SAFE PARK

While looking for opportunities for work today, I ran across this article in a quarterly newsletter published by the Low Income Housing Institute.

Advocates Call for a ‘Safe Park’
for the Homeless in Every
Kitsap City
Every city in Kitsap County needs a
“safe park,” where homeless families can
sleep in their cars, according to a summit
on homelessness held in Bremerton
on November 17. Currently there is
one such park in Kitsap County, offering
families living in their cars a secure
place to park overnight, shower and
connect with caseworkers until they get
something more permanent.
It’s been up and going for more
than a year and has been heralded as a
success by politicians, police, socialservice
workers and homeless people.
At the summit, advocates urged
spreading the concept around to other
cities and towns, and vowed to push
safe parks at city council meetings.
Bremerton Police Capt. Tom Wolfe
said that he encounters many fewer
people in “creative” living situations
now compared to 20 years ago.
“I know we have a long way to go, but,
wow, we’ve come a long ways,” he said.
Some of the improvements in
providing for the homeless include
the safe park, Benedict House in
Bremerton for homeless men, a larger
emergency shelter at St. Vincent’s for
women and children now being built,
and new severe-weather shelters.
Homeless advocate Sally Santana
invites people interested in helping with
new initiatives to e-mail her at sally.
santana@wavecable.com.

First and foremost discovering this article reminded me that I need to stay better connected to the main reason I wanted to practice architecture - low income housing(please note that I'm NOT calling myself an "Architect." I am still in the process of licensing and do not yet have my stamp.)

Second, FASCINATING! How wonderful that an area has been created for people who are struggling to regain their footing - whether there by their own economic choices or by forces beyond their control - have a a safe place to go, to shower, to stay connected, and to give them some of the security we all need to make looking for a job that much more realistic!

Tacoma - do we have one? If not, perhaps we should!

FreeGreen Who's Next Competition

This is Ben & my entry for the competition. Please take a minute to follow the link and comment/vote if you can. The winner is determined 50% by public vote and 50% by jury!

Converstations RE: Tacoma

Hello again. It's been a couple of weeks as I've been refining the design of the poster, website and e-mail(s) for the new lecture series in Tacoma. Per the press release refined by Catherine Oleson:

IT'S OUR CITY - Redefine It, Reinvent It
A three-part lecture series focused on Tacoma's built environment: past, present, and
future, presented by Conversations RE: Tacoma, An Ad Hoc Group.
Tacoma's urban architectural environment has a long and mixed history. In a series of three lectures we begin a conversation about the City's recent past, including the still-controversial downtown makeover of the 1980's and 1990's; the present by looking at the elements for creation of vibrant neighborhoods; and the future, as represented by the Center for UrbanWaters.

The goal of this three part lecture series is to provoke thought, to inform the public, and to stimulate conversation, as upcoming changes to the City’s Comprehensive Plan provide the opportunity for community-wide discussion of the city’s design future.

Sponsors: AIA, Southwest Washington Chapter; City Club of Tacoma; Emerging Leaders;
The Harris Architectural Trust; New Frontier Lounge; Washington State History Museum;
Historic Tacoma; City of Tacoma; and University of Washington Tacoma.

See the website www.RETacoma.com for information about each of the lectures and links for registration. At the registration page for each lecture you'll find more information about the speakers.

Thanks to Cheryl Zoltak of the AIA and Kelly Braun for setting up the registration and Kelly and Catherine for coming up with the key phrases for the campaign! Thank you also to Ko Wibowo, Sharon Winters and Ben Ferguson for providing feedback and input on the design of the marketing materials. Thanks to Melody of NW Reprographics for working with me on printing the posters for distribution. And to anyone else I may have missed, thank you also!

Single Family Homes & Leavenworth

image courtesy of Sustainable Building Center

I'm in Leavenworth this week, visiting my family, hiking, and getting some work done. I'm also being inspired again by the landscape. The region has my favorite landscape - rolling dessert hills marking the boundary between mountain and dessert. It's truly amazing to see so many eco-systems in such a small area.

While Leavenworth itself requires a bavarian style for newer structures, the surrounding area provides incredible inspiration for architecture which sits more calmly in its environs.

