YAF Connection 10.04 Issue

CELEBRATING 21

1991

2012

YEAR ANNIVERSARY

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EN

ISS

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CONNECTIONAUGUST 2012

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTUREAIA NORTHWEST & PACIFIC REGION

ISSUE 10.04

YOUNG ARCHITECTS FORUM

YAF CONNECTION 10 | 04

The YAF Connection is sponsored through the generous support of The AIA Trust, a free risk management resource for AIA members that offers valuable benefits to protect you, your firm, and your family. Visit www.TheAIATrust.com for complete program information on all AIA Trust programs.

Map Showing Locations of Article Contributors for this Issue. US Map Source: www.cardhouse.com

Editor-in-Chief Deepika Padam, AIA [email protected] Editor Josh Flowers, AIAAssistant Editor Bonnie Sen, AIAGraphic Designer Nathan Stolarz, AIAGraphic Designer James Cornetet, AIA

Editorial Advisory GroupWilliam J. Stanley, III, FAIARobert I Selby, FAIADonna Kacmar, FAIANick Peckham, FAIASean Stadler, AIABrett Taylor, AIA

03YAF CONNECTION 10 | 04

Disclaimer: This publication is created by Young Architect members of the American Institute of Architects. Views expressed in this publication are solely those of the authors.

CONTENT

04 NEWSYAF News

News and resources relevant to young architects 06 EDITOR'S NOTE

Residential ArchitectureDeepika Padam, AIA

08 FEATUREWhat it Means to be Urban

Adam Ferrari, AIA

16 DESIGNHole One Residence 16

Grandfather Mountain Retreat 18Timberlake Place 20

Lake Superior Residence 22House and Laneway House 26

The Matchbox House 30Designing a Contemporary Treehouse 32

House of Three Rooms 34Reed Playhouse on Broadway 38

Adams Residence 42Bley Sleeping House Addition 44

66 EVENTThe AIA Portland Urban Design PanelJames McGrath, AIA & Stefanie Becker, AIA

60 LEADERSHIPLeadership Profile of Jeff Yrazabal, AIALindsey O'Brien

68 OPINIONThe Architect's Kitchen

Emily Refi, AIA

62 DESIGNHousing First at the Bud Clark Commons

Dave Otte, AIA

FEATURING NORTHWEST& PACIFIC REGION

12 FEATUREThe Neighborhood Architect: How Architects can be Leaders on ChangeAudrey Galo, Associate AIA

48 BOOK REVIEWPocket Neighborhoods by Ross ChapinCrystal Tobin Chandler, AIA

50 ARTICLE OF INTERESTLiving with Habitability Claims

AIA Trust

52 ARTICLE OF INTERESTNavy PierEmily Bernstein, AIA

56 DESIGNTaking Flight:

The Museum of Flight Pedestrian BridgeTim Richey, AIA

72 DESIGNAdditions to the Montana LandscapeDoug Minarik, AIA


News

STAY CONNECTEDYAF at AIAYAF's Home webpage. www.aia.org/yaf

AIA ArchiblogThis blog provides YAF-related news in real time. Get involved in the discussion! www.blog.aia.org/yaf

YAF KnowledgeNetA knowledge resource for awards, announcements, podcasts, blogs, and valuable articles. The archives of YAF Connection and the Young Architect Award winners' entries... This resource has it all!www.network.aia.org/AIA/YoungArchitectsForum

Architect’s Knowledge ResourceThe Architect's Knowledge Resource connects AIA members and others to the most current information on architecture, including research, best practices, product reviews, ratings, image banks, trends, and more. It's your place to find solutions, share your expertise, and connnect with colleagues. www.aia.org/akr

YAF on LinkedInStay connected with the YAF leadership and all the young architects you meet at the convention, and get involved in group discussions.www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=2066423

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Know Someone Who’s Not Getting The YAF Connection?Don’t let them be out of the loop any longer. It’s easy for AIA members to sign up. Update your AIA member profile and add the Young Architects Forum under “Your Knowledge Communities.”

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CALL FOR ARTICLESWould you like to submit articles for inclusion in an upcoming issue?Contact the editor at [email protected].

2012 YAF/COD IDEAS COMPETITIONThe call for submissions and details are available on Page 76 and at www.aia.org/ideascompetition

2011 AIA YAF/COD IDEAS COMPETITION BOOK AVAILABLE TO PURCHASETo order your copy, visit www.lulu.com and search "2011 AIA YAF/COD Ideas Competition".

2012 AIA YOUNG ARCHITECTS AWARD BOOK AVAILABLE TO PURCHASETo order your copy, visit www.lulu.com and search "AIA 2012 Young Architects Award", or go to this link:http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/aia-2012-young-architects-award-book/12835670


IMPROVING HOUSING MARKET LEADING TO LARGER HOME SIZES AND INCREASED PROPERTY ENHANCEMENTSAs the struggling housing market shows signs of improvement, there has been a reversal in the 6-year trend in smaller home sizes. This is the case for custom and luxury homes, as well as for additions to existing homes. A preference for outdoor living, especially blended indoor/outdoor living, continues to increase, along with strong demand for accessible and flexible home layout. These findings are from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Trends Survey for the first quarter of 2012 that focused specifically on overall home layout and the use of interior and exterior space.

Overall home layout and size trendsResidential elements (% of respondents that reported increases) 2012 2011Volume 20% 11%Square footage 8% 5%Lot size 5% 2% In-home accessibility 64% 58%Open space layout 55% 49%Informal space 51% 40%Access into / out of home 47% 48%Single-floor plan 45% 35%

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS APPLICATION PACKET FOR THE 2013 SDAT PROGRAMWHO: The American Institute of Architects Center for Communities by Design

WHAT: Request for Applications seeking community participants for the 2013 Sustainable Design Assessment Team Program (SDAT).

The SDAT is an innovative program that brings together multidisciplinary teams of professionals to work with community stakeholders and decision-makers through an intensive planning process. The mission is to provide technical assistance and process expertise to help communities develop a vision and framework for a sustainable future.

For more information on the program: http://www.aia.org/about/initiatives/AIAS075425

WHEN: The SDAT Application Review Committee will convene twice to evaluate applications. The first evaluation will take place in early October; the second review will occur in December 2012. The final deadline to submit applications for consideration in the 2013 SDAT program is Friday, November 16, 2012.

HOW: The RFP can be downloaded here. An independent panel of distinguished judges will evaluate each community proposal and apply weighted criteria to determine the awards. All applicants will be contacted when the award is made in December 2012.

NONRESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION SPENDING EXPECTED TO INCREASE THROUGH 2012 WITH STRONGER GROWTH PROJECTED FOR 2013The AIA semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters, projects a 6.2% increase of spending in 2013.Market Segment Consensus Growth Forecasts 2012 2013Overall nonresidential 4.4% 6.2%Commercial / industrial 5.7% 10.2%Institutional 0.7% 3.0%

AIA & ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY SELECT 2012 DISASTER RESPONSE GRANT RECIPIENTS• Architecture for Humanity D.C. Chapter Disaster Response Project• Washington State Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR)• NYC Safety Assessments Trainings• Disaster Assistance Coordination Network in Maryland• Illinois Architects’ Emergency Management/Disaster Response Workshop

AIA SELECTS THE 2012 RECIPIENTS OF THE SMALL PROJECT AWARDSCategory 1

SPECS Optical Façade; MinneapolisAlchemy Architects

The Mobile Dwelling Cube; Oakland, CASPACEFLAVOR

Category 2

OS House; Racine, WIJohnsen Schmaling Architects

St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church; Springdale, ARMarlon Blackwell Architect

The Ghost Houses; Knoxville, TNcurb

Becherer House; Charlottesville, VARobert M. Gurney, FAIA

L Residence; Omaha, NEMin | Day

Stacked Cabin; Muscoda, WIJohnsen Schmaling Architects

Yao_Residence; ChicagoPerimeter Architects

Category 3

Shade Platform; PhoenixSmithGroupJJR

Cape Russell Retreat; Sharps Chapel, TNSanders Pace Architecture


By Deepika Padam, AIA

Deepika Padam, AIA, LEED AP bd+c is the Communications Advisor for the National AIA Young Architects Forum. Brought up in India and a graduate of University of Michigan, she is a Project Manager with Heller Manus Architects based in San Francisco, California.

Regardless of the culture, country, vernacular, or time, a kid’s

drawing of a house speaks a universal architectural language.

The results of kids playing with Legos are also astoundingly

similar due to the limitations of the building blocks. Some

of these kids grow up to become architects and find their

individuality. Some of them begin working on residential

projects, whether custom homes, tract homes, or multi-

family residential buildings. Yet how many architects live in

a house designed by them? Only a few hold on to the dream

of building their own home, and of them very few get the

opportunity to do it. In the end the inevitable question of

financing surfaces, which we so commonly lack even after

lifetime of working in this profession. Unfortunately the lack

of the dream is a bigger reason than the lack of finances for

this sad reality.

The mention of residential architecture typically brings

to mind the image of a custom single family home. This

typology is extensively celebrated in our profession through

design awards, publications, and focus groups. Makes sense,

because a majority of architects work in this typology. It

appears that the multi-family residential projects often get

overlooked on the recognition platform. Possibly they are

not being submitted, or lose the competition against higher

budget commercial projects. The design discussion definitely

needs to extend more to these projects. An outlook towards

neighborhoods and communities in our thought process

towards future development of the profession would be far

more impactful than isolated cases of single family homes.

The AIA’s Architecture Billings Index shows the multi-family

residential sector has the highest billing rate. The large

cities are especially witnessing an upheaval of multi-family

condominium or apartment buildings. California happens

to be planning an entire new town next to the Salton Sea

with construction slated to begin in the next three years.

The developers claim that it will be one of the greenest

developments with many job creation opportunities.

Editor's NoteRESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE

Drawing by Divij T, via www.naturalchild.org Drawing via www.montgomeryplanning.org


Although the reviews are many-fold as to the absurdity of

this project, it is neighborhood development nonetheless. A

good or bad omen for architects? I’d let the environmental

groups fight over that.

Another shameful trend is the absence of an architect in

the design teams for residential projects. Due to lax laws in

some States, many non-licensed professionals get away with

doing major residential work and go unnoticed. Where the

laws are lot more strictly abided, the law itself allows for small

residential work to be done by non-licensed professionals.

Some might say that this is all that is keeping some people

afloat in the dire economic situation in which we find

ourselves. But this trend is obviously affecting some licensed

architects that have to compete with cheaper non-licensed

inexperienced pseudo-architects. On top of it all, there are

now a few software programs available to lay persons that

let them design what they want and just hire a contractor

to build it. People can now purchase home designs from a

roadside stall. The need for an architect is vanishing. Is this

technological advancement or ample availability of free

design options for the good of our profession? What does the

future hold?

As we look into how to adjust for the globalization, economic,

technological, and legal trends questioning the role of an

architect, we also need to dig deeper into that child within

us that might have dreamt of designing his/her own home.

Whether we are financially able to build our own home is a

secondary issue. For the faintest of hearts and for all those

suffering from the blues of economic challenges, I would

suggest reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. An

inspiring read about the challenges of master builders from

the 12th century, it is an eye-opener for anyone who would

think these are the tough times. Keep those childhood dreams

alive for we might get to live in our dream homes someday.


Writer: Adam Ferrari, AIAFerrari is an architect living in Rochester, MN. He is a passionate advocate for quality design and promotes design as a tool to help individuals, organizations and neighborhoods develop a shared vision of a sustainable future.

Feature

WHAT I T MEANS TO BE URBAN

Whenever I go back to my hometown in the suburbs of Chicago

and I ride the “El” I am struck by the diverse nature of the people—

different ethnicities, nationalities, religions, sexual orientations,

political affiliations and fashion preferences. I truly miss that element

having lived in smaller MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) for

over a decade. It is this blend of people—and the conglomeration

of them participating in similar processes and daily events—that

typify what urban living is all about. It is what so many all over the

country strive to create in their own neighborhoods: the vitality and

vibrancy of urban life.

The Emergence of the “Chia” City

We are living in a fascinating time for urban design. Over the past 20

years, at various levels of acceptance, the United States has realized

the error in its ways of the past 50-60 years. A half-century of anti-

dense and anti-diverse urban planning has rendered our culture

vulnerable to collapse. It is as though America has woken up in a

strange room—surrounded by people it doesn’t know, without a

concept of what happened—with an instinct to extricate itself from

this peculiar predicament.

