many thanks to Ted Smith and the rest of the [woodbury] san diego clan for showing the way

I think the idea of vertical housing is very common all over the world, only really matters the final results…Pretty place to live, congratulations!

Libeskind is hardly what I would think of as a progressive modern. His buildings are formal exercises that really don’t innovate beyond the level of geometry. Other architects out there are innovating in terms of programming, financial models, social engagement, etc.

And I don’t condemn anyone for not subscribing to my personal aesthetics. But buildings are a part of the public domain and, as such, are subject to criticism (mine, yours, other architects’, the public’s, etc.) Architecture only gets better through criticism, doesn’t it?

I don’t deny that the project has some interesting details and pushes the envelope of Seattle’s fairly conservative architectural standards. It does so (relatively) affordably. I just find it interesting that, by the metric of other global works of architecture on this website, much of the American work appears conservative and not really that innovative–in terms of its programming, its form, or its financial structure. But maybe that’s where American architecture is today: beholden to a rigid developers’ idea of what makes good architecture. Yes, Hybrid were lucky that they didn’t have to make developer townhomes. But my argument is that these are in some ways merely an IKEA-ized version of the typical developer townhome.

This also isn’t about my work, CW. A building becomes a part of public discourse and will be commented on and criticized. Criticism is a valuable (indeed, essential) part of making architecture. It’s a weak kind of schoolyard argument to say, whenever one of your projects is criticized, “well, fine, let’s see YOUR work, then.” As if judging my work will make the original project any better, or less immune to criticism.

Buildings don’t have to be innovative to be timeless and you would be surprised to find out that these were market rate homes, sold for about $300/sf…which is unheard of in downtown Seattle.