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Washington: The Latest Architecture and News

Amazon's Seattle Headquarters / NBBJ

Amazon's Seattle Headquarters / NBBJ - Image 37 of 4
Amazon's Seattle Headquarters; Images © NBBJ

NBBJ’s design for the Amazon’s new headquarters in downtown Seattle, Washington, promises to consolidate the companies currently scattered buildings into a 3-block development that includes high-rise towers, a variety of open spaces, and landscaped plazas. The 3.3 million square foot design was presented to the city’s Design Review Board (DRB) in great detail outlining the division of the each of the buildings, their integration into the downtown urban fabric and the synthesis of the currently underdeveloped Denny’s Triangle.

Amazon's Seattle Headquarters / NBBJ - Image 9 of 4

Seattle Design Festival

Seattle Design Festival - Featured Image
© 2012 Design in Public

The annual Seattle Design Festival, created by Design in Public, is an event that encourages all to ‘engage our world’ by offering the public an opportunity to better understand design and how it adds value to our lives, our city, and our region. This fun-filled weekend, which takes place September 20-23, is a collaboration among ten nonprofit partners that created an ambitious set of offerings: more than 35 events, including tours, films, speakers, exhibits, installations, and family programs—all aimed at a public audience. For more detailed information, including a complete list of events going on that weekend, please visit here.

Francis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates

Francis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates - Library, FacadeFrancis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates - LibraryFrancis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates - Library, ForestFrancis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates - Library, BeamFrancis A. Gregory Library / Adjaye Associates - More Images+ 23

Washington, United States

Seattle Library: Homeless Man Interview Clips / Tomas Koolhaas

Earlier we shared with you these rough clips of the recently completed CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, filmed by Tomas Koolhaas as part of a feature length documentary film that he currently making about his father, Rem Koolhaas. In this short clip, Tomas Koolhaas interviews a homeless man inside the Seattle Central Library as an attempt to capture his unique experience within the glass and steel mesh walls of the famous public library.

Tomas Koolhaas studied at the Los Angeles Film School. Upon graduating, he spend ten years working as a cinematographer and has recently switched his focused more towards directing and writing. The documentary film, REM, is set to debut in 2013. Watch for updates here on the REM Facebook page.

Transforming Seattle's 520 Floating Bridge 2012 International Design Ideas Competition

Transforming Seattle's 520 Floating Bridge 2012 International Design Ideas Competition - Featured Image
Courtesy of RETHINK REUSE

RETHINK REUSE, an independent group whose goal is to inspire discourse on the topic of reuse is inviting all to participate in their Transforming Seattle’s 520 Floating Bridge 2012 International Design Ideas Competition. The goal is to envision new, innovative reuse strategies. The 520 bridge will be decommissioned in 2014 due to high maintenance costs, damage, and the need for additional lanes. The Washington State Department of Transportation is requiring of the new bridge’s design-build team that it be reused or recycled in a sustainable fashion; current trends for the reuse of pontoons have been floating docks, breakwaters and piers, but what else could be done with such a feat of engineering? More information on the competition after the break.

Urban Intervention Seattle Center Competition Proposal / Hoshino Architects

Urban Intervention Seattle Center Competition Proposal / Hoshino Architects - Featured Image
ⓒ Hoshino Architects

With a challenge to make a series of random ephemeral public spaces using a simple structure in the Seattle Center, the intervention by Hoshino Architects proposes areas of such spaces to be transformed to voids and purely leave the circulation spaces on the ground level. In contrast, the public contents circles are randomly scattered on the field level. As normal urban spaces, the circulation spaces sometimes change to unexpected functions, such as a viewing gallery for the event staged at the field level. This dual layer structure intertwines and creates the complex ‘Porous-scape’. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Winner announced for Seattle’s Urban Intervention Competition

A jury of internationally recognized design professionals and Seattle civic leaders has declared a winner among three semi-finalists in Urban Intervention: The Howard S. Wright Design Ideas Competition for Public Space. The winner is ABF, of Paris, France, for its design, In-Closure, which envisions an interactive wall around a forested landscape that is both flexible and dynamic, embracing social life in the city at multiple scales.

The ABF team consists of Etienne Feher, architect; Paul Azzopardi, urban engineer; and Noé Basch, climate engineer. Continue reading after the break for more details.

Amazon Proposes Three New Towers in Seattle

Amazon Proposes Three New Towers in Seattle - Image 1 of 4
Via Amazon Early Design Guidance Submittal

Tomorrow, Amazon representatives are scheduled to present their design for a three-block proposal that will introduce three new towers to the Seattle skyline and add 3.3 million square feet of office space to the downtown area. Quite possibly the largest development ever proposed downtown, the complex will consume five acres in the Denny Triangle Urban Village that is currently being used for parking, the Sixth Avenue Inn and the King Cat Theater.

Continue reading for more information on the Denny Triangle project.

