Julia Khorsand, Oliver Landa
Wagner Education Center, Center for Wooden Boats
Olson Kundig: Tom Kundig, Alan Maskin
Energy in Design Award
Keneda Building
Miller Hull: Ron Rochon. Brian Court, Matt Kikosocki, Steve Doub
Award of Merit
Blakely Elementary School
Mithun: Brendan Connolly
New Orleans Children’s Museum
Josh Distler, Susan Olmsted
Byrd Barr Place
SHKS: The Byrd Barr Place project has involved a team including David Strauss (UW Affiliate Associate Professor), Andreas Baatz (UW grad), Alan Corrao, Theresa Freeman, Adam Hutschreider, and Pia Westen.
Honorable Mention
Ainsworth + Dunn
Weinstein AU: Ed Weinstein, Kirsten Wild, Emily Aune
T Presents: 15 Creative Women For Our Time. The New York Time Style Magazine. Photo by Nicholas Calcott.
In its August 10 issue, the New York Times Style Magazine presented a special feature, 15 CREATIVE WOMEN FOR OUR TIME. “Whether in the realm of art or design, food or fashion, these talents have stayed true to themselves and, in doing so, have pushed the boundaries of their respective fields.”
One of our 2013 alumni, Mariam Kamara, was one of the women recognized. “Since completing her Master of Architecture at the University of Washington (and a thesis project on gender and public space) in 2013, Kamara has built her practice on layers of narrative. Her buildings read as missives from the people who inhabit them: about their history, the ways they move through space, and their needs and aspirations, all gleaned through careful observation and conversation. Constructing clear geometric forms almost entirely from three locally produced materials — cement, recycled metal and unfired earth — Kamara shapes space from the inside out, using environmental and cultural cues to generate her designs.”
In 2017, Mariam was recognized in the GOLD category of the Department of Architecture’s inaugural Alumni Awards. We were honored to have her return to campus as a speaker in our Spring 2019 Lecture Series. Her lecture, titled “Decoding Context: Material, Sustainability and People-Focus Architecture,” can be viewed online here.
We are thrilled to see one of our graduates receive this widespread recognition. Congratulations, Mariam!
Handwashing is a proven strategy for reducing transmission of the Coronavirus. However, not everyone has access to handwashing facilities, especially when cafes and restaurants are closed due to the pandemic. This is especially true for those experiencing homelessness.
Seattle has responded by opening rest rooms in city parks and other locations and by contracting with private vendors to provide mobile handwashing stations across the city. However, these stations are subject to vandalism and are very expensive to maintain because they are closed loop systems. In other words, the water supply and the waste water need to be constantly replaced and removed respectively as the stations are not connected to either a water supply or drainage outlet.
In April, Elizabeth Golden was contacted by Tiffani McCoy of Real Change, a support organization for those experiencing homelessness, who was soliciting ideas that would both expand the number and reduce the cost of handwashing stations throughout the city. Elizabeth enlisted the help of Rick Mohler and Jeff Hou (Landscape Architecture) to develop a handwashing station that would be connected to an existing water supply thus eliminating the need for constant refilling. Brice Maryman (UW MLA ’03), a Principal with MIG, was recruited to help solve the problem of managing the greywater from the sink.
The team devised a design comprised of off-the-shelf components that would connect to a hose bib on public or private property and manage the grey water onsite. The design consists of a stock utility sink with an auto shut-off faucet (so that the water cannot be left on) and soap dispenser that drains into a standard livestock watering trough filled with soil and water loving plants – a combination handwashing station and rain garden.
With an approved design and cost estimate in hand, Tiffani sought a host for the prototype design. She found one in the ROOTS young adult shelter in the U District and its Executive Director Jerred Clouse. The team then got to work specifying, procuring and assembling components, specifying and procuring plants and soil and developing instructions and informational graphics for the installation. The prototype was installed in the alley outside ROOTS between NE 42nd and 43rd Streets on May 19. The installation will be monitored, refined and replicated at sites throughout the city and beyond.
UPDATES!
December 2020: Elizabeth Golden shared the news that the Seattle Street Sink was awarded $100,000 in funding by the Seattle City Council’s amendment to the Mayor’s 2021 budget. This will fund the installation and maintenance of over 60 sinks to be distributed citywide. It will also fund a student to conduct a citywide analysis to determine areas of greatest need. Congratulations to the team!
