While it hurts to not be there with them celebrating right now, I couldn't be prouder of my recent firm for winning the 2016 AIA National Firm of the Year Award.  I've been convinced all along this was the year!

Hank Bought a Bus

My newest obsession.  I've had a hard time keeping focused at work this week.  Not so much that I want to surf the web or go explore - I just find myself staring.  A lot.  At home too.  But when I'm done staring - then I find myself clicking through my standby links, until my mind is collected and I'm ready to return to the world that feels less like reality - yet, requires my immediate presence.  This process, led me here, to Hank Bought a Bus... and I think it will soon become my new addiction.

An architect student. A photographer.  A refurbished old bus.  And a road trip.
How could I resist their invitation to follow?

Oh, and my other, older secret web addiction?  Forty Days of Dating. It's day 35!! It's a bit TMI at times - but I am so enthralled by their honest evaluation and the study of their behaviors, tendencies and desire to grow. Not to mention - they are so freaking creative!

Both series are going on right now - so go check them out now or you'll miss the joy of walking out the adventure with them and the discovery along the way!

40 Days of Dating – Tied Up from 40 Days of Dating on Vimeo.

I don't know why this place holds so much sway over me - a magnet to my heart, buried high up in heavens I've never seen, and an age I've never known. 

St. Etienne, a glimpse of you and my heart starts to burn.  Your grandeur overwhelms me - moves me - all at once the distant, the beautiful, the dangerous meet in you. You are my sublime.  And someday, I will see you.  Sit with you in ageless silence.  And together we will contemplate the heavens and think little of time. 

Holy Flying Buttress

Dream Home. 

"The Brain" by Tom Kundig of Olson Kundig Architects.

Read more about the project at Mooorsk. 

Dream Job. 

;)

This morning I walked into work early.  Grabbed coffee, opened up the great interwebs and dived into a half a dozen different windows.  Load Orca card.  Order more posters.  Follow up with event coordinator.  Find contact info for press release.  Check DJC for RFQs.  Research Architecture in Horror Fiction for my work presentation tomorrow.  Contact property manager for work.  Has anyone asked Local 360 if they'd post up regarding the Special Hope Benefit, since they are catering?  Does OMG still want to donate to the auction? 

No joke - my mind is only running along 3 or 4 tracks right now - they are just very fast trains. 

The DeVotchka Pandora station is helping keep me calm, and the coffee keeping me fueled. 

I'm really in heaven.  These are the things I love.  Researching and writing about the intersections between architecture and literature - how the corruption of basic tenants of architecture can be used to create a sense of terror, casting shadows that become the primary character of a story and stir emotion in a reader decades after publication.  Analysis and writing - I miss this!!

Coordinating communications for a benefit I'm excited about, an organization I believe in, and an artist I support - I'm alive. 

Responding to all the other calls, emails, breaking down printers, running low toners, invoice questions and calendar scheduling with friends and the Beau.... they are pleasant kindle on a cold rainy day like today.  I like a clean desk with one project sitting on it and two black pens - but I like a dozen projects firing along in my mind and the freedom to switch from one to the other as creativity and innovation strikes.  This is where I'm happy in work.  And this morning, I have it all.  Surprisingly, we are only 3 hours deep.

And on top of all this, there are new hopes and goals I'm itching to stretch my fingers out to when a few of these current trains pull into station.

Update on the Frank Lloyd Wright home in Phoenix.

.....

October 4, 2012


Demolition on hold for Wright house in Phoenix

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photo by Scott Jarson [enlarge]

The potential demolition of this 1952 house set off a firestorm in the architectural community. PHOENIX (AP) — The city of Phoenix and a developer who was poised to demolish a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home have reached an agreement that will put any work on hold while a search continues for a buyer, a city official confirmed Wednesday.

The agreement with the developers who bought the 1952 home in the city's Arcadia neighborhood delays for nearly a month any demolition of the house, said Brendan Mahoney, a senior adviser for Mayor Greg Stanton.

The deal signed Monday allows time for a potential sale to buyers who will preserve the house, and also protects the developers, who contend they were issued a valid demolition permit that the city claimed was issued in error.