Curiously, the reaction to planning mistakes of the past resulted

in city planners and architects creating idealized visions of vibrant

cities that seemed to spring up almost overnight. Whether it

was the generational change to instant gratification or an honest

attempt to fabricate a cure-all, these “Chia cities”—having instantly

blossomed into fully developed ecosystems—were designed to

emulate traditional town centers found in many older cities that

brim with excitement, arts, culture, and commerce.

Unfortunately these attempts did more harm than good. Cities were

never created in one stroke, and the simple pleasures of urban living

are easy to recognize but are often difficult to predict.

The corner coffee shop with a pleasant barista who knows your

order by heart, the shady spot around the corner from your office

where you enjoy reading a book, the quiet street lined with

boutique retail stores and places to eat, while equally provocative

in description each of these pleasures relies on circumstances well

beyond our control, and therein lays the great disappointment of

urban planners and designers.

Perhaps born out of this disappointment is an increasing trend to

plan cities as instant built environments complete with mature

trees, fully occupied housing units, and businesses thriving from

their consistent local patrons. The problem with this Utopian fantasy

is that cities do not appear like Brigadoon, cities evolve. That is not to

imply that you cannot plan for growth or even use master planning

principles to shape a city environment, but ultimately the design of

a place will be a product of its evolution.

The best that you can hope for in a master plan or design is they

include the infrastructure necessary for growth in and around the

skeletal pieces. Especially with the volatility of economies and the

rapid shift in how people “do business,” the City dynamic as we once

new it may be entering a new epoch, one without a clairvoyant

image of how it may look.

What is required of designers is critical thought as to the patterns of

urban living that are tried and true and that provide an appropriate

framework for increased density and diversity of uses, options,

opportunities, and amenities. With each design, proper criticism

should include: what happens if it does not all get built? What

happens if it is widely successful and outgrows its constraints? How

will it appear differently in 50 years?

I once heard a statistic that 98% of the urban built environment

remains the same from year to year. That means that only 2% of

a given city is brand new. So instead of envisioning broad-brush

solutions that anticipate immediate rewards and instant success,

how about designing an urban master plan to occur 2% at a time?


Chicago Master Plan – Formal in Concept, Organic in Execution

The Urban Caveat

Now before the pendulum swings back in the opposite direction,

one must remember that other urban byproducts accompany

the positive attributes. Increased noise, increased hardscapes,

decreased efficiency, decreased personal space are to be expected.

You must not expect to enjoy the good parts of urban life without

these other realities. The fact is urban life is not for everyone.

That being said, higher percentages of people are seeking out urban

living. The globalization of information, business, and economies

has put intense pressure on cities to attract people to live in them.

Density is not a given, and lack of diversity acts as a deterrent to

attracting the creative class. It is precisely because you can choose

to live anywhere that now cities are in fierce competition to attract

the new workforce and tax base of the next generation.

Therefore it is not just the ability to build a custom house in a

convenient subdivision near a P.F. Chang’s, but a unique sense

of place along with the amenities and enrichments of the urban

environment that is required. And each of the communities that I

visit and the neighborhoods that I work with has the same desires to

enhance and preserve; to increase vibrancy and ensure sustainability.

If that means learning to wait an extra 10 minutes to catch a bus to

work as opposed to driving door to door, then we should be patient.

If it means welcoming people of all ages and income levels into our

neighborhoods, then we should introduce ourselves. If it means

advocating for a mix of land uses over segregation of residential and

commercial, then we can start writing letters to City Council.

Embracing Urban

So if you are trying to reinforce or perhaps create from scratch that

essence of being urban, where should you begin? I believe that

to truly begin to understand what it means to embrace urban is

to accept two rudimentary principles. The first, simply stated, is

that to achieve a rich urban fabric requires density. Now before

you delete this file or tear up this paper in disgust because I keep

mentioning that dastardly dirty word of urban design, stop and

think for a second about how population density leads to many


other attributes of urban life that are desired. Furthermore, density

can apply to much more than population and I would argue that

embracing the concept of density can help design the majority of

component parts of the city system and produce results that far

surpass expectations.

The second principle, and sometimes one that may be more difficult

to explain, is diversity. A vague and catchall term, diversity ensures

that everyone is represented, that one demographic is neither

isolated nor compartmentalized, and that everyone has choice.

Diversification and integration in all forms serve to achieve the

larger goals of urban vitality. What I am not intending is to simply

address ethnic diversity, which often is the first thing to come to

mind. While that is a part of population diversity, it is too specific.

Ultimately, our pursuit of the great city experience that exists

in the pages of master plan documents across the country and

the illustrations found on countless webpages and blogs on

urban design is not difficult to achieve. What it takes is a fierce

determination; a vigilant battle against the outdated planning

doctrine of the latter 20th Century and promotion of the settlement

style growth patterns that are inherent in cultures all across the

globe. It is about overcoming fear of the word density because it

evokes images of slums and high-rises and understanding the word

diversity without picturing scary people lurking in the shadows.

Architects and urban designers have largely embraced this

shift, although they rarely use these words to define it. As Paul

Nakazawa writes, “For the moment, architectural practice appears

to embrace two distinct, but complementary, trajectories. The first

aims to capture the service and delivery needs of a world that will

be increasingly urban, and the vast utilitarian and infrastructural

needs of a rapidly expanding population. The second is sited in the

multiple layers of issues and meanings of complex societies and

is directed at the development of communities and cultures.”1 Mr.

Nakazawa expertly dances around the “two distinct trajectories”

without every saying them, density and diversity.

As I am writing this following the 4th of July holiday, I am reflecting

on how we annually celebrate the moment when America gained

its independence. It boldly stood out in front and led people into

a new era of prosperity, freedom and independence. It wasn’t easy

and embracing urban is not easy either, but it is the right thing to

do. What it means to be urban is to embody a democratic and free

society and I can’t think of anything more American than that.


Dubai Master Plan – Formal in Concept, Rigid in Execution


Writer: Audrey Galo, Associate AIAGalo is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology and the California College of Arts, specializing in urban design. And is currently a Design Fellow developing the AIA / Architecture for Humanity Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Program

Feature

THE NE IGHBORHOOD ARCH ITECT:H o w A r c h i t e c t s c a n b e L e a d e r s o f C h a n g e

An average of 20 natural disasters affect communities every year

in the United States alone according to the International Disaster

Database. Natural disasters occur with no regard for political

boundaries, emergency department jurisdictions or a community’s

level of disaster preparedness. In recent years, natural disasters are

occurring more frequently and more powerfully, resulting in more

affected areas left with the hefty responsibility of disaster response

and recovery.

The AIA and Architecture for Humanity, a nonprofit design and

construction services firm, recognize the need for architects to be

integrated key players in a local disaster emergency response plan.

In January 2012, the two organizations established the Disaster

Resiliency and Recovery Program to coordinate advocacy, education

and training and help architects make effective contributions to

communities preparing for, responding to and rebuilding after

disaster. The Program provides resources so more architects can

utilize their skills in disaster response environments and better serve

as leaders in their community.

“Architects are needed most when disaster strikes,” says Kate Stohr,

Co-Founder of Architecture for Humanity. “Too often disaster

response fails to fully address the long-term reconstruction needs

of communities. By training architects to work with communities,

we can help speed the transition from emergency response to long-

term recovery.”

The Disaster Response Plan Grant Program is a joint initiative

by the AIA and Architecture for Humanity. The goal of the Grant

Program is to support the development and implementation of

architect-driven disaster plans in cities across the United States.

AIA components and Architecture for Humanity chapters across

the nation have collaborated on proposals for funding to engage

disaster management professionals, train architects and design

advocacy campaigns. To learn more about the grant, please visit

www.ArchitectsRebuild.org.

“What we’ve discovered is that architects by nature of their multi-

disciplinary profession are excellent connectors,” explains Steve

Dombrowski, Assoc. AIA and chair of AfH-Seattle. Dombrowski looks

forward to the chapter’s contribution to local disaster planning.


Design Like You Give a Damn [2] book cover. Image by Architecture for

Humanity.


“It is essential to our practices to be able to simultaneously think

about structures at the urban planning scale and at the detailed

nuts and bolts level. These skills have allowed us to expand our

connections to multiple organizations and maintain input and

consistent communication.”

The AfH-Seattle chapter is indeed connecting–with AIA Seattle, AIA

Washington Council, and Architects Without Borders Seattle–to

create a comprehensive plan and core committee. Known as the

Disaster Preparedness and Response committee (DPR), the effort

establishes a central hub for a multi-organizational effort. The

plan involves additional outreach to FEMA District X, Washington

Association of Building Officials, Structural Engineers Association

of Washington, Washington State Emergency Management

Department, King County Office of Emergency Management, and

the City of Seattle Office of Emergency Management. The committee

also hopes to engage the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods,

thereby engaging hyper-local organizations in disaster mitigation,

preparedness, and response.

The Architecture for Humanity Chapter network, run entirely by

volunteers, delivers localized design services to their communities.

The network supports over 50 chapter groups in 13 countries,

representing over 6,400 design professionals. Chapters are

comprised of members with diverse professional backgrounds in

order to provide the best solution for a community’s challenges;

solutions are never limited to a piece of architecture.

Katherine Darnstadt and Laura Bowe, directors for the AfH-Chicago

chapter say, “Architecture for Humanity and the chapters provide

a platform for communities, activists and practitioners to share

innovative design strategies within their local built environments.”

In May 2011, AfH-Chicago and local food advocacy nonprofit Fresh

Moves launched the Mobile Produce Market, a mobile store built in

a retrofitted city transit bus. The mobile market’s mission: to restore

urban food access in Chicago’s food desert neighborhoods. The

project is featured in the 2012 Venice Biennale, Design Like You

Give a Dame [2] book and the First Lady Michelle Obama’s new 2012

book, American Grown. The Chapter also creates a global impact

by working with Chicago-based international nonprofits to design

community centers in Tanzania, Ghana, Brazil and Haiti.

Mobile Produce Market, a collaboration between AfH-Chicago and local

food advocacy nonprofit Fresh Moves. Image by Katherine Darnstadt,

Architecture for Humanity.


“The chapters have the potential to serve as a vehicle for internal

professional development of the participatory design skills that are

core to public interest design,” note Darnstadt and Bowe, “but also

have an external role to elevate the value of design through design

with, by and for social impact.”

The new Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Program and the

Architecture for Humanity Chapters exemplify the importance of

bringing architects to the forefront of neighborhood initiatives that

create a long-term impact in the preservation of culture and place

and improve the future growth of an area. Ultimately, the life cycle

of our built environment depends on architects as they help to plan

cities, create building codes, design structures, formulate disaster

plans and guide disaster recovery.

Harrisburg community members continue to deal with recovery and

rebuilding. Image by Bill Gnech, Apple Group.

(top) Tornadoes in the Midwest region of the U.S. left a path of destruc-

tion in the community of Harrisburg, Illinois on February 29, 2012. Image

by Bill Gnech, Apple Group.

(bottom) The AIA / AFH Disaster Resiliency and Recovery Program aims

to bring hope to communities impacted by disaster. Image by Bill Gnech,

Apple Group.


Design

HOLE ONE RES IDENCE

Writer: Adam Sebastian, Associate AIAAdam is a designer at Walter Robbs Architects in Winston-Salem, N.C. He holds a masters and undergraduate degree in architecture from the College of Design at N.C. State Univ. He is a US patent recipient for a product he invented and is passionate about architecture, design and making things. He is intrigued by big wave surfing, fanatical about auto racing and addicted to snow skiing. He lives with his wife Anna and two children, Leah and Conrad in a passive solar home which he designed and built. The Hole One Residence was recently awarded the Matsumoto Prize and 1st Place in the Peoples Choice award for modern residential design in North Carolina.

t h e r i s k a n d r e w a r d o f g o i n g m o d e r n o n a b u d g e t

My residential architecture story is somewhat complex in many

regards; needless to say it was a physical and emotional rollercoaster.

As a young designer/architect, I think we all dream of designing and

building our own home. In my case and in my mind it seemed to be

the essential right of passage that an architect must design, build

and live in his or her own creation. How any architect could settle

for anything less is a mystery to me, and yet so many architects that

I know have not designed or built their own homes.