Since first learning of rammed earth construction I've dreamed of using this building technique in an area with the climate of Leavenworth - hot in summer, cold in winter. The construction type has so many qualities to it which make it desirable, particulary in this era where owners are becoming more in tune with the environment and strive to tread as lightly as possible. First of all, a portion of the mixture typically comes directly from the site on which the structure is being built. Secondly, the construction of the walls are actually not that complicated and can be completed by the homeowners (and their friends!) if desired. Third is the fact that the structure acts as a trombe wall - collecting heat during the day and releasing it at night, a very desirable way to reduce electrical usage due to reduced need for heating and air conditioning. Finally, it's just produces a really beautiful wall, both on the exterior and the interior and it's been proven to be more resistant to water etc than our standard building materials.

Which brings up a good point - rammed earth is not easily damaged. I attended a lecture in Portland, Oregon a number of years ago and if I remember correctly, it's as structurally stable as concrete and resists corrosion from water very efficiently. In fact, I believe the lecturer had said they'd used a sprayer with the pressure set to 5,000 psi and still had no damage. If you take a jackhammer to it it creates holes but the wall does not crumble as concrete would. They had even used it in a bathroom for the shower walls. This area required a little extra waterproofing but over a few years had held up very well.

All this being said, I'm hoping to find the opportunity to use this construction at some point in the near future.

See the links above located within the body of the text and hopefully I'll get a quick rendering of a design up over the next couple of weeks.

Cheers!

Highline New York + Ideas for Tacoma

New York is not a place for the timid or the weary. It is a city which seems as though it has the entire world revolving around it, and those who live within the metropolis are often imaginitive and creative. They take hold of the environment in which they live and mold it to be what they see as their singular vision. A wonderful by-product of this is the dynamic nature of the city and the trendsetting which occurs because of it. Each resident seems to be vying for the next great idea to set them apart from the crowd. It's amazing, energizing, and inspiring.

I took the opportunity three years ago to live and work there and while it was perhaps one of the more difficult episodes of my adult life it is also something I will always be thankful for having the opportunity of doing.

One of the many events held each year is Open House New York. An incredible opportunity to tour parts of the built environment which you often only get to walk past/under/or in to the lobby if you even know they exist in the first place.

Lucky Lisa and I managed to get a spot on the Highline Tour a couple of years ago while the project was under construction. Having read about this project over the years and having heard Diller Scofidio + Renfro discuss the project at one of their lectures we were very excited to experience the city from a completely different vantage point and see if we too could imagine their vision.











Needless to say it was pretty amazing walking along this structure which had played such a significant role in Manhattan's early history.

Now, a portion of the Highline has been completed. I'm adding it to my list of places to visit when I head back for a vacation. If you head to New York, make sure you take a walk along the completed portion. To see images of the completed work and gather your enthusiasm take a look at this article on the Dwell website.

Which brings me to Tacoma. Perhaps you know about the old railroad tracks running through downtown. They cross through the University of Washington Tacoma campus, past Tollefson Plaza and the Tacoma Art Museum, and head down to the waterfront. There is a community group working on including the old tracks in to a county wide trail system. The opportunity for assisting in creating a new experience for residents and visitors of Tacoma is enticing and begs to be explored. As part of Jon and my submission for the Tacoma Art Museum Plaza Redesign (see last post), we're proposing TAM takes "ownership" of a portion of the trail to assist in some of the issues with their existing site but also to extend the fingers of the museum via a sculpture garden - or rather walk.

Enjoy the journey!

Tacoma Art Museum

I'm not sure how many of you know but the Tacoma Art Museum has released a Request for Proposals for a redesign of the plaza at Pacific Avenue and their parking area. They've a few issues they'd like to have addressed and are requesting a very easy submission for the RFP. Thankfully, they're not requiring you be a licensed Architect and have left the competition open to all. An excellent opportunity for people like me who are starting a design firm, are not licensed but would love the opportunity to give back to their community and get some work in the process (note to self, quit volunteering your time away!).

The submissions are due today by 5:00 p.m.

I've been working with a friend - Jon Denton - on this submission. It's been an interesting experience and I do believe we're both a better for it. I've loaded the image and after 5:00 p.m. will add the design description. It's the first piece of work I'll be putting up and it's very exciting.

Chat soon.