The potential demolition of the sweeping home on more than 2 acres set off a firestorm in the architectural community. The Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy hurried to get historic status designation for the home when it learned a developer was planning to buy it, split the parcel of more than two acres and tear down the existing home.

The conservancy got the city to begin the process of having the house designated as a historical landmark before it was purchased by the developer in June. That put on hold any effort to get a demolition permit, but the developers managed to get one anyway.

“It's a unique design by Frank Lloyd Wright,” said Janet Halstead, the conservancy's executive director. “It is probably the most important residential design of the last decade of his career. Many architecture experts consider it among the 20 most important Frank Lloyd Wright designs ever built.”

The home was built to rise above the surrounding orange orchards, with a spiral ramp leading up to the main level of the concrete block home.
“It's also particularly interesting for Phoenix in that when (Wright) designed it, it was something he designed as a response to “how to live in the Southwest,” Halstead said.

The home was designed for Wright's son and daughter-in-law, David and Gladys Wright, who lived there until their deaths. The home was sold by the family in 2009, then acquired by developer 8081 Meridian for $1.8 million in June.

The owners of the development company, John Hoffman and Steve Sells, weren't available Wednesday. Their attorney didn't immediately return a call.

The conservancy found a potential buyer who offered more than $2 million, a tidy $250,000 profit for less than three months of ownership, but it was rejected, Mahoney said.

With time ticking down to the expiration of the demolition permit on Thursday, the developers approached the city.

“When they brought this issue up, there was five days left under the permit and they said, ‘Well we've got to do something or we're going to lose it,'” Mahoney said. “And we said fine, let's kick the can down the road because there are offers coming in to purchase the property that may solve all of this for everyone.”

Mahoney said other buyers have contacted the city, even as the historic designation goes forward.

“I'm pretty confident that given sufficient time, the home will be purchased by someone who will not only consent to historic landmark status ... but will also consent to a perpetual conservation easement,” Mahoney said. “The mayor is a strong proponent of historic presentation of all kinds, but this building in particular is an architectural jewel. It would be destroying a Rembrandt or a Picasso.”

“I love to find the beauty in everyday objects.”




Dale Chihuly

Chihuly's Glasshouse.  As I looked at this photo, the structure and description of the building reminded me of one of my favorite churches we studied in History of Architecture 102.  The epitome of thic's Goals.  I was thrilled when I read that, that building is also one of Chihuly's favorites, and was part of the inspiration for the design of his Glasshouse.  :)  I patted myself on the back - and then committed to visit this great grandchild structure in Seattle, of a chapel I dream of visiting in Paris. 

Mars Hill buying Tacoma church; plans to do $1.5M renovation

By JOURNAL STAFF

[Seattle DJC - September 11]

Photo courtesy of Mars Hill Church [enlarge]Mars Hill Church said it has a contract to purchase the First Congregational Church at 918 Division Ave. in Tacoma.

The 104-year-old building had been up for sale and was in danger of demolition. Mars Hill's bid was accepted in the summer.

Mars Hill did not disclose the sales price, though the asking price was $1.9 million. Pierce County's assessed value is $1.4 million.

Mars Hill officials said they plan to spend about $1.5 million on repairs and improvements before opening the church in the fall of 2013. A spokesman said he didn't believe an architect or general contractor had been selected.

With the addition of the Tacoma church, Mars Hill will have a 15 locations in Washington, Oregon, California and New Mexico.

Church officials said the Everett branch will move into the 40,000-square-foot Everett Armory at 2730 Oakes Ave. this fall.

In August the church announced the downtown Seattle branch will move from Belltown to the First United Methodist Church at Fifth Avenue and Marion Street. The church is now known as Daniels Recital Hall. (THIS IS THE BEAUTIFUL BUILDING I WORKED ACROSS FROM AT LLF!)

Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce
September 6, 2012



Wright house due for demo unless it sells

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photo by Scott Jarson

A house in Arizona designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that was the forerunner for his Guggenheim Museum may be demolished soon unless a buyer steps forward, according to a website called TopTenRealEstateDeals.
Wright designed and built the house between 1950 and 1952 for one of his sons on a 2.2-acre site in Phoenix, but a Nevada developer bought it and plans to build two new houses on the land.
The developer is 8081 Meridian Corp. and the website reports that the company has agreed to wait for a while to see if someone wants to buy the property so the house can be preserved.
The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has an online petition to save the house at http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-phoenix-save-the-david-and-gladys-wright-house .

Neil Levine, an architectural historian and Harvard professor, called the house one of Wright's most innovative, unusual and personal works. The circular spiral plan was used six years later for the Guggenheim in New York City.

The 2,553-square-foot house is on a landscaped site with a pool near the foot of Camelback Mountain. It has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, Philippine mahogany woodwork and a large fireplace. A curving ramp leads to the master suite and a rooftop terrace.

The Phoenix Planning Commission has voted to consider a preservation designation, which triggers a temporary delay in permits for demolition.

__________________________________________________________________


How sad is this?! And I'd wonder how his sons would feel?  Watching a gift, and a piece of their dad's legacy be literally demolished!

5 Tallest Buildings in Seattle 

1. Columbia Center 937 ft


2. 1201 Third Avenue Tower 772 ft

3. Two Union Square 740 ft

4. Seattle Municipal Tower 722 ft

5. Safeco Plaza 630 ft

My good friend, Erik, just posted this photo.   He's in Paris.  This is the one reason why I can't imagine not visiting France.  I've never been the girl to dream of Paris - until I began studying architecture.  If you've been following Hope is an Anchor for more than 2 years, you will remember when I first discovered Abbot Suger and fell in love with the story of Gothic architecture.  You might also remember the index cards I began of the places I want to visit.  A number of them are cathedrals in France.  This photo almost made me cry.  I am so excited to see my friends when they return - I cannot imagine this architectural space not changing them, at least a little bit.  How could you stand inside that piece of history and not become something new, some new part of that story. 

XXVII

[Inscription on the bronze doors made by Suger for the Abbey of St. Denis]

Whoever thou art, if thou seekest to extol the glory of these doors,

Marvel not at the gold and the expense but at the craftsmanship

of the work.

Bright is the noble work; but, being nobly bright, the work

Should brighten the minds, so that they may travel, through the

true lights,

To the True Light where Christ is the true door.

In what manner it be inherent in this world the golden door defines:

The dull mind rises to truth through that which is material

And, in seeing this light, is resurrected from its former submersion.

Happy 50th!

I have heard a couple people ask about the orange top to the Space Needle.  No one seems quite sure when or where it happened, or if it has been that way all along and they just now noticed.  The answer is no.  I told a few friends I thought it had something to do with the anniversary of the Space Needle and that I seem to remember it originally looked that way.  I'm proud to report, I was right and not leading you all astray with half thought out BS.  We are celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Seattle Worlds Fair.  If you didn't know, we owe a great deal to that amazing event, including our beloved Space Needle. 

I am pretty sad to find I already missed the first of the three Century 21 lecture series, but I'm hoping to catch the next two.  If like me, you're interested in the historic architecture of Seattle, or you grew up hearing tales of the World's Fair.... or maybe, you were there (mom & dad).  You might be interested in these lectures. 

PS - I think this celebration is also (partly) why we are getting a Ferris Wheel :)    <-  please click this link!! :)

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE: CENTURY 21 AND LIVING MODERN


Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair
As a project of The Next Fifty, Docomomo WEWA and Historic Seattle present a three-part lecture series at Seattle Center in June 2012 that focuses on the architecture and design heritage of the Seattle World’s Fair and its influence and impact beyond the Fair’s original campus.
The lecture series is sponsored by:
Historic Seattle, Docomomo WEWA, The Next Fifty, 4Culture, National Trust for Historic Preservation and Pacific Science Center


When: Tuesdays, June 5, 12 and 19; 7 – 8:30 pm

Where: Center House, Conference Room H at Seattle Center and PACCAR (formerly Eames) IMAX Theater at Pacific Science Center

Registration: Individual tickets: $10 members; $15 general public; $5 students

Passes for entire series: $25 members; $40 general public; $10 students

Purchase individual tickets or series pass online through Historic Seattle’s website. Member discounts are available for Historic Seattle and Pacific Science Center members and for those on Docomomo WEWA’s Email List.