At the ripe old again 28, I decided it was my time to do just that:

design and build my very own home. To make all the numbers work,

we had to sell our current home, a 1923 Tudor style home which

I had renovated, for much more than what we had bought it for

just five years earlier. We would also need to move into my in-laws'

upstairs during the entire duration of the house construction. This

was a lot to ask of any young couple and even more difficult when

you have a 1 year old and a second baby on the way. Luckily we were

able to sell our current home for what we where asking, and thus the

adventure began.

We had put everything on the line, and I was banking on building

a passive solar, modern home for as little as $85 square foot: a feat

that most people said I was crazy once they had seen the design

and the level of quality it was going to have. Not only did most

people think I was crazy, the banks in my Southern town, basically

laughed me out of the door. So there I was with my house sold,

living with my in-laws, and baby #2 on the way, and I could not get

approved for a loan because of the style of the home. In a town

filled with traditional residences and gabled roof after gabled roof,

the banks all said they couldn’t provide any comparables to asses

the potential value of a flat roof modern home. Keep in mind all

of this was going on during the real-estate bust, and home loans

were difficult to acquire. Finally after 7 weeks and talking to many

banks, one bank finally understood what I was proposing, and saw

the value and potential in my modern design and agreed to give us

a loan. The unfortunate thing was this particular bank did not offer

construction loans, so I would need to repeat the same process and

try and convince a second lender to give me the construction loan.

Hole one residence snow day.


Hole one residence, good evening.

This again was very difficult and I basically had to sign my life and all

of my families assets (which was not much) to get the construction

loan.

So in October of 2009, we began construction on our dream.After

a 40+ hour work week, I would go on to work most evenings on the

home. Every weekend I would devote at least 20 hours on the site.

This ongoing process of working every weekend for 9 months would

prove to test me both physically and mentally. It was a time in my

life where I think I grew the most. At my side during all of those

long weekends was my father. He would travel from an hour and a

half a way just to help me both Saturday and Sunday. The time that

we shared and spent together building that home on those 30+

weekends were worth more than any dollar amount. We were always

close, but that experience brought us even closer. I wish all sons and

fathers could build those kind of memories together.

So after many long weekends, countless nights, lots of sweat and

even some blood, some really close calls, some crazy weather, and

the birth of my second child, we had done it! We had weathered

some tough challenges and overcame many obstacles. None of

which could have been possible without the endless love and

support form my wife and family. I can never thank them enough

for the sacrifices they made during that time, but I know that they

would agree that in the end the pleasure was worth all the pain.


Design

GRANDFATHER MOUNTA IN RETREAT

Grandfather Mountain rises just over 5,900 feet above sea level

at the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in North

Carolina. The mountain is known for its rugged character, with its

many caves and sharp cliffs. However, just a short distance down

the mountain, where the cliffs meet the valley is a lush forest full of

rhododendron, Fraser firs, and birch. Here is where a couple from

Miami, Florida decided to build their summer retreat in 1969. The

house they built was contemporary in its time, yet it still carried

a sense of the Appalachian mountain vernacular. The four-story

structure sits like a fire tower in the woods and--like a fire tower--

must be navigated by long runs of stairs. These stairs, both internal

and external, have become a challenge for the now retired owners,

and in order for them to continue enjoying their retreat, changes

needed to be made.

The owners requested a new, accessible master suite addition

that would be separate from the main house but maintain a sense

of connection. After the site and trees were surveyed, architect

Brian Cook carefully sited the new master suite “pod” away from

the existing house, weaving it between the trees, lifting it up from

the ground on stilts, and connecting it to the existing house by a

bridge, disturbing the land as little as possible. One rhododendron

was the only vegetation that had to be removed. The bridge and the

existing exterior stairs tie together--becoming “hallways” between

the buildings--and in the middle is an outdoor parlor that welcomes

guests. The handrails/guardrails, designed by the architect and

fabricated by the contractor, are made with Tigerwood and have

powder-coated steel mesh inserts. The 1,000-sf pod contains a living

room, master bedroom and bath, kitchenette, and powder room.

The use of natural light was integral to the design: Windows were

strategically placed to maximize the sunlight as is filters through the

trees, and the bathroom tower pops up through the roof to catch

the morning sunlight. Tall window walls bring the outdoors in and

give a sense of being in the trees. A cantilevered deck floats above

the sea of rhododendrons that lie fifteen feet below. To coexist with

the existing house, the pod borrowed elements from that structure

– steep roof lines lined with split cedar shakes, shiplap siding,

and locally harvested stone. The new pod provides an accessible

treehouse-like retreat for the homeowners while maintaining

connectivity with the original house.

With the new “pod” now accessible, the owners decided to do the

same with original house without altering its character. An external

elevator tower was added, with a new foyer surrounded by large

windows at each floor stop, creating a somewhat transparent

appendage to the original structure. Each floor as the elevator rises

provides a new perspective of the property. When the elevator

reaches the top floor and the doors open, riders are treated to a view

of yellow and black birch trees rising high above the ground, the

sea of rhododendron below, mountain vistas in the distance, and

the new “pod” with its bridge connecting back to the original house,

where it all started some forty years ago.

Writer: Brian Cook, AIACook is an architect with Glazer Architecture in Asheville, NC. He is currently the vice-chair of the Historic Resources Commissions of Asheville and Buncombe County and sits on the executive committee of AIA Asheville.


Architect: Brian T.H. Cook, AIA (from Glazer Architecture)

Contractor: Howell Construction

Structural Engineer: Glen Walker, PE


Design

T IMBERL AKE PL ACE

Designing energy efficient, healthy, and durable projects has always

been my goal in the architectural profession. When I graduated from

the University of Virginia in 1997 I was ready to change the world.

I began working at a small architectural firm in Charlottesville,

Virginia that focused on residential, commercial, and light industrial

projects. Learning from my mentor, Raymond E. Gaines, AIA, FCSI,

CCS, I quickly grew to understand the importance of holistic design

solutions that go far beyond aesthetics. I became a student of

building science and have focused my project solutions in that

direction.

My latest design project to break ground, Timberlake Place is a multi-

family, age restricted, EarthCraft project in Charlottesville Virginia.

It includes the restoration of a home that is listed on the National

Historic Register, taking it back from a senior center to a functioning

residence and adding 26 additional units on the adjacent properties

in three buildings.

Timberlake Place has many layers of design sensitivities. First, it has

to fit within the neighborhood so much care and consideration

was given to form, scale, and proportion. Doing a survey of the

surrounding neighborhood we found prototypes that could be

adapted to the scale of this project and still fit the contextual

characteristics of the community. The next layer was designing the

project to be used for people of all abilities. Universal design is not a

building standard, but rather a guide to smarter design solutions that

will allow residents to age in place and to be able to function with

as much dignity and independence as possible. The last element of

design is focused on energy efficiency. These 100% affordable units

have to be energy efficient to avoid burdening those living on a

fixed income that will come to reside in the neighborhood.

Timberlake place is now under construction and the results of months

of hard work are being realized on the site. The project features high

efficiency windows, an efficient HVAC system, low VOC finishes,

local materials, and high efficiency lighting. While the project has

many ‘green’ features it also looks like a project that has always been

there, breaking down the massive multi-family garden apartment

prototype into a manageable cottage aesthetic more fitting of

the neighborhood. Working with community representatives, city

planning department officials, multiple consultants, and the non-

profit client taught many lessons of patience, understanding, and

the need for strong communication. The results are a project that

has traditional building forms, brick and siding on the exterior,

double hung windows, and architectural shingles. The surrounding

site has been developed with native plants, walking paths, tree

preservation, and rain gardens.

Designing an infill project in a historic neighborhood is certainly

full of challenges. Timberlake Place addresses these issues as

opportunities incorporating traditional forms, creating a tree

conservation area, and building opportunities for neighbors to

connect along walkways, in pocket parks, or sitting on their front

porches. This design project was about building community as much

as it was about designing wall sections. The sense of purpose we

take in our designs shows to those living in the structures long after

we are gone. It is our duty as architects to make a difference in our

communities and leave them a better place for future generations.

Writer: Charles Hendricks, AIAHendricks is a partner at The Gaines Group, PLC in Harrisonburg, VA. Hendriks is credited with designing the first LEED certified home in Virginia, has lectured at the DOE, University of Viriginia and James Madison University.


Design

L AKE SUPER IOR RES IDENCE

Writer: Chris Strom, AIAStrom is a designer for TEA2 Architects in Minneapolis, MN. He is a graduate of University of California-Berkeley, and was recently awarded an AIA Minnesota/Mpls-St.Paul Magazine RAVE Award and the 2011 AIA Minnesota/Star Tribue "Home of the Month" award for the new Lake Superior Residence.


Sheltered Invitation vs. Embraced Drama

Lakeside dwellings present two distinct “fronts”. Both sides have to

be equally compelling, yet serve two different purposes – an entry to

greet visitors, and a lakefront to maximize views. This particular plan

creates an L-shaped house. At the entry, a welcoming courtyard

gathers and shelters arriving visitors while an inside-glass-corner

collects southwest light deep into the main living spaces. A covered

entrance and open breezeway reduce the house bulk, opening and

enlivening the courtyard with a rhythm of timber columns. The

lakeside of the “L” comprises the kitchen, dining, and living room,

all sitting 20 feet above the water on a projecting knoll. There is

also a large screened porch that allows for outdoor living in the

warmer seasons. Dramatic views are seen through windows that

are expansive, yet balanced, with mult iple glass panes and built-in

seating.

The Textures of Woods and Shore

Douglas Fir timbers, harvested from standing-dead trees, bring the

strength and warmth of the forest to the home. The large window

groups and the screened porch are designed with the structure set

back from the corners with only thin corner mullions to hold glass

and screen panels. The house tectonics of timbers, brackets, rafter

tails, mullions, divided lights, tongue and groove paneling, cedar

shingles and stone create depth, texture, and a relaxed rhythm that

fits comfortably within the woods without becoming a “cabin” in the

woods. Walls, terraces and columns are anchored solidly to the site

with a locally sourced banded-taconite stone from the Minnesota

Iron Range.

Cabin as Home

A family of five wanted to combine the amenities of their downtown

house and the feel of their existing lake cabin retreat to create a

new year-round residence in the woods overlooking Lake Superior,

which is often called the “North Coast” because of its ocean-like

expanse. The challenges with combining the feel of a retreat and

accommodating a year-round residence are keeping the larger

“house” program requirements from overwhelming the desired feel

of a retreat and creating a character that feels both like home and a

simpler retreat.

Living within the Roof

A client’s idea of “home” often explicitly requires the use of a gable

roof, yet this project is very contemporary in its planning to create

open, interconnected living spaces conducive to modern living.

The foundation is built directly on the sub-soil bedrock, eliminating

the opportunity to have rooms below grade – and increasing the

challenge to maintain the scale of a retreat. The solution employs

steeply-sloped gables and nestled dormers on the upper level to

conceal four bedrooms, four baths, and a large woodshop. The

husband makes furniture and kayaks as a hobby, so the family has a

fully-developed attention to detail that plays out in his woodshop.

I felt that the house should reflect their appreciation for the craft of

construction, and also embrace the dramatic views available on the

site.


Design

HOUSE AND L ANEWAY HOUSE :T h e A l d e r R e s i d e n c e

Writer: James Tuer, AIATuer is principal of JWT Architecture and Planning in Vancouver, BC. His practice focuses on bridging the gap between landscape and architecture.

When embarking on this project we found that the primary

challenge was to design two homes, a main home and a smaller

laneway home on a 40-foot by 86-foot corner lot just off of a busy

commercial corridor. Adding to the complexity of the project is the

high cost of construction in Vancouver, and the client’s desire for an

affordable, green and contemporary home. Our design focused on

three basic principles: simplicity, integrating the home with the site

and maximizing green design elements that give the most benefit

for each dollar spent. The result is two simple boxes placed on the

site to create an inner courtyard, simple roof shapes to harvest rain

water and a focus on energy efficiency through robust and highly

insulated walls.

From the onset, our clients set out to build a smaller house than

where they currently lived. Both work from home, and they were

downsizing from a large house from which their kids were moving

out. They wanted a house that was modern and urban with room

for a home office and studio space. These spaces had to have a

connection and site lines between them so that our clients can work

separately but still maintain contact. They wanted the main floor

to be open, spacious and large enough to accommodate family

gatherings. They wanted a food preparation area located in a way

that would facilitate socializing with guests. The private spaces

needed be modest, with a guest room that could be repurposed

when vacant. They also requested a laneway home to maximize the

density of the site.