Urban Intervention: Public Space Competition Proposal / PRAUD

Urban Intervention: Public Space Competition Proposal / PRAUD - Image 10 of 4
Courtesy of PRAUD

The public space proposal for the Urban Intervention competition creates a new way of creating a dialog between the park and the city. Designed by PRAUD, each solid and void creates its own topography, and thus the topography of the solid provides different experiences for pedestrians and joggers, while topography of the voids provide different types of functions and landscape fields. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Spring 2012 AIAS West Quad Regional Conference

Spring 2012 AIAS West Quad Regional Conference - Image 9 of 4
Courtesy of AIAS Washington State University

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) chapter at Washington State University will proudly host the Spring 2012 West Quad Regional Conference in Spokane at the end of March 2012. The conference will take place March 29th – April 1st on the WSU Spokane campus under the theme of “Preserving Identities,” welcoming in attendees from across the Western United States. More images and information on the event after the break.

AIA Seattle: Tour of Architects

AIA Seattle: Tour of Architects - Image 6 of 4
BC & J Architecture © Martin Bydalek

The upcoming Tour of Architects in the Puget Sound region of Washington State sponsored by AIA Seattle will take place from March 17-25. Four separate tours will take place over the two weekends, with architects on site to meet with tour guests in addition to conducting tours. The projects featured on the tour are primarily residential, encompassing a wide variety of styles ranging from modern, universally design urban lofts, to remodeled min-century ramblers. Some of the other typologies featured include a memorial project dedicated to the memory of Japanese Americans interned during WWII, an equestrian facility and an award winning Fire Station.

The tickets are priced at $20 per tour, $35 for a weekend pass, and $50 for both weekends.Visit the official site for more information here. See more photos of some of the featured projects after the break.

Interview with Tom Kundig by Lawrence W. Cheek of SeattleMet

Interview with Tom Kundig by Lawrence W. Cheek of SeattleMet - Image 1 of 4
© Tim Bies/Olson Kundig Architects

In this interview published by Seattle Met, Lawrence W. Cheek speaks with Tom Kundig, principal at Olson Kundig Architects. Kundig has defined his career for designing homes that are flexible and considerate in their materials, functions, response to site and the way that the human body interacts with the space and mechanics of the environment. This interview is excellent at revealing Kundig’s inspiration and priorities when it comes to designing homes and he mentions some great examples and strategies that he has taken over the years.

Here is just a list of the variety, but consistency, representative of Kundig’s work:

On January 25th at 6pm, Tom Kundig will be speaking with Mark Rozzo at the New York Public Library about Tom Kundig: Houses 2. More information on that event coming soon.

Follow us after the break for the full interview, courtesy of SeattleMET, ”Q&A with Architect Tom Kundig” by Lawrence W. Cheek.

Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects

Yale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects - Apartment Interiors, FacadeYale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects - Apartment Interiors, Facade, BeamYale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects - Apartment Interiors, FacadeYale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects - Apartment Interiors, Facade, Handrail, Column, StairsYale Steam Laundry Condominiums / John Ronan Architects - More Images+ 19

Record Store Installation at [storefront] / Olson Kundig Architects

Record Store Installation at [storefront] / Olson Kundig Architects - Image 20 of 4
© Tim Bies

Olson Kundig Architects is an experimental work place for their community collaborations, pro‐bono design work, philanthropic and volunteer work, and for design research and the development of design ideas. Since its inception this summer, has served as an artist’s working studio, a dancer’s stage, a non‐profit’s arts education on workshop and outreach hub, a design festival’s pop‐up space, and more. Record Store is the latest and current iteration of . More images and architects’ description after the break.

AIA+2030 Professional Series: Prepare for the New Energy FutureTM

 AIA+2030 Professional Series: Prepare for the New Energy FutureTM - Featured Image
Courtesy of AIA Seattle

AIA Seattle, the Seattle Chapter of American Institute of Architects, with partners BetterBricks, the City of Seattle, and Architecture 2030 present AIA+2030 Professional Series: Prepare for the New Energy Future at Seattle City Hall.

Bertschi School Living Science Building / KMD Architects

Bertschi School Living Science Building / KMD Architects - Image 10 of 4

Architect: KMD Architects Location: Seattle, Washington Project area: 5,225 sqf Construction cost: $930,000 (est.) Project Year: 2011 Owner/Tenant: The Bertschi School Photographs: Benjamin Benschneider

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Jim Olson: Architecture for Art Exhibition

Jim Olson: Architecture for Art Exhibition  - Featured Image

The Museum of Art at Washington State University is organizing ‘Architecture for Art,’ the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the career of Jim Olson, one of the Northwest’s most significant architects and founder of the internationally recognized Seattle-based firm, Olson Kundig Architects.

The exhibit, which is open from now until December 10th, will serve as a retrospective for Olson’s 45-year career, highlighting his residential legacy, including his own homes-an apartment in downtown Seattly and his cabin on Puget Sound-as well as his public design work, which encompasses the Lightcatcher Museum in Bellingham, Washingtom, St. Mark’s Cathedral and the Pike and Virginia Building in Seattle, and the Noah’s Art Exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.  More information on the event after the break.

1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects

1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects - Office Buildings, Garden, Facade1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects - Office Buildings, Facade1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects - Office Buildings, Facade1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects - Office Buildings, Facade1100 First Street / Krueck & Sexton Architects - More Images+ 5

  • Architects: Krueck + Sexton Architects: Krueck & Sexton Architects
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  355000 ft²
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2009