Keeping our Community Connected During COVID-19 via Social Networking: New ways to stay connected, build community, and share inspiration during the Spring 2020 Quarter
As COVID-19 continues to challenge the way we have been working, the Architecture department will utilize our social media accounts & website as a way to connect and showcase how our community is embracing the new changes. As the circumstances forces our community to be physically separated, it is important to utilize technology as a resource for folks to stay informed on what other studios are working on, community events, cyber-pin ups, digital happy hours, and the likes.
The department will be coordinating with studio instructors to document the work of our studios in a new blog featured on our website and continual posts on our Instagram. We encourage you to use the hashtag #uwarchitecture2020
Please email any ideas or other content to archta@uw.eduand check the department website often for updated content!
With the announcement of the switch to online learning platforms at the University of Washington beginning Monday, March 9 2020, the Department of Architecture, like all units in the university, has had to make immediate adjustments to our teaching. While the options for most classes have been relatively simple, essentially moving all teaching to Zoom as well as using Panopto through our online Canvas platform, our design studios have presented some unique challenges. In addition, we are entering the final week of our academic quarter, which had made our response all the more important.
One thing to note is that although we can have no face-to-face meetings with students, all of our buildings and facilities remain open. This means that students can, if they choose, continue to work in their studio spaces as they complete their projects this quarter. The UW has also purchased an enterprise license for Zoom so that all students and faculty have access to this platform from their laptop computers. In short, we are all becoming Zoom experts!
DESK CRITIQUES
As a result of our current circumstances, desk critiques have become Zoom meetings, with faculty setting up regular studio hours (MWF, 1:30-5:30 pm) and students Zooming in for input. Please check out the following UW News story and video of Professor Rick Mohler, who is teaching a research studio this quarter along with Brad Khouri of b9 architects in Seattle. The studio is investigating the issue of housing density and equity, where students are formed into groups that collaborate on research-based design projects in a specific neighborhood in Seattle. You can read the story and see the video HERE.
FINAL REVIEWS
Our final reviews will be handled in a variety of ways, but one of the suggested platforms is for the studio instructors and critics to use a UW room with a video screen and for the students to Zoom in for their scheduled final review. The reviews will be next week, beginning March 16, so we will post something about this then.
We hope that this is useful to others thinking about similar plans. Feel free to reach out with questions!
Caption: Leafy greens mingle with skyscrapers in an urban farm atop the Bank of America Tower, Hong Kong
Food, Water, & Energy: Finding the Nexus in Urban Food Systems
University of Washington architecture professor Gundula Proksch launches the Circular City + Living Systems Lab
By Gundula Proksch
Updated June 18, 2020: Read about the CCLS in TAD!
As urban populations grow globally, twenty-first-century cities must address complex challenges, including ensuring food, water, and energy security, while reducing dependence on non-renewable resources. Climate change, environmental degradation, and social inequity exacerbate these problems and have increasingly far-reaching impacts. Many of the challenges faced by our global community are interconnected, straining all sectors of the food-water-energy nexus; though they are often studied, managed, and regulated separately. The nexus framework supports an integrated interdisciplinary approach, which conceptually links multiple resource use practices and complex urban infrastructure systems to understand interrelations, potential synergies, and trade-offs. To respond to these critical challenges of today and tomorrow, we need effort and momentum from multiple disciplines reaching across the boundaries of research and practice. Built environments researchers and practitioners have to question current assumptions and develop integrated methodologies that simultaneously mitigate environmental pressures, develop alternative economic strategies, expand sustainable food systems, and support social equity.
To solve current sustainability challenges, we need interdisciplinary collaborationsthat work across scales, boundaries, and sectors towards systems integration.
In response to these challenges, Associate Professor of Architecture Gundula Proksch is excited to launch the Circular City + Living Systems Lab (CCLS), a new interdisciplinary University of Washington based organized research unit within the College of Built Environments. The lab investigates transformative strategies for future cities, bringing together the principles of the circular city – to keep resources in use, eliminate waste, and support the regeneration of natural ecosystems– as well as the still underutilized potential of the living systems in cities – such as green infrastructures, organic waste management, and urban food production. Together, these two lenses offer a holistic approach to systems integration at multiple scales.
“Urban agriculture offers a more sustainable alternative to untenable anthropogenic activities and current industrial agricultural practices, including the use of synthetic fertilizers, overuse of fresh water resources, and combustion of fossil fuels, which harm the environment by accelerating the disturbance of global biogeochemical cycles.”