In order to make the home and site as sustainable as possible,

outdoor spaces were crafted to utilize the front, side and courtyard

areas for movement, socializing and utility. Plants were selected

from two nurseries, one specializing in water smart perennials

and ornamental grasses and the other in native plants. A lawn was

eliminated from the site. Both building’s roofs are designed to direct

rainwater to a below grade cistern that is used for irrigation. In

designing this catchment system we successfully lobbied the City of

Vancouver to rewrite a bylaw that discouraged rain water harvesting

and that required a commercial grade back flow preventer at the

property line. In doing so, this project has now paved the way for

future home owners to also build for rain water harvesting, lessening

the impact of roof run off on the City’s joint storm and sanitary sewer

system.

But perhaps the most intriguing thing about the pair of homes is how

they engage with the streetscape. Many modern homes in Vancouver

(and in most cities for that matter), are built like fortresses, cut off

from the outside world. As a simple gesture to the neighbourhood,

we placed the home on grade, forgoing the traditional half exposed

basement and raised front porch typical of Vancouver. A small patio

in the front yard is accessed directly off a series of stone slabs that

lead to the front door. Giving modest privacy is a gabion basket

rock wall softened by a variety of ornamental grasses. A large corner

window in the living room creates a dialogue between home and

street allowing for a glimpse into the house. From the inside, a

Architect/Landscape Architect: JWT Design Ld

Contractor: Visionbuilt

Structural Engineer: Ennova Structural Engineers Ltd


At the east a large two story clear

span window floods the

interior with light and

solar gain.


Different counter-

top heights and

surfaces define the

task areas of the

kitchen.

Birch panelling

and a bay window

are integral to the

design of the office

millwork.


reciprocal gaze is at play. At a diagonal, the corner kitchen window

offers an ever-changing view of people and traffic.

To create a modern language of exterior materials, the foundation

comes up past grade to 5’ above the finished floor. The concrete is

exposed on the exterior and a second wood frame wall is located

on the interior creating a double wall with 14” of solid open foam

insulation above the 5’ mark. The walls on the second floor are built

from 2x10 plates and staggered 2x4 studs, using the rule of thumb

that every dollar spent on insulation is worth four dollars spent on

active environmental control systems. The standing seam siding

located above the 5’ mark, creates a crisp and durable exterior

cladding system which is contrasted with colourful hardy panels

that align with the vertical window patterns.

At the heart of the project is a stair that rises 12 feet to accommodate

the extra volume to create the desired mass and urban scale of the

house. It wraps around a free standing concrete fin wall which in the

summer acts as natural air conditioner. Utilizing a passive cooling

strategy called night ventilation of thermal mass, the concrete cools

down when the windows are open in the evening and then radiates

coolth back during the day. The second big feature of the house is

a clear spanning ‘boxed’ window that daylights both the kitchen as

well as the art studio above. It also allows the radiant floors of the

main level to heat the upper level through a natural convective air

movement.

For us as the architect, this was a unique commission as the owners

had already gone through one set of permit drawings drawn

by another architect before re-commissioning the project. The

previous architect had designed a beautiful home but it came in

over twice the budget. It was clear from the beginning that the

building’s shapes would have to be very simple and the green

building strategies would have to rely on passive rather than active

environmental control systems to create a design that met the

owners program, budget and desire to create a modernist statement

in a conservative neighbourhood. Given the home just received an

Ovation award from the Greater Vancouver Builders Association,

received Platinum status through the BuiltGreen building program

and came in on budget at $275 per square foot we can safely say we

met these objectives. Simplicity has its advantages.


Writer: Naseem Alizadeh, AIA, LEED AP

Alizadeh is the founder of the Bureau for Architecture and Urbasim (www.ba-u.com) in Palo Alto, California, and is a graduate from Cornell University and Harvard University.

Design

THE MATCHBOX HOUSE

The idea for this project germinated in 2007, while I was still working

for KPF in London. As my parents had owned this wooded site for

years and did not know what to do with it, I thought of the site

as a good “testing ground” for my convictions about architecture,

especially its absence in the middle class suburban landscape, a

landscape that on the one hand, as an urban designer, I find very

problematic, but on the other hand, feel that our ignoring it will also

not solve its abundance, sprawl and banality.

Since leaving KPF and then passing my licensing exams, this project

became the focus of my attention and of my fledgling studio.

Because the site was a wooded corner lot in an almost rural (yet

unfortunately increasingly suburban) setting, the idea of an

iconic shaped house (five sides, 45 degree sloped roof, chimney),

almost a “cottage” in the woods, became quite clear. From there,

the development of the concept as an iconic house was further

emphasized by placing it on top of a concrete plinth slightly

smaller than the house’s footprint, as opposed to directly on top

of the ground. This was done in order to articulate each of the

bottom corners, and make this little house appear as if it were an

object dropped into the site. From that elevation understanding

of my concept, I then addressed it in plan, which lead to the idea

of a “matchbox”, in which interior containers are suggested to slip

in opposite directions to each other through an exterior sleeve.

Since the inner container and outer sleeve are not aligned in plan,

small outdoor spaces are created which are still under the roof of

the sleeve. The raised ground floor includes the garage, master

bedroom, and main communal spaces. The upper floor has three

rooms that can be used as bedrooms along with one bathroom.

The ceilings on the upper floor express the slope of the roof: each

of these rooms has a ceiling that begins at 3’-0” and ends at 16’-0”.

As a result, the change in form of these upper floor spaces from the

ground floor spaces is quite dynamic.

This house was also a chance to better understand LEED and

how to build in a more environmentally responsible way, but in a

way that did not make the design subservient to any ideas about

sustainability. Instead, sustainability was used when it could be

to further the design intent. We are currently aiming for LEED

Architect: Naseem Alizadeh, Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism

Owner: Azar and Hormoz Alizadeh

Contractor: Brian Halprin, Green Building Services


Platinum, a rating made “easier” to achieve on this project because

the conditioned area of the house is much smaller than the current

norm (under 1500 SF with four bedrooms), so our threshold for

achieving Platinum dropped. Aspects of the house that make it

more environmentally responsible include all Energy Star appliances

including light fixtures, FSC certified wood on the upper finished

floor, stair, millwork, and kitchen and bathroom cabinets, salvaged

wood from demolished barns for all base, door, and window trim,

an ERV system for the heating and cooling of the house, low-flow

plumbing fixtures, and closed cell foam for insulation to raise the

R-value. There is also no yard, no basement, and only a one car

garage - aspects of the house which hopefully push the idea of what

a suburban house may look like in the future.

As we were interested in pursuing LEED from the start, a traditional

bidding process for construction was not appropriate. Instead,

we interviewed the few contractors in the area who were already

familiar with “green building” and from there settled on one early

on. This turned out to be one of the best decisions made, as the

collaboration has been a positive one in which the contractor

respected the design intent and also felt a strong sense of ownership

towards the project.

The house is currently nearing completion and should be complete

by the end of the summer. The intention of the clients is to rent out

the house, as it is located near the University of Michigan. It has

been a great learning experience, and while I can remain critical

and hopefully somewhat objective about my own design and the

situation of this house, it is very exciting to see my project through

from conception to an actual finished building while maintaining

my ideas and design intent. While LEED is still at an early stage

and therefore we encountered problems in terms of availability

of materials as well as finding subcontractors and vendors who

were familiar enough with it to quote accurately or build to our

specifications, I do intend to continue designing and building with

even more stringent environmental standards.


Writers: Michael and Enld Bryant

The Bryant's founded Bryant design Studios at Rochester, NY; winners of the Imaginit Technologies "Render Us Speechless" competition in 2011.

Design

DES IGN ING A CONTEMPORARY TREEHOUSE

It’s no secret to architects that ambiance and atmosphere play a role

in design, but most importantly, they contribute to peace of mind in

the home, at work and on vacation. That’s why as partners running

our own 3-D design firm in Rochester, NY, we enjoy escaping from

the commotion of the city to the serene Finger Lakes region in

Western New York.

The noise, congestion and air pollution are all reasons we hungered

to escape to the fresh air and tranquility of the Finger Lakes. Getting

away periodically for a day-trip or weekend get-a-way wasn’t

enough. We were seduced by the refreshing solitude we felt on

the waterfront and further captivated by the memories to be made

overlooking one of the country’s best-kept secrets. That’s when we

started designing our dream cottage to be built on Keuka Lake. This

way, we wouldn’t ever have to leave.

Our tree house, as we like to call it, includes all of the elements we

consider crucial to design yet comfortable for year-round living.

The two-bedroom, two-bath cottage boasts an open floor plan,

complete with an eat-in kitchen and living space with a lofty feel

thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows. When you take the stairs to

the second floor you’ll find a master suite that rivals any 5-star spa

and a room for overnight guests. A favorite element of the design is

the180-degree views of the lake, which allow us to enjoy the water

from virtually any space in the home. We imagine many mornings

sipping coffee on the wrap-around deck or taking in a summer

sunset with a light, refreshing Riesling from a family-owned vineyard

only a mile away.

It was our passion for architecture and nature that led us to design a

contemporary, yet relaxing structure in which to live and enjoy the

beautiful scenery. All the while, we didn’t want to lose sight of why

we were drawn to this space to begin with. We are very fortunate

to have such beautiful lakes and undisturbed green space in New

York State, so it was very important for our tree house to promote

sustainable design and contain our carbon footprint. We want to

be able to keep the house in the family for generations – and how

else to ensure this than to be responsible and conscientious with

our design.

For our tree house to comply with LEED standards, we’ve included

design features from a high performance building envelope

to geothermal heating and cooling. Other environmentally-

responsible amenities include solar and water harvesting. Even the

materials used in construction include reclaimed site materials and

recycled metal panels.

Sure, it’s a modest home by traditional American size standards,

but it is a special retreat with all the amenities you’d find in a

contemporary suburban home – with the added advantage of

being tucked away among the trees on an idyllic lakefront.

The modern feel of the home juxtaposed with the untouched

beauty of the region is an architectural irony that makes us feel right

at home. Even though the cottage is in its conceptual stage, we are

already inspired by the design. When we discuss the project we are

immediately transported to a future filled with sun-rises and star-lit

skies. That’s the beauty of architecture – a simple idea can unearth

emotions yet to be experienced.


DES IGN ING A CONTEMPORARY TREEHOUSE


Writer: Marc McCollom, AIA

McCollum is a sole proprietor, and is a graduate of the Unviersity of Texas and Rice University.

Design

HOUSE OF THREE ROOMS

The house of three rooms was conceived as three distinct spaces.

The First Room begins in the front yard, where a dry-stack stone

Library and wall of landscaping separate the Entry Garden from the

street. The space continues through the large window, joining with

the Dining Room and Kitchen inside. The Second Room is located in

the center of the house proper, where an exterior of cut limestone

forms a large rectangle with the Kitchen and Dining Room at one

end and the Living Room at the other. Stacked in the center are the

Skylight, the Stairs, and the Interior Garden. The Third Room begins

in the Living Room, whose adjacent Library takes a step toward the

street before turning around and opening onto the Water Garden.

There, stone terraces and a wood deck overlook the swimming pool;

in the distance, a small lawn and a second landscaped wall.

The house is on a corner lot; its front faces north and the long side

faces east. The neighborhood was developed in the 1920s and

although several nearby houses are new, the majority date from

that decade, which means they are typically much smaller than

their new brethren. To avoid a two-story-high wall right on the

front-yard setback, a one story volume is placed at the front of the

house to politely accommodate the scale of the neighborhood. That

little box is clad in dry-stack stone outside and mahogany inside; a

materially dense structure accommodating the Library at one end

and the Entry at the other. It shelters the front door from the street

and the indirect procession around it gives guests some time in the

Entry Garden to transition from their car to the house. The general


organization of the downstairs is immediately clear almost as soon

as one comes inside; a large rectangular volume with open spaces

at both ends that surround a central core. Standing just inside the

house the stairs are straight ahead, with the Interior Garden below

and the skylight high above. Through the open risers one can see

down the hall to the back of the house; windows line the left side

and to the right, doors leading to less public rooms. (A Media Room,

two Children’s Bedrooms, and the Master Suite are upstairs.)

To the right of the stairs are the Kitchen and Dining Room, which

look onto the Entry Garden. Helping to balance the light is a small

garden off the Kitchen and a tall window on the west wall. The small

garden is anchored by a red oak that was already on the site.