From Bobo to the Bubbleator: Seattle Social and Cultural Context in ’62
Knute Berger, June 5

Northwest Architects of the Seattle World’s Fair
Susan Boyle, June 12
Modern Building Technology
Theodore Prudon, June 19

I want a green pod. 

Really. 

How cool are these?  You can have one delivered to any city in Washington.

This model is the Waterhaus.

What have you learned lately?

Yesterday I learned what a "glulam" is.  And how to format a "gutter" in Microsoft Word.  I'd like to learn something new every day - truly learn.  Small or big.  Grow. Change.  Advance.  Improve my skill.  Specialize.

Because one day, I'd like to be a specialist at something I love.  Know all about it, everything.  Be a resource. 

If it's been a while since you've learned something new... A few interesting lectures are coming up in Seattle.  Because my dad will probably panic about my posting these, I will hereby give the disclaimer to any and all potential stalkers that I do not necessarily have any plans to attend any of these.  That said, they look cool and I really wanted to share them.  So should any of these topics tickle your fancy, please go and enjoy a free lecture. 


Historic Seattle event on Dard Hunter

Image courtesy of Pomegranate Communications [enlarge]Lawrence Kreisman of Historic Seattle will give a free lecture about his new book entitled “Dard Hunter: The Graphic Works” at 7 p.m. April 18 at Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave.

Hunter was a designer, craftsman, printer, typographer and paper maker who explored new ideas and adapted avant-garde German and Austrian Secession concepts into graphic design.
A book signing will follow the lecture, with some proceeds benefitting Historic Seattle.

----

The History of Seattle Architecture
1880-2000s: Two Lectures by Professor Jeffrey Karl Ochsner
Co-sponsored by The Seattle Public Library
The two lectures will provide an overview of 130 years of Seattle's architectural history, beginning about 1880 (when the city's population was only 3500 people) and extending to the present day. The lectures will address broad architectural and urban developments, a range of building types and stylistic directions, and the major architects who shaped the architecture of the city and region. Each lecture will run about 90 minutes allowing time at the end for questions.
Jeffrey Karl Ochsner FAIA has taught at the University of Washington for over 22 years. He is the author, co-author or editor of three books and numerous articles addressing Seattle's architectural and urban history.

Professor Ochsner's books will be available for sale from Elliott Bay Book Company and he will stay after his lecture to autograph them.

Upcoming Event Dates

Saturday, April 14, 1-3pm Part I, 1880s-1930s

Saturday, April 21, 1-3pm Part II, 1940s-2000s

Location: Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle Central Library, 4th & Madison Entrance

Cost: FREE. No registration required.

Tip: These lectures are very popular. Please plan to arrive early to ensure

New York Times article on the trend in office spaces.... I would not mind working in the new Gates Foundation building.  Not one bit.

...The building was designed by NBBJ, a 700-employee architecture firm whose largest operation is in Seattle. The structure is a culmination of ideas about the 21st-century workplace that NBBJ has been exploring in corporate office designs worldwide, including its own offices here.

These are the main concepts: Buzz — conversational noise and commotion — is good. Private offices and expressions of hierarchy are of debatable value. Less space per worker may be inevitable for cost-effectiveness, but it can enhance the working environment, not degrade it. Daylight, lots of it, is indispensable. Chance encounters yield creative energy. And mobility is essential.

This isn’t a suddenly exploding trend. NBBJ’s research has found that two-thirds of American office space is now configured in some sort of open arrangement. But even as these designs save employers space and money, they can make office workers feel like so many cattle. So how to humanize the setting?

SEATTLE serves as a test tube because of several converging factors: There’s a lot of money here to experiment with projects. The work force is relatively young and open to innovation. And the local culture places a high value on informality, autonomy and egalitarianism. People will put in long hours under high pressure if they feel respected, but they won’t tolerate being treated like Dilberts...

[ Go read the whole article and look at the amazing photos here. Seriously]