Synthesizing expertise from architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, data science, urban planning, economy, biology, and ecology, the CCLS leverages research and design methods to investigate synergetic systems which apply circular economy principles and integrate living systems into the built environments toward sustainable urban futures. These approaches produce and circulate resources within the food-water-energy nexus and make cities more adaptive and resilient while facing climate change.
The lab’s current work focuses on project CITYFOOD, an international, interdisciplinary research project within the Sustainable Urban Growth Initiative (SUGI), co-funded by the Belmont Forum, European Union, and National Science Foundation. CITYFOOD investigates the potential of integrating and scaling up aquaponic food production systems into cities as an innovative approach to producing sustainable urban food and helping to mitigate urban environmental challenges. Aquaponic systems optimize flows of food, water, energy, and waste while minimizing resource needs. CITYFOOD connects and contextualizes this research across disciplines, engaging biologists, engineers, architects and urban planners. The project bridges theoretical academia with practice, putting both communities in active conversation with one another. This transdisciplinary approach is increasingly gaining traction as a research methodology with the means to generate effective real-world solutions. Results from the project CITYFOOD contribute to the ongoing conversation around urban agriculture, making a case for sustainable food systems in the built environment.
“Ambitious, ongoing innovation by the design community to help address proliferating environmental challenges… cannot be just an ideal, but must become a realized priority.” -“Building an Ecosystem: Integrating Rooftop Aquaponics with a Brewery to Advance the Circular Economy.” 2020. In Open: Proceedings of the 108th ACSA Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, March 12-14, 2020, Washington, DC: ACSA Press. (forthcoming)
Students in the College of Built Environments who are interested in sustainable urban futures, integration of urban agriculture in built environments, and applying principles of circular economy to design have an opportunity to work directly on these issues by participating in Professor Proksch’s courses: the seminar Arch 536 Designing with Living Systems in Winter 2020 and the Arch 508 Integrated Building Systems for a Circular Economy research studio in Spring 2020. Interested CBE Students are encouraged to participate in these collaborative course offerings or apply directly for research opportunities with the CCLS to continue their study on integrated food systems and alternative economies in the built environments.
For more information, visit the Circular City + Living Systems Lab or contact Professor Proksch at prokschg@uw.edu
Gundula Proksch is a licensed architect, and associate professor in the Department of Architecture and founding director ofthe Circular City + Living Systems Lab (CCLS), an interdisciplinary research group investigating transformative strategies for sustainable urban futures. She is a leading scholar in the field of integrated urban agriculture and green infrastructure and draws on a decade of applied research. Her 2017 book Creating Urban Agricultural Systems: An Integrated Approach to Design is the first source book on how to approach urban agriculture from a systems perspective.
Historically, Seattle has protected industrial lands from other forms of development seeking to preserve well paying blue collar jobs. The combination of the housing crisis and expanded light rail development through industrial areas has brought attention to the need to reconsider zoning practices.
During the Autumn 2019 quarter, an interdisciplinary group of Built Environments students participated in a studio boldly envisioning transit oriented development and the future use of Seattle’s industrial lands. Co-taught by Associate Professor Rick Mohler (Architecture) and Affiliate Instructor David Blum (Urban Design and Planning), the studio considered the creation of a new neighborhood in the Interbay area, northwest of downtown and connected via future light rail stations. Students worked in groups to imagine and develop visions for this new neighborhood, with proposals ranging from the restoration of tidal plains to the creation of hybrid land-use mixing residential and industrial building types. This studio challenged students to work together to imagine innovative and feasible concepts for Seattle’s future neighborhoods.
The final review of the studio was attended by a range of prominent Seattle officials including former Governor Gary Locke, State Representative Gael Tarleton, and Seattle Office of Community Development’s Sam Assefa, who all responded enthusiastically to the students’ ideas. The work of the studio has gained media attention through the reporting of KUOW and The Urbanist.
Check out the studio’s research, designs, and proposals in PDF format here.
(Note: that the file may take a few minutes to download depending on your connection.)
Last spring the Barry Onouye Endowed Studio explored the relationship between architecture, tensile structures, and dance. Assistant Professor Tyler Sprague and Endowed Chair Sigrid Adriaenssens from Princeton University co-taught the studio focusing on the use of nets to create a distinct space in the atrium of Gould Hall that became the environment for a performance by four professional dancers. In discussing the studio last spring Professor Sprague stated:
“This studio has addressed not only the structural behavior of tension systems, but also the active engagement of public space through dance. Tension structures are highly adaptable, responding to weight and force through changes in form. Previously concealed reactions are revealed in dramatic ways. With dance partners from both the UW and Princeton (Rebecca Lazier), we are in the process of designing a large-scale installation as our final project with a culminating, professional dance performance.”