To the left of the stairs is the Living Room, with its limestone fireplace,

mahogany Library, and large pocket doors that extend the room

to the outside. The backyard is on the east side of the site, taking

advantage of the open sky above the side-street and the shade from

the afternoon sun that the upstairs provides. Through the front door,

under the stair landing, and beyond the Living Room doors, there is

a clear line of sight from the Entry Garden to the Water Garden.

Besides the general organization of the house and its relationships

to the gardens, there are three parts of the house that merit further

explanation: the balcony, the fireplace, and the landscape design.

1 Entry Garden

2 Dining Room

3 Kitchen

4 Living Room

5 Library

6 Terrace

7 Pool

8 Lawn


Instead of being supported by columns, the balcony hangs from

the roof above. This was not a preconceived trick that I wanted to

impress people with; it just came naturally from the design process.

There needed to be a balcony off the Master Bedroom, there needed

to be a second means of egress from the media room, and the roof

of the limestone-clad volume needed to be shifted to resolve the

composition. Besides, the final plan of the back yard was still a

year away from resolution and I didn’t want columns determining

anything on the ground.

The fireplace flues being exposed on the interior resulted from

similar organic concerns. Although a chimney can be put in the

side-yard setback, zoning limits it to just 12 inches deep; and

needing to be over 30ft tall, the proportions were all wrong. On the

interior, the right side of the Living Room wall needed to be empty

for artwork and the left side needed a window to balance the light.

There needed to be an east window upstairs at well, and it was

important that the facade not get too busy and that the elements

be appropriately scaled and carefully composed. Stripping the flue

down to its purest form allows it to be combined with the windows

into a single element, thereby resolving both the interior and the

exterior elevations.

The House of Three Rooms is designed to be quiet, generous, clean

and clear. It is meant to be lived in, and its quiet Modernism allows

its residents to do just that.


Writer: Susan Harris Welker, AIA

Welker is the founder of Harris Welker Architects at Austin, TX and is a graduate of Florida International University and the University of Houston.

Design

REED PL AYHOUSE ON BROADWAY

What makes an architect designed modern affordable home better

for an owner?

A National Association of Home Builders study revealed that only

15 percent of homes are designed by an architect. Not only are

an architect’s services a wise investment due to a well-conceived

design that can be built more efficiently and economically; homes

sell faster and have a better resale value.

But what else does an architect bring to assure an owner of a

sensible investment?

In the existing 1940’s East Austin, Texas neighborhood, the owner’s

site presented a worst case scenario for achieving an energy

efficient layout with its long exposure to the east and west. The

narrow corner lot (47’ x 147’) had a street side setback of 15’ and

an interior side setback of 5’, reducing the useable width of the lot

to 27’. Though the neighborhood primarily consists of single family

homes and an elementary School, an automotive repair garage

is located across the side street and the Capital Metropolitan’s

Transit Authority headquarters is situated just one block north.

Deliberately considering these site elements and incorporating

them into the design made this project successful for the owner.


The client’s other needs included privacy, limited view on the corner

lot, security, low maintenance, preservation of the existing mature

pecan trees, affordability, energy efficiency, and an open design that

could accommodate large parties, the design achieves even more

than if it was a spec built design.

The design minimized first the extreme Texas heat effects of the

eastern and western long façade exposure by placing the minimum

of window openings on the east and west facades and within the

shade of the existing trees. Large overhangs on the south facades

shade the majority of the windows which also allow for prevailing

southeastern breezes. Clerestory windows on the south façade

and a Kalwal on the west façade provide additional daylighting

with minimal heat load. This design saved the owner in both HVAC

future energy costs, but also in the actual HVAC units required for

the home.

The owner is a high tech worker by day and stage manager by

night. While meeting the functional needs of the client was one

variable in the equation, the final design solution that the architect

created was highlighted in the client’s alter ego in the theater. The

project, entitled Reed Playhouse on Broadway, was designed to


play on the elements of a theater playhouse to accommodate the

owner’s parties hosted for well over 50 people several times a year.

The design is demonstrated in the plan. The guests arrive at the

entrance of the home under the marquee (the covered porch) and

then enter a small vestibule to be received and dispense with their

coats and other trappings (coat check area). A small niche area

mimics the ticket box at the foyer. A double volume “lobby” with

overlooking bridge and grand staircase greet the guests who then

proceed to the seating area (living area).

Finally, the curtain opens (the exterior folding door system-Nanawall)

to the stage (the exterior courtyard) and the entertainment for the

guests begins. All the spaces normally afforded to a home such as

kitchen (think concessions) and restrooms are provided, but within

the theme of the theater. On the exterior, the fiber cement siding

was applied horizontally as a “marquee” band around the home. The

rear balcony from the second floor spaces overlooks the stage (the

courtyard) and awaits Juliet herself.

Sustainability was a primary issue in that it partnered with the

affordable cost of the house. The previous 1940 home on the lot

was “reclaimed” through the Habitat for Humanity Deconstruction

and Reclamation program. The new home would be built within

1500 square feet for both the owner’s budget and the City of Austin’s

pervious cover requirements.

Durable materials; selected by the architect in numerous field trips

with the owner, were selected for their durability such as; fiber

cement siding, 30 year composition roof shingles, 25 year warranty

tankless water heater, Energy star and High Efficiency appliances,

engineered LVL framing, engineered bamboo flooring, ceramic

and glass mosaic tiles, MDF trim, and Icyene insulation. Fiberglass

windows with Pella’s low e glazing were an affordable and yet very

energy efficient and low maintenance material selection. No voc

latex paint, in bold colors, provided a low cost sustainable design

solution. A Kalwal on the western street side exposure provides

privacy and daylighting to the dining/kitchen space with an energy

efficient solution. Quality cabinetry, quartz countertops, durable

plumbing and fluorescent light fixtures were incorporated to meet

the client’s need for an affordable sustainable home.

Polygal was another innovative material used on the covered

walkway from the garage to the home and the exterior balcony

from the master bedroom. This material provided an affordable,

translucent, colorful shading option that allows daylighting into the

northern exposure windows without heat gain. Finally the Nanawall

opens up the entire back living space to the outdoor courtyard to

meet the client’s need for additional space during his elaborate

parties he holds throughout the year.

The incorporation of the site constraints, the owner’s needs for

a home for entertaining and maintenance free energy saving

sustainability demonstrated some of the exceptional architectural

services that helped make this home an affordable, modern home,

specifically design for a client’s needs. It was recently selected as

one of the homes for the 2012 Austin’s Smarter Spaces Home Tour.


Writer: Andrew Mikhael, AIA

Mikhael is a sole practitioner in New York City. He is a graduate from University of Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Design

ADAMS RES IDENCE

Ask a city dweller what they imagine as their getaway home and

you’re likely to hear dreams of beachfront properties and country

cabins. But what if that oasis was just a few miles from your city

apartment? That was the case with this client who owns a studio

apartment in Midtown Manhattan and a weekend playground

home just over the Hudson River in Englewood, New Jersey.

The house is a mid-century structure with its original wood siding

and stone exterior. A patchwork of disparate renovations clutter

the interior. The brief originally was to convert the basement into

a colorful space for entertaining, cooking, and lounging. Walls were

eliminated to create one large space, including a new full kitchen,

tied together with a polished concrete floor. The new steel clad stair

and deep red wall behind work as a visual anchor to the space. The

high window sills are replaced with polygonal openings that serve

to both make for easy views and to dance along the wall together

with a new wall fireplace. This configuration serves the client,

who prefers the space to speak for itself without art on the walls.

Keeping with the theme of suburban oasis, the gym bathroom was

redesigned into a steam room with seating for six adults and a toilet

hidden under a hinged bench. The scope also includes a full interior

renovation of the 5 bed, 5 bath house and the design of a new

backyard deck to accommodate summer parties and the client’s

love of gardening.

For visual continuity from the colorful downstairs, a red accent wall

continues up the stairwell and opens the end wall of the kitchen

facing the stair. The end effect is a galley kitchen ‘portal’ that frames

the wall of color beyond. The portal also aims to give a point of

connection between family members as they move about the house.

Throughout the existing interior were “barnacles” of messy ceilings

and awkward conditions. A polygonal geometric language which

started naturally with the basement windows worked well to smooth

out such conditions and quickly became the formal language tying

the project together. In the dining room, the false columns are

removed and the disproportionately high ceiling is gently adjusted

to shape the room to a more comfortable height. A steel polygonal

fireplace similar to the basement fireplace anchors the dining room

cabinetry and bench. The master bathroom was a particularly


“barnacled” room with functional and structural constraints which

took a lot of massaging to achieve a scheme where the space flowed

and every corner felt intentional.

The client is an avid gardener who loves to entertain and wanted

a new deck that would last a long time. The two-level stone deck

includes a waterfall wall between levels. The edges of the deck are

wrapped in sweeping layers of copper-clad planters which showcase

and organize all the client's flowers. The deck is the only moment

where the new design spills outdoors. Using traditional materials of

stone and metal in a contemporary form bridged the gap between

the traditional look of the home’s exterior without appearing as a

design compromise.

This suburban getaway is expected to begin construction in late

2012.


Writer: Andrew Nance, AIA

Nance is co-founder of A-GRUPPO Architects at San Marcos, TX and is a professor at the Texas State University at San Marcos.

Writer: Thad Reeves, AIA

Reeves is co-founder of A-GRUPPO Architects and was a recipient of the McDermott Travel Fellowship. Reeves is a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Design

BLEY SLEEP ING HOUSE ADD IT ION

Faced with a growing family, Bernhard and Celina Bley were

interested in expanding their existing (2) bedroom, (2) bath home

by adding a “Sleeping House Addition”. The idea was to put all of

the sleeping rooms into a new addition and renovate the existing

spaces into other functions.

The project brief called for an economical solution that

complimented the home; relocate the bedrooms and bathrooms to

the addition; convert the existing master bedroom to an office; and

re-purpose the master bath to a mudroom. The existing children’s

shared bedroom was already well suited as a guest suite.

Existing Conditions

The obvious location for an addition to the cruciform plan of the

existing structure would be to simply extend the structural bay of

the wings outward, however, mature trees, a garage and building

setback negated this strategy.

Parti

The final scheme positions an interstitial public space (Library)

between the existing home and the addition. This hub is a public

zone and connects the new Family Office and Mudroom Entry, while

simultaneously acting as mediary to the private functions of the

new Master suite and stairs to the children’s rooms upstairs.


Form and the Mass

The decision to minimize the footprint was influenced in part by

site constraints as well as rising concrete costs during construction;

resulting in more program area relegated to the upper level. To

maintain an efficient floor plan layout, the upper level was shifted

to provide a landing for the stairway, situated outboard of the

structure, where the form of the angled stairway becomes expressed

as a volume on the East facade.

As the clients were interested in the idea of the addition contrasting,

rather than mimicking the existing structure, a language of

mass/void articulation was sought to develop a complimentary

conversation between the two.

The architects collaborated with the structural engineer to develop

a series of studies seeking economical means for supporting the

floating volume while providing a strongly defined outdoor room

at the veranda. The Pier + Column scheme was chosen for its ability

to express the floating nature of the volume while simultaneously

grounding it to the site.

Natural Lighting

To mitigate the compact program, the spatial experience is

enhanced by natural lighting strategies, large expanses of glass,

translucent walls, and carefully placed windows providing visual

links back to the site.


The stairwell doubles as a light-well capturing morning light from

the East, and diffuses afternoon light from the West through

translucent-glazed walls. Supplemented by clerestory lighting in

the Library, the transitional spaces of the addition disperse light

throughout the addition and deep into the existing structure.

Views to the Surrounding Landscape

In each room throughout the addition, the compactness of the

interior spaces is counteracted with a framed view to the exterior

beyond. A large patio slider linking the veranda to the master

bedroom is paired with a fixed panel of glass. The perceived glazed

corner effectively connects the owners to the oak grove just beyond

the confines of their home.

In contrast, the children’s rooms are characterized by long horizontal

windows, recessed to avoid the high summer sun, positioned to

frame views of the tree canopies and horizon and sky beyond.

The simple massing and careful detailing reflect Bernhard’s native

German ideals of clarity and craft; while the veranda, copious

natural light and expressive color scheme (influenced by the native

limestone of the existing structure) reflect Celina’s Mexican heritage.