Materials - Puget Sound Region LEED Local

Courtesy of O'Brien & Company the following is a list of materials which may be useful for earning USGBC LEED® points for projects which occur in the Puget Sound region:


MR4.1/4.2 Recycled Content

Steel

· Rebar from Cascade Steel Rolling Mills with 71% Post –consumer and 24% Pre-consumer recycled content.

Roofboard:

· Dens Deck from Pacific Construction Systems with 90% Pre-consumer recycled content.

Cement Board

· Durock Cement Board by US Gypsum Company, with 20% Pre-consumer recycled content.

Gypsum Board

· ProRock gypsum board by CertainTeed, with 4% Post-consumer and 10% Pre-consumer recycled content.

· Gypsum board by BPB (also Regional) with 4% Post-consumer and 10% Pre-consumer recycled content.

Particleboard and MDF

· Roseburg Particleboard by Roseburg Forest Products, with 100% Pre-consumer recycled content. Also qualifies under Regional materials.

Insulation

· Sarna Therm Insulation by Sika Sarnafil, with 21% Pre-consumer recycled content.

· Unfaced Fiberglass Insulation and Sound Control Batts from Knauf, with 20% Post-consumer recycled content.

· Rigid Foam Insulation (R-tech) by Insulfoam, with 15% Pre-consumer recycled content. Also Regional.

· MDF by Sierra Pine, with 100% Pre-consumer recycled content.

Countertops, both qualify under Regional materials

· Paperstone with 100% Post-consumer recycled content.

· Squak Mountain with 2.5% Post-consumer and 49% Pre-consumer recycled content.



MR 5 Regional Materials

Wood

· Vancouver Door in Puyallup.

· FSC by FD Sterrit Lumber Company, also Rapidly Renewable.

Regional Steel Sources

· Infra-Metals, Inc; Cascade Steel; Pacific Stair Company; Dietrich; Harris Rebar; NuCor-Yamato Steel.

Asphalt

· Lakeside Industries



MR 6 Rapidly Renewable Materials

· Forbo Marmoleum Real, Johnsonite Rubber Base and Johnsonite Stair Treads by Gold Star.

· Acoustical Insulation, by Thermafiber

· Wood Framing FSC, by FD Sterrit Lumber Company. Also Regional.

· Wood Decking, by Lock Deck

· Wood, laminated, by Unadilla

· Radar Ceiling Tiles, Cornstarch, by USG.

Design - Theater Sets

Just about done with the first set design experience. It's something I've wanted to get in to for years but haven't found an opportunity.

It's definately been quite the experience. Set design is very conceptual, which is something I really like, but like anything that you design, you can't fill in the gaps until you're building and to some degree using the design. In the case of the play, as we've finally got the major structures built we're realizing that we have gaps due to the ability of a few major things:
The desire of those with the knowledge to build to actually build the thing
The time
Not having worked closer with the Director and Assistant Director (due to the gathering of us so late in the game)
Struggle for control
Non-volunteer (meaning paying job) deadlines

I think the most frustrating and exciting part of the experience is thinking about how in future plays we might worker closer with the production team and really have the set be an integral part of the movement of the cast. This seems desirable b/c that way they wouldn't have to:
Close the curtain (particularly important when there are multiple quick scene changes
"Turn down the lights" which leads to the ability to see the set being changed

I'll follow this post with an image of a backdrop not being used in the play due to the theater not having available fly's in the places we need. The back drops are 32' long x 8' high (four panels each at 8'x8'). Once the play actually opens (Thursday) then I'll get some more photos of the set actually up. It's very minimal, abstract and at the same time Bauhaus, or at least that's how I see it.

Cheers!

Passing

I thought it would be days before I posted again but as I'm sitting here in an empty office (closed due to snow) news was given that the founder of our firm passed away. He was a wonderful man and was always supportive of our careers. He instilled the morals and values upon which this firm still functions today - honesty, integrity, solid design, community relations.

Since coming back to the office six months ago I've had the privilege of seeing him three times and again was inspired by him. He led me to push to achieve before I thought I would push. I know you may not know him but he's done great things for the architectural community and the community at large and I hope you'll spend two seconds and give a thank you.

He will be dearly missed.

Thank you Jim McGranahan for all you did - and for that knowing smile when you passed through the office.