Graduate student Princess Cole worked with Professor Sprague to produce two videos showcasing the performance from last spring.
Barry Onouye Endowed Studio Spring 2019 Studio Summary
Barry Onouye Endowed Studio Spring 2019 Full Performance
Additional images and information on the studio available here
A blog about the studio from the perspective Professor Sigrid Adriaenssens is available here
The Barry Onouye Endowed Studio offers students and the community exciting new ways to study the relationship between structure and the built environment. This spring the studio will focus on the possibilities of cedar construction in Japan and the United States.
Studio Description:
The 2020 Barry Onouye Endowed Studio, with our invited chair Mitsuhiro Kanada, will explore the culture and use of a material common to both American and Japanese contexts: cedar wood. Cedar has powerful significance as part of a natural landscape, as a cultural material, as a part of communal life, and carries a long tradition of craft on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. As such, cedar can become a language of a cross-cultural conversation linking different places across time, and contributing to our broader understanding of architecture, structure, culture, technique and material processes. The work in this studio will bring these larger themes in to the design, fabrication, treatment and connection of cedar elements into large scale structures.
Each year, the ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) gives Architectural Education Awards to recognize faculty for their excellence in architectural education and research.
The Department of Architecture is pleased to announce that Professor Vikramditya Prakash has been awarded an ACSA Distinguished Professor Award, and the team of Barbara Rodriguez and Catherine De Wolf, led by Associate Professor Kathrina Simonen, has been awarded the Technology | Architecture+Design (TAD) Research Contribution Award for their work “Benchmarking the Embodied Carbon of Buildings”.
A full press release of the award can be read here.
The Distinguished Professor Award recognizes individuals that have had a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students over an extended period of time and/or teaching which inspired a generation of students who themselves have contributed to the advancement of architecture.
The Technology | Architecture + Design (TAD) Research Contribution Awardrecognizes researchers and leaders in the field of architecture who have made significant contributions to the application of technology in architecture and design. (TAD) is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in the field of building technology, with a focus on the impact, translation and integration of technology in architecture and design.
Click on the link to read the full article, “Benchmarking the Embodied Carbon of Buildings“, authored by Kathrina Simonen, Barbara X. Rodriguez Droguett, & Catherine De Wolf. Further information about the team’s work and the Carbon Leadership forum can be found here.
Congratulations to Vikram and Kate on this recognition of their remarkable achievements and contributions to the field!
The Department of Architecture is pleased to share the news that several of our students and studio faculty were recognized at the 2019 AIA Northwest and Pacific Region Student Design Awards.
Citation, Honor, and Merit awards were given to the following:
Citation Award
Mike Laurencelle
for
Design for Reassembly: A Flexible Response to the Demand for Housing
Citation Award
to Noor Awad Ingrid Pelletier Andrew Brown Kelsey Pierson Savek Butorac Kylie Poon Griffin Irving Hector Saldivar Weston Hambleton Kyle Smith George Lee Haley Wilson Amal Moussa Ephrem Yared & Tam Nguyen
for The Toolbox
Merit Award
to Adam Bichir Elena Cortez Elana Darnell Mark Delpierre Yuting Feng Juan Granados Borreguero Jess Kuntz Steffen Pawlosky Nick Portman Kristin Ramsey Anton Sagun Daniel Vu Lorryn Wilhelm & Zixiao Zhu
for in•tension
Merit Award
to
Lean Octavio
for Cook + House – Markethall & Cookhouse Public Access at Pier 48
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M. Arch. student Caleb Killian has been selected for the 2019 Ghost Residency (internship) where he will apprentice from September – June under Brian MacKay-Lyons at this studio in Nova Scotia (Mackay-Lyons was the recipient of The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 2015 Gold Medal and the Royal Institute of British Architects International Fellowship).
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Finally, M. Arch student George Lee received an Honorable Mention for his project, THE SEATTLE WATER-ING HALL, in the 2018-2019 AISC/ACSA Steel Design Student Competition. George’s faculty mentor was Boris Srdar.
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Congratulations to all of our talented, hardworking students and faculty on receiving this recognition!