Photography: Craig Kuhner Architectural Photography


Writer: Crystal Tobin Chandler, AIA

Chandler is an Architect with Sean O’Kane AIA, Architect P.C., an architectural firm specializing in custom residential design, renovations, and historic restoration in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Book Review

POCKET NE IGHBORHOODSb y R o s s C h a p i n

At first glance, “Pocket Neighborhoods: Creating Small Scale

Community in a Large Scale World” appears to be a revolutionary

book on an unfamiliar concept. As a result, the reader opens

the glossy hardcover full of excitement, ready to absorb a fresh

theory on suburban planning and hoping to learn valuable design

methods. The forward by Sarah Susanka is enticing, and the author,

architect Ross Chapin, proceeds by detailing the process involved

in the design of contemporary communities he terms “pocket

neighborhoods,” communities which act like “a pocket safely

tucking away possessions from the outside world”. These densely

arranged homes organized around shared outdoor spaces, some

spontaneously formed and others planned communities, exist to

foster a strong sense of community with long-lasting relationships

between the residents. It is after the reader begins to envision living

in a pocket neighborhood, that an uncertainty begins to develop if

this is really an appealing option for today’s homeowners who may

not all be as willing to exist as openly as in Chapin’s idealized vision.

Illustrated throughout the book are the design elements that define

these communities which are nestled within larger, existing town

fabrics. Many are positive objectives in all neighborhood planning,

including an appropriate use of scale, controlling vehicular traffic,

encouraging networks of pedestrian traffic and creating density to

avoid suburban sprawl. Others, such as the necessity of a functional

front porch, shared gardens and commons areas for weekly group

dinners are more specific to Chapin’s pocket neighborhoods. A

number of case studies are portrayed, all architecturally interesting,

and six developments featured were designed by Chapin on the

West coast. The projects are presented as part of an evolving

design process which demonstrates how the key design elements

can create communities where everyone lives and grows together

in a safe, family-like environment. In these pocket neighborhoods,

ideally children always have others nearby to play with, strangers

feel unwelcome and gardens and yard tools are shared freely.

Still, after viewing the photos of well-designed and beautifully

landscaped homes and the accompanying site plans, a lack of true

exterior privacy seems to exist, which for some is a familiar necessity.

Low fences, shrubs and open porches are meant to encourage social

interactions when the inhabitants venture outdoors, but not even

slightly integrated into the design is the traditional, fenced backyard

and the positive attributes it offers homeowners.


b y R o s s C h a p i n

Many of the pocket neighborhoods portrayed have small homes

under 1000 sq ft, and because of this they may be received more

readily. They can function as a transitional home for young suburban

professionals who desire home ownership but still want the social

interactions found on campuses or in some apartment complexes.

Empty nesters who want to downsize and feel they live in a close knit

neighborhood may also find the community appealing. However,

possibly more relatable are the projects featured later in the book

situated in urban and older neighborhoods. These neighborhoods

are formed of homeowners who know their neighbors and make

a choice to take down fences, create shared back yards or beautify

alleyways to create space for all to enjoy. These cases involve people

in the community working together to make something better in a

setting where exterior privacy is already not known to exist or be

a possibility. Groups such as Baltimore’s “Community Green” work

to make use of underused exterior spaces and, as a result, the city

has implemented a procedure to “gate and green” alleyways for use

by the residents so long as their majority requirements are met.

It is initiatives such as this that may bring communities closer to

achieving the sense of a real neighborhood that is missing today.

Ross Chapin’s notion of pocket neighborhoods may in fact be

revolutionary- he is proposing a radical change in how we view the

neighborhood and privacy and, like many unfamiliar ideas, it may

not be openly received by all readers at first. However, it cannot

be disputed that the design concepts he presents are in general

positive guidelines for community, environmental and architectural

design. Each of the projects attractively represented throughout

the book has merits which can be implemented to foster successful

communities. It is the necessity to achieve a balance between the

need for social interaction and the desire for personal seclusion

that becomes apparent to the reader at the conclusion of “Pocket

Neighborhoods” and leaves them excited for the possibilities of

future communities.


YAF Connection is sponsored by the AIA Trust. The CNA/Schinnerer program provides Professional Liability and other Business Owners’ coverage to AIA members’ firms through their relationship with the AIA Trust. For more information, visit www.TheAIATrust. com .

Article of Interest

L IV ING W ITH HAB ITAB IL I TY CL A IMS

According to statistics from 2005-2011, all forms of habitational

projects represented just over 16 percent of the income reported by

CNA/Schinnerer policyholders. But these projects represented 42

percent of all claims.

To that end, one way to look at projects as being profitable is to look

at the percentage of claims generated by the project type compared

to the percentage of reported billings for that project type. Profitable

projects have a ratio where the percentage of billings is greater that

the percentage of claims. Unprofitable projects have a ratio where

the percentage of claims exceeds the percentage of billings. For

single family housing that ratio is almost 2:1. In other words, for

every $1 in fee collected, almost $2 in losses are paid.

Claims involving habitability projects involve all design disciplines,

including surveyors, engineers and architects. Below are some

figures and examples of the types of claims that CNA Schinnerer has

paid on behalf of their architectural policyholders.

Single-Family Residential Projects

Whether houses or townhouses, this project type is of great risk for

smaller design firms and those just entering the field. While the

average paid claim was roughly $75,000, the top quartile of claims

cost an average of more than $210,000. The top ten percent of

claims resulted in payments averaging more than $850,000. Smaller

design firms often think that because of their lesser fees on “smaller”

scope projects, they are immune to major claims. But of the top

20 paid claims, eight were made on behalf of firms with less than

$250,000 in annual revenues. Those payments averaged almost

$750,000.

Case Study

To save money, the client limited the number of site visits the

architect was allowed to conduct for a “high-end” house. The client

and interior designer made modifications throughout the house,

including changes to a third floor fireplace. The fireplace was

constructed incorrectly with brick holes venting heat into the house

instead of up the chimney as originally designed. In addition, the

client added built-in wooden bookcases adjacent to the brick and

removed a concrete subfloor, substituting a marble floor over wood.

The architect was unaware of these changes since they were not

obvious during his limited site visits.

Five years after completion, the house was completely destroyed by

a fire that was traced to the fireplace. Damages exceeded $2 million.

Although all the parties agreed that the fire was directly attributable

to the changes made by the client and poor construction, the

claim against the architect was based upon negligent contract

administration services. The architect’s poor file documentation

made it impossible to defend against allegations regarding the

agreed upon level of construction services. After several mediation

attempts, the other defendants settled for $1.2 million, leaving the

architect as the only defendant in a state with joint and several

liability. If the architect were later found to have any fault, there

would have been exposure for the entire amount of any award. A

settlement was finally reached with a payment on behalf of the

architect of $400,000 plus $50,000 for expenses.

b y A I A T r u s t


The Issue of Mold

No summary of habitability projects would be complete without

a discussion of claims involving mold. Mold claims against design

professionals insured in the CNA/Schinnerer program have

remained relatively flat. At present, less than two percent of their

claims are pure mold claims, meaning that property damage and

bodily injury due to mold exposure are the primary allegations.

Case Study

An architect was retained to provide design and construction

contract administration services for the renovation of an historic

hotel. Shortly after completion, a problem developed with

condensation within the walls. Mold and mildew were discovered

in more than half the rooms. An independent expert concluded

that poor construction and the mechanical engineer’s design

caused the problems. The architect had vicarious liability for the

mechanical subconsultant as well as independent liability for failure

to detect the construction defects. The client, with $40 million in

yearly revenues at stake, wanted remediation performed on a fast-

track basis before an increase in mold might force closure of the

hotel. If the hotel closed, the $2.5 million remediation damages

could have increased to tens of millions of dollars for lost revenues

and diminution in value due to the negative publicity. The claim

closed with a payment on behalf of the architect of $950,000, plus

$170,000 in expenses. The mechanical engineer and the contractor

also contributed equal amounts to the settlement.

Lessons Learned

If an architect is looking to provide or focus on services in the

habitational area, here are some important points to remember in

managing the risks of habitational claims:

Select clients based upon their experience, ties to the community,

financial strength and emphasis on quality in design and

construction.

Select projects that have a realistic budget and time frame, especially

in relation to their degree of complexity of design and construction.

Take into account the contractor selection process.

Select subconsultants who are experienced and adequately insured

Be wary of providing limited or no construction administration

services

Pay appropriate attention to the quality of the design, continuously

manage the expectations of your clients through timely and

consistent communication, and have a systematic, objective

documentation process in place to document all relevant activity.

Use professional services agreements that fairly allocate risks to the

party in the best position to manage those risks.

b y A I A T r u s t


Writer: Emily Bernstein, AIA

Bernstein is an architectural designer at Gensler's Chicago office and is excited to combine her background in urban sociology and architecture for design interventions like that at Navy Pier.

Article of Interest

NAVY P IER

Chicago’s Navy Pier opened to the public in its current form as a

recreational destination in the mid-1990s. Many Chicagoans see

it as a tourist attraction: it is the most popular tourist destination

in the Mid-west. Many perceive it as a festival marketplace, chain

restaurants and fast food, and carnivalesque. Although there are

other events and activities, this concept dominates the image of

Navy Pier.

Since it’s opening in 1916, the Pier has had many characters, from

recreational space, commercial shipping hub, naval training center,

to university campus. The time has again come for the character

of the Pier to transform into something more contemporary and

responsive to its urban context. The first part of this transformation

includes the competition to redesign Navy Pier’s public spaces. The

team lead by James Corner Field Operations was named the winning

entry among five amazing finalists. It has been an exciting process of

which to be a part, and it also has personally given me insight into

the larger overlap between the city, a public institution like Navy

Pier, and the role of designers who shape it.

When the project began, our team at Gensler was unaware that it

would eventually include a competition. That aspect of the project

did not emerge until well into the process of helping the client

figure out what they wanted the Pier to become. The bulk of our

role was helping Navy Pier to realize its own potential, and to

understand how it too could be transformed into an iconic, world-

class destination rather than simply to continue as it does today. In

a sense, the project was to develop the aspirations and vision for the

Pier, and by extension, for the citizens and the city of Chicago and

the Great Lakes region as a whole.

Before we knew there would be a competition or that we would write

a document like The Centennial Vision, we spent many hours trying

to understand what was successful about the Pier’s current state

and what needed improvement. We visited the Pier, experienced

it, conducted extensive research, and translated our findings into a

series of diagrams that explained its current state. These activities

helped us develop ideas and themes that could transform the Pier

into a more contemporary, world-class destination.

The initial research was about looking for opportunities given

the context and constraints of the Pier rather than precisely

understanding its current state of affairs. We developed numerous

diagrams and a way of thinking that reformulated our understanding

of the Pier from cheesy tourist destination to an urban space with

enormous potential. However, the majority of our time was spent

learning more about what the rest of the world was doing. After

searching for design innovations across the world, developing and

giving numerous presentations, and comparing aspects of Navy Pier

to other world-class attractions, we began to really understand what

our vision ought to include. We thought about programmatic zones,

cadence, and the memory and narratives that would develop from a

visit to the Pier. We also strove to consider the Pier within different

contextual scales: the Pier itself and within the neighborhood, its

role as part of Chicago’s lakefront, within the city itself, and as a

major node within the Great Lakes region. We also considered the

Pier as an instrumental part of Burnham’s not entirely realized vision.

One challenge was not to propose a new design, but to develop

a framework in which intelligent redesign could happen. The idea

of a landscape competition emerged from the discussion of what

it was that we were actually doing, which strangely enough, we

never defined at the beginning of the project. Ultimately, it was

a little hard to define what exactly we did, but our product was

definitely a vision and a framework for the future of the Pier. The

deliverable became a document that was presented to the public in

June 2011. It is called The Centennial Vision and is available online

at http://www.navypiervision.com/centennialvision.html. The

Centennial Vision summarizes months of research and discussions


about Navy Pier’s past, present, and future. In addition, it also makes

connections to other world-class, innovative design projects across

the globe and sets the bar high for the future of the Pier. Unlike most

designer output, The Centennial Vision was mostly text, which was

an unfamiliar format for designers accustomed to communicating

with images. However, at the same time, the ideas became more

meaningful by translating them into the language of the non-

design world.

During the three phases of the competition, I was given the chance

to see the process and inner workings of a landscape competition.

From the beginning, we looked to precedents that we thought

were relevant: similar scale competitions of recent years that

we recognized as successful like the Toronto Central Waterfront

competition, the Brooklyn Bridge Park competition, as well as The

City, the Arch, and the River competition in St. Louis. We used these

examples to help structure the brief, organize deliverables, and

develop a timeline. At the beginning, I had the opportunity to

suggest innovative design firms to receive invitations to participate,

which was extremely fun to research. After that, one of the most

exciting moments was to attend a meeting of the competition

advisors to sort through, and select their recommendations to go

to the Navy Pier board. Because of my attendance at that meeting,

I feel that a little bit of my opinion was taken in account. I also feel

that my perspective offered a productive contrast to the other

opinions present.