A SMALL part of his legacy:

• McGranahan Architects
• WWII Veteran Memorial, Olympia, WA
• Tacoma Dome

Musings on Jealousy & Poop

It dawned on me again for the umpteenth time in the last who knows how long that I spend an awful lot of time comparing myself to others. In particular to others accomplishments, skills, experiences, etc. I've throughout my life thought that this was a good thing because it made me want to be better, try harder, do more. What I'm realizing as I get older is that what it accomplishes now is self-sabotage.

This thought occurred twice today for two reasons. The first was as I was reading through my friends blog and thinking, "Wow, she really is a wonderful writer. So engaging and personal without being TOO personal. I want to write like that!" The second was while reading Architectural Record (December 2008). The archrecord2 article focuses on Ammar Eloueini and his research based work. While reading the article I was thinking about another entry I'm working on about material research and thinking, "I want to do that! How can I start designing installations?" After a series of reminders about how "it takes years Caroline" and "calm down, you're just getting started," and "for f's sake Caroline - learn how to focus on something for longer than two minutes and you may actually accomplish something," I managed to flip through another seven pages and stopped again. William Morgan reviewed the book Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design by Michael Bierut, and he includes a quote, a quote so adequate for this ridiculous wining I've been subjecting my brain cells through that it actually made me stop - and write this entry. The quote you ask?

...the more things you are interested in, the better your work will be

Is it true? I think that yes, to a point it is, but there's something to be said about being able to zoom in on something and really follow it through. To have the patience to explore one thing, one thought, one - something. To be able to commit to truly understanding rather than throwing it out like the wrapping paper you use once and even though you know you've not developed it to its fullest potential there's that shiny new wallpaper over there waiting to be tried.

I enjoy knowing a little bit about alot of things, more so than I think I would knowing alot about a few things, but it seems that this way of thinking, of doing, of being, will place limitations on where I can go in my career and so perhaps what I need to do is figure out where I WANT to go and learn how to walk a gray line between committing and flitting.

Patience is finally occurring in my life, perhaps focus will too.

So perhaps the point of all this is that I'm going to try to quit comparing myself to others and focus on MY strengths - like the fact that I can hold a two minute conversation with anyone, that I can spend years making a decision and somehow get people to think it's spontaneous when I finally do something about it, that I can read AND follow 3, 4, 5 books at one time and that I'm an idea person. An idea person. THAT is what I like about me.

Now on to my favorite story about the built environment from the news this week:

PIGEON POOP BLAMED FOR AWNING COLLAPSE

Seriously, you've got to love the AP for some of the newsworthy items they cover, and believe it or not, it is newsworthy!

Think about this, it's a design issue. Was it a canopy such as this or an awning such as this? My hunch is the former (this post may lead to a future post on how irritating it is when people don't follow the definition of a word - I know I'll probably get called on this sometimes and PLEASE feel free to do it) is what they meant and while the article from the Associated Press tenders the idea that the collapse is due to 4-5 inches of pigeon poo collecting I've got to wonder if maybe its due more to the corrosive effects of bird waste than it is to the weight of it.

Either way, there are seem to be two design issues here (the world is occurring in two's today)

1. The "awning" was designed in such a way as to allow for birds to have their happy hour rather than taking in to account that a perch is a perch and if you're gonna provide it they're gonna use it so let's try to find a way to either NOT provide the perch or...


2. The "awning" was not designed in a way which allowed ease of maintenance (ooh, this gets me thinking about my current project at the office, I may have to think about that over my vacation)

I could continue to elaborate on this but it's late, I'm tired and even though the office is closed tomorrow (today) I don't get to stay away because well, it's difficult to say you can't get there because of the snow when you live across the street

The Leap

I suppose you can say I've made a number of these over the last 11 years or so. I guess we all do in the course of our lives. The significance is perhaps contextual - physical, psychological, etc.

This leap is into the - what's the word - "blogosphere." Really an annoying sort of word don't you think? It's like "starchitect." Some pop phrases just really shouldn't become mainstream.

Anyway, I've no idea how well I'll do keeping this up to date but I WILL tell you what I'm here for. I'm here to make sure I stay on top of what's happening in the world of design, to test ideas, share theories and I suppose through writing and researching, find my own little place in the world.

Topics I may cover are Architecture (I hear an "of course" from those of you who know me), urban living (public transportation, gardening, art, etc.), political theories, fashion, furniture making, sewing and who knows what else.

Cheers!