That first decision, to narrow down 52 entries to 10, was probably

the most difficult within the entire process. However, once the

five designs were submitted, another tough decision was at hand

because each had so much to offer for Navy Pier. Although, each

design had great moments, only one could be chosen as the winner.

I am confident that Field Operations’ proposal will evolve into a

design that serves both the Pier and the citizens of Chicago and

remedies many of the issues that we addressed in The Centennial

Vision. Although we do not yet know what that will be, our research

at Gensler has played a significant role in shaping the future Navy

Pier, and the city in the years to come.


Featuring

A IA NORTHWEST & PAC IF IC REG ION

Design

TAK ING FL IGHT T h e M u s e u m o f F l i g h t P e d e s t r i a n B r i d g e

Writer Tim Richey, AIA, LEED AP

Richey was the design architect for the Museum of Flight Pedestrian Bridge. He joined SRG in 2003 as part of the firm’s original team opening an office in Seattle. With twenty years of experience, Tim’s approach to architecture is heavily influenced by several years studying and working in Europe. His strong conceptual approach is drawn from the built and natural context of each site and carried through the development and detailed design of the project.


Seattle’s ties to the aviation industry are well known. The city is the

birthplace of Boeing and still the center of the company’s assembly

operations. So it’s not surprising that Seattle’s Museum of Flight,

located adjacent to Boeing Field in Tukwila, Washington, is one of

the largest air and space museums in the world – attracting more

than 400,000 visitors each year. Besides its jumbo-sized exhibits, the

museum now boasts another eye-catching attraction: a striking 340-

ft steel pedestrian bridge linking the current museum to the new

Space Gallery and additional sites for future development across a

busy traffic arterial.

Crystallized Vapor Trail

A conventional, utilitarian public works bridge would have been

possible, but inadequate to convey the Museum’s mission “to inspire,

excite and develop curious lifelong learning.” Instead, the design of

the bridge is inspired by the phenomenon of a contrail, a stream of

crystallized vapor created in a plane’s wake. The metaphor is carried

out in the bridge’s unusual tube truss design, made of crossing

circular steel pipe sections surrounding an inner glass enclosure.

The elliptical cross section swells slightly in the center, narrowing at

its ends to heighten the sense of movement. Light-weight materials

and a composition of transparent, translucent, and metallic surfaces

soften reflected light, at times appearing to dissolve against the sky.

The bridge interior includes exhibit panels describing aviation

history in the area, as well as LED lights along its path that change

colors to conjure up images of run-way marker lights. A single line of

fluorescent fixtures spans the full length of the bridge on one side,

uniformly uplighting the ceiling and allowing the contrail to glow.

When the Museum closes at night, the fluorescent lights turn off, but

the LED maker lights stay on as a reassuring land mark for Seattleites

traveling through this industrial corridor after dark.

Not Your Ordinary Truss

The unique structure of the bridge evolved from a design

collaboration between SRG Partnership, Inc. (architect), Magnusson

Klemencic Associates (structural engineer) and Jesse Engineering

(steel fabricator). Teaming early, they were able to take advantage of

new technologies in computer modeling and fabrication techniques

to simplify a complex geometry, push beyond a conventional

solution and achieve something extraordinary.

The result is a complex yet elegant bridge made of crossing circular

steel pipes, spanning 140 feet across the major roadway. The main

tube-shaped truss, measuring 200 feet in length, is composed of a

series of crossing 5-inch diameter pipe hoops tilted at 45 degrees.

The bend of the hoops varies from 22 feet at the center of the span


to 19 feet at the tapered ends. Although the curvature of the hoops

is a true radius, when tipped at an angle, an elliptical interior space

is created. In total, the project uses approximately 10,000 linear feet

of steel pipe weighing a total of 190 tons.

Minimal Closure

One construction challenge was to navigate through a dense

network of below-grade infrastructure and overhead power lines

that remain critical to Boeing’s local research and manufacturing

facilities. The solution was to accelerate the project schedule by

compressing the on-site utilities and foundation work with the off-

site truss fabrication. Although unusual, several subcontractors,

including electrical, lighting, and glazing, worked together at the

fabricator’s off-site shop, enabling a greater degree of prefabrication

and less on-site construction over the busy thoroughfare.

The fabricator’s location along the nearby industrial waterways

allowed the two halves of the truss to be shipped by barge 40 miles

north through the Puget Sound and down the Duwamish River to

within a few hundred yards of the final erection point. To install the

bridge, the construction team negotiated with the City of Tukwila to

divert traffic for a full day, then raced against the clock to erect the

two parts, weld each in place and remove the crane within a 24-hour

window. The planning paid off, as the roadway was clear and open

for traffic by 6 am the following morning.

Seattle Aerospace Icons

Within the truss, the semi-enclosed environment protects

pedestrians from Seattle‘s infamous gray and rainy weather.

Overhead, a translucent polycarbonate roof, suspended beneath

the overhead steel pipes, filters direct sunlight, while glass panels

on the south block the winter winds. Begun in 2008, the bridge will

soon realize its destiny by connecting the existing Museum of Flight

across the street to the new Space Gallery. Scheduled to open in

September 2012, the 15,000-sf Space Gallery is awaiting delivery

of NASA’s Space Shuttle Orbiter training module, the Full Fuselage

Trainer. The 105-foot wide and 150-foot long parallelogram-shaped

building will broadcast views of its artifact through a 40-foot tall

curtain wall that leans towards the roadway. The gallery’s steel

framing, directly behind the glazing, continues the language of

the bridge, as it bears gravity loads, delivers lateral seismic stability

and maximizes transparency. Eventually, the bridge and gallery

will adjoin a future Grand Commercial Aircraft Gallery, which will

complete the long term master plan for the Museum’s expansion.


Interview by Lindsey O'Brien

Yrazabal is a Senior Associate at SRG Partnership in Portland, Oregon, with more than twelve years of experience in higher education projects for both public and private institutions. A graduate of Washington State University, Jeff is passionate about design excellence and the team-oriented process. Jeff is AIA Portland’s President-elect and serves the Northwest & Pacific Region as the Young Architect’s Forum Director (YARD).

This article is previously published in the Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon on May 30, 2012.

Jeff Yrazabal, a senior associate at SRG Partnership in Portland,

recently took on the role as the regional director of the Young

Architects Forum for the Northwest and Pacific.

Jeff Yrazabal wants to know what “young” architects (those licensed

for 10 years or fewer) are thinking about – what inspires them,

causes them anxiety and drives them to succeed. Yrazabal, a senior

associate at SRG Partnership in Portland, recently became regional

director of the Young Architects Forum for the Northwest and Pacific

region.

The YAF was created in 1991 to help new architects network with

each other and express their goals to the American Institute of

Architects. Yrazabal is charged with providing a voice for the region’s

young architects within the national organization, although he’s

still figuring out how to let people know about the program and

resources available. For now, he is building up the group’s Facebook

page, sending out newsletters and looking for new ways to perform

outreach.

Yrazabal is also president-elect of AIA’s Portland chapter and will be

hard to miss at upcoming events. His co-workers agree that Yrazabal,

6 feet 6 inches tall, is a spitting image of Detlef Schrempf, a former

NBA star who finished his career as a Portland Trail Blazer. In fact,

Yrazabal ran into the retired player at a downtown Starbucks, and

even Schrempf saw the resemblance.

The DJC recently talked with Yrazabal to find out more about the

YAF and some of the issues facing emerging professionals.

DJC: What has our region been missing out on by not

having an active YAF?

Jeff Yrazabal: The main thing our region has been missing out on

is the ability to influence initiatives, programs and opportunities

through AIA nationally with their experiences in our region. That’s

really what the purpose of my role is – to bring their issues and

interests to the national scene so that as AIA develops and changes

and continues to grow, it’s doing so with interests of young architects

in mind.

DJC: Are there talents specific to this area that YAF could

help promote?

Yrazabal: The Northwest is already known for its passion for

sustainability, but there’s a lot of exciting innovation and creativity

within the young architectural community that needs to be out

there even more. YAF also puts out a bimonthly publication called

“Connections,” which could be a good way to shine a light on the

expertise of the young professionals in our region.

Leadership

JEFF YRAZABALL e a d e r s h i p p r o f i l e o f


DJC: At the national YAF summit in March, many of the

young architects wanted more resources about starting

their own firms. Why do you think that’s on the top of

recently licensed architects’ minds?

Yrazabal: The first obvious reason is the economy. There’s no

question that there are people who are out of work and starting

to reinvent themselves a little bit. As far as what I’m noticing and

hearing in certain conversations, though, it goes deeper than that.

We all know the profession itself is changing – the way we practice

(and) the types of projects and services we provide are changing at

a more rapid pace than in the past. Firms are trying to adapt to figure

out how they fit in with those changes, and a lot of times it’s trying

to figure out how to work in ways that young architects are already

working – the new tools, the technology they’re learning in school

and bringing to firms.

Some people are realizing that the practice is changing in a way

where they think, “I can do this on my own’ and ‘Wow – there’s an

opportunity there.’ ” AIA doesn’t necessarily encourage people one

way or the other, but because that’s on the mind of young architects,

they want to provide resources to help them make educated

decisions to stay in an existing firm or start their own.

DJC: What else stood out about the conversations at the

YAF summit?

Yrazabal: A couple of other trends came up that have to do with

economy. Architects are becoming more aware of the need to be

better business managers, so the business side of what we do is

really being talked about a lot. Young architects are asking for more

training along those lines, in areas like management, networking,

marketing – all those issues you may not get exposed to early in

your career but are critical in having a successful business later.

These days, young architects want exposure to that earlier on, and

part of that has to do with economy and realizing that it’s really a

key to surviving.

DJC: Is there something you wish you knew during your

first couple of years as a licensed architect?

Yrazabal: When I think to my first year or two in the profession, I don’t

think I fully realized the value in connecting into the community of

architectural peers and in allied fields. Not only with architects, but

interior design, graphic and industrial design, landscape, planning

– they all have such strong links to each other. When I was younger

I didn’t realize the value of tapping into that community and

understanding how we all relate.

When you’re in a work environment, there tends to be a lot of

competition – this is a highly competitive field and people tend to

hold on to information, but there’s value in taking off your work hat

and networking. You realize there’s a lot out there to be inspired

by if you mingle with all the creative fields. Most – hopefully all –

architects see value in that, but it takes a while to understand how

to plug into it.


Writer Dave Otte, AIA

Otte is an architect at Holst who focuses on sustainable housing and community service projects. For over 15 years he has helped shape Portland’s urban landscape with a wide variety of civic buildings and spaces. The Daily Journal of Commerce recognized Dave as one of Portland’s Newsmakers in 2012.

Design

HOUS ING F IRST AT THE BUD CL ARK COMMONS

The Bud Clark Commons is a special place. Located at the gateway

to Downtown Portland, Oregon, this LEED Platinum building offers

a full spectrum of services for people experiencing homelessness in

a way that no other building has before. From basic services for

anyone walking in off the street to permanent housing dedicated

to Portland’s most vulnerable citizens, The Bud Clark Commons

provides a continuum of programming that addresses the barriers

of homelessness in a very real way.

In 2007, Holst Architecture was selected for this commission through

a public RFP process by the City of Portland, Home Forward, and

Transition Projects. While we had experience working in the non-

profit and housing arenas, we had never done a public project, much

less one of this breadth or complexity. We used this inexperience

to our advantage, diving into a robust research phase that involved

touring the country for precedents, job shadowing our new clients

at their previous inadequate facilities, and spending a lot of time

with the social service and homeless community in Portland to

understand the problems that needed to be addressed. We even

initiated a volunteer Dinner with an Architect every 6 weeks for

the design and construction team to cook and serve at the existing

shelter to give everyone involved a sense of the task at hand. From

this process came a comprehensive program comprised of three

distinct elements: a day center, a temporary shelter, and permanent

supportive housing.

The day center provides basic services to anyone coming in off the

street. This includes a public courtyard, hygiene center, donated

clothing, hair cuts, mail boxes, storage lockers, computers, library

books, a community courtroom, an art studio, and even a vegetable

garden. The day center also has counselors and education programs

that help people experiencing homelessness find housing,

employment, life skills, and ongoing support.

The temporary shelter replaces a dilapidated facility and has space

for 90 men, of which 45 are dedicated bunks for veterans (an

existing women’s shelter exists nearby). The shelter includes case

management offices, a commercial kitchen, a private courtyard, and

a small gym. Men live in this clean and sober shelter for up to three

months as they get the help they need to find stability in their lives.

The permanent supportive housing includes 130 studio apartments

designed for single adults. Each unit is 300 square feet, and has a

full kitchen and bath. A “vulnerability index” has been developed

to create a priority system that provides apartments to previously

homeless men and women that are in the most danger of dying

on the street. Because of this unique program that is based on the

Housing First model of social service delivery, barriers have been

lowered to residents who would otherwise not qualify to lease an

apartment elsewhere in the city. There is also ample space for case

managers dedicated to the residents living in the apartments to

ensure a successful transition out of homelessness.

These three program elements are formally stacked vertically

through 8 floors to maximize the available land and zoning height.

They are also architecturally expressed through the materials of the

exterior, with board-formed concrete creating the buildings base

at the shelter, an abundance of glass and transparency at the day

center, and a palette of brick and colored glass panels above that

define the apartment floors.

Inside, Holst worked to translate this complex program into a warm

and inviting environment that offers a sense of dignity and hope


HOUS ING F IRST AT THE BUD CL ARK COMMONS


to its occupants. An abundance of natural wood and bright colors

throughout help create a healing environment that supports the

mission of the building. One of the greatest compliments we’ve

heard from occupants using the building is that there is a sense of

calm and dignity that people have once they enter.

Sustainability goals have also been achieved. All aspects of the

design that Holst used to reach LEED Platinum were evaluated on

the basis of energy savings or occupant health. These measures

include 100% solar hot water, a graywater system that uses the

showers and washers to provide water for toilets, fully ducted heat

recovery ventilation with maximized air changes, and air filtration

to minimize the spread of communicable diseases, especially

tuberculosis.

We are currently celebrating the first anniversary of the Bud Clark

Commons’ opening, and Holst has been constantly in touch with

the day-to-day operations to ensure everything is working. We

have given dozens of tours and provided information to people

and groups from across the country in hopes that the building

will become a model for other cities to emulate. Holst has a deep

connection to this place, and undoubtedly always will. We still

serve a volunteer meal every 6 weeks, but now we get the honor of

cooking and serving dinner to the residents in their new home we

helped create.


Writer James McGrath, AIA & Stefanie Becker, AIA

Becker is an Architect and Associate Partner at ZGF in Portland. She is 2012 President of AIA Portland, has been a leader in the re-creation of the chapter's Continuing Education program. Stefanie has been commended for her collaborative and organizational skills, as well as her ability to keep complex processes moving forward, even when faced with enormous challenges.

McGrath brings 10 years of diverse experience in conceptual design, public process management, engineering team coordination, technical research and integrated high-performance urban design. James has been recognized by the Portland Business Journal’s 40 under 40 awards program and the Portland Business Alliance’s Leadership Portland Program. He serves as chair of the AIA Portland Urban Design Panel.

Event

THE A IA PORTL AND URBAN DES IGN PANEL

AIA | APA | ASLA Urban Design Panel

Central City 2035 Charrette

The AIA Portland Urban Design Panel has a long and distinguished

history of involvement in Portland’s urban quality. Beginning as an

architect-only review body for downtown buildings, the panel has

transformed along with the city around it, over the decades. In its

most recent incarnation, it was comprised of a multidisciplinary

team of professionals who gathered to review projects and policies

related to the regional built environment. With approval of the

Portland AIA Board, the panel provided relevant professional advice

and testimony to project teams, local government agencies and the

City of Portland Commissions for Design, Development, Planning,

and Historic Preservation.

But in recent years, with changes to the land use review process

instituted by the Bureau of Development Services, and the

increasing sophistication of both the Design Commission and urban

architecture practitioners, the relevance and need for the Panel’s

participation – specific to building by building review – has waned.

Simultaneously, two other areas of intense interest and action have

arisen on which the Panel had focused and found voice: 1) reviewing

the urban design quality and “fit” of projects BEYOND the central

city – in emerging districts like Mississippi or regional centers like

Gateway; and 2) reviewing the development of multiple plans

and policies by connected jurisdictions (high capacity transit plan,

community design guidelines, streetcar master plan, etc) where the

allied urban design professions traditionally had no organized role.

As the Panel moved beyond its traditional boundaries, it become

clear that its governance model should also reflect the integrated

nature of the urban issues facing the City and region, in order to

amplify its relevance and voice in the years to come. Therefore the

Portland and Oregon leadership of the AIA joined with their peers in

ASLA and APA to form a joint-venture and shared ownership of the

Urban Design Panel. The UDP will form an umbrella for multiple joint

initiatives ranging from the Oregon Design Excellence program, to

educational outreach, the review of a new generation of Central City

Design Guidelines and the Portland Comprehensive Plan.

To launch this new endeavor the three local presidents of AIA, ASLA

and APA established an executive committee for the Urban Design

Panel with a full member representative and current board member

from each participating organization. Leadership of the executive

committee will rotate among the organizations on a yearly basis,

and administration will be shared by all. In turn, the executive

committee appointed a task force to convene as a first effort of the

new panel, a charrette with the City of Portland to study the urban

design framework for the Central City 2035 Plan.

On June 7, 2012 over 40 members of the allied professions joined

to explore issues, develop concepts and test ideas for the Central

City in an intensive day-long workshop. Interdisciplinary teams

began working at the concept level – ratifying and amplifying ideas

developed to date by the City of Portland staff. As the day progressed,

groups melded and splintered to study in more depth ideas related

to diversifying the public realm, reaching and activating the river’s

edge, deploying new architectural typologies for active street front

uses, and identifying areas of missed connection or fragmentation.

Throughout the day, and to start the evening’s reception, the City

of Portland staff was present to collaborate on the design, inform


THE A IA PORTL AND URBAN DES IGN PANEL

teams on constraints and opportunities, make available previous

frameworks, and receive the work of the charrette as they refine and

complete their policy and urban design process.

The Urban Design Panel is publishing the results of the charrette,

continuing to work in parallel with the City on policy and planning

efforts and reaching out to positively influence the design of

buildings throughout the region.

All images are from Central City 2035 Charette, June 27th 2012.


Writer Emily Refi, AIA

Réfi is an architect, educator, entrepreneur, mother, amateur musician and compulsive maker of things.

Opinion

THE ARCH ITECT 'S K I TCHEN

Food, Architecture, and Love

The first time I considered the correlation between food and

architecture was as a grad student in Portland, Oregon. I was in a brick-

walled, book-lined loft in the SE industrial district, building a model of

a beach house for local architect, John Cava. John was on the phone

with his client, a chef, addressing suggested design revisions. The

conversation went something like this. "…I don't go into YOUR kitchen

and tell you that I like raspberries, I like shrimp and I like mustard so

let's just mix them all up. When I sit down at your table, I give you

an idea of what I’m hungry for and trust you to put it all together."

That same year, my eyes were opened to good food and the joy in

creating it. A busy graduate student in downtown Portland, many

of my meals were ordered from a happy hour menu, frozen in a

box or (pathetically) from the all-hours convenience store located

on the same block as studio. One evening, I had dinner plans

with a studio mate. Rather than going out, he suggested, why not

pick up ingredients and cook at his place? I'm sure I looked at him

sideways, but skeptically played along. We chopped and stirred

while sipping wine with good music in the background. I had a great

time, and enjoyed being a creator of food, not simply a consumer.

A few years, and countless home-cooked meals later, that studio

mate became my husband. Being out of school allowed us more

time to delve into cooking. As my skills sharpened, a fondness

for cooking grew and went hand in hand with my tendency of

being a compulsive maker. As an emerging architect, I could

Refi House


THE ARCH ITECT 'S K I TCHENRefi House image by John Valles


not help but ponder the food analogy further: Perhaps the

softness of natural wood contrasting with crisp metal panel

works magically like the salty sweet contrast of dates with

bacon. Maybe the unconventional combination of strawberries,

balsamic vinegar and black pepper resonate like reclaimed

lumber with delicate cable rail, perhaps with a splash of leather.

Fast forward to 2008: On the coattails of publicity surrounding my

award-winning house, I had recently left a SRG Partnership to strike

it out on my own. My son was born and became the center of my

universe. Working for myself allowed me the flexibility to spend

more time to snuggle my son and make his baby food from scratch.

A concerned new mother, I scrutinized the labels of products I had

once considered healthy such as organic fruit flavored yogurt and

granola bars - I was appalled at how much sugar and how little

nutrients they contained. No thank you, not for my baby. Baking

for my family became a game, a challenge to make delicious

creations with whole grains, little or no refined sugar, and laced

with vegetables. Favorite combinations palatable to my son and

grownups alike emerged. Like a warm pop of orange against a gray

concrete wall, a mellow roasted squash highlighted with grated

nutmeg and peach can really sing.

The Betrayal

If my own food revolutions were first, for pleasure; and second, for

the health of my family, the third revolution was out of necessity. I

had been suffering through symptoms of smoldering autoimmune

issues, and in 2010 I realized the root cause was likely food

sensitivities, primarily to dairy. I was later advised by my naturopath

to steer clear of wheat and, ideally, unfermented grains altogether.

My assumptions of what was healthy for me were literally turned

upside down.

While food had betrayed me, my husband stood faithfully by

my side enduring odd-tasting milk alternatives and complicated

combinations of exotic flours. Many a morsel resembling

hockey pucks were thrown out with the compost. But there were

successes, revelations and new tricks learned. For instance, like

SEEC / Birch Aquarium, Dangermond Keane Architecture


a high performance concrete mix, the symbiotic combination

of oily almond flour combined with thirsty coconut flour and

a pinch of arrowroot would yield a balance of moisture, body

and structure. Not to mention a delicious, tender crumb.

The Architect's Kitchen

Fast forward to 2012: I have my fingers in many pots. Now a

mother of 2, I continue to practice architecture and urbanism

as a sole proprietor with a focus on sustainable infill projects. I

am in a collaborative studio, RED Architecture Workshop as an

outlet for tangibles, visuals and collective projects as well. Soaring

exponentially in scale, I jumped on the opportunity to work on The

Birch Aquarium addition in La Jolla with another local emerging

firm, Dangermond Keane Architecture. I teach and lead drawing

workshops. I play the guitar, poorly. As always, l think about food

a lot. To me, the ideal building would be net-zero energy, crafted

with local materials, and free of chemicals that compromise indoor

air quality and the environment. It would be deeply rooted in place,

in it's own urban fabric. Most importantly, it would be beautiful, and

occupied by people made a little happier by spending time there.

The ideal food would not be much different. It would be healthy and

nourishing. It would be lovingly made of local, organic ingredients,

and free of inflammatory substances. It would be beautiful,

delicious, and enjoyed in the company of family and friends.

This past year, I have seen one built project reach completion. In that

time I have probably planned and executed nearly 1000 meals. My

kitchen is littered with recipes jotted down on scraps of paper or

the backs of envelopes. Alongside architectural sketches, corners

of sketchbook pages are noted with recipe ideas. The time has

come to share my notions with design-savvy people coping with

food sensitivities, or anyone for healthy and delicious alternatives.

My blog, thearchitectskitchen.com is in the works and will be live

this summer, full of musings about architecture, design and food

through the eyes of a busy Portland mamapreneur.

Moonier Boathouse. Image by Scott Gerke


Writer Doug Minarik, AIA

Doug Minarik lives with his wife and two dogs in Portland, Oregon. He is a Henry Adams Medal recipient and is a graduate from Montana State University. He is employed at Works Partnership Architecture.

Design

ADD IT IONS TO THE MONTANA L ANDSCAPEMontana’s landscape is big. It has the nickname “big sky” for good

reason and if nicknames were longer, big mountains, big field, big

rivers, would all be welcome extensions. I spent 13 years in Montana,

with a large portion of that time attempting to carefully place “small”

residential projects in that big landscape.

The historical precedent of the structures that are now part

of Montana’s landscape had origins based solely on function,

responding to the agrarian or mining economies. Their forms were

kept simple out of necessity, clad in regional materials and requiring

no more space than absolutely necessary for serving their purpose.

A single gabled wood clad box surrounded by endless fields and the

boarded up mining shaft entrance on the side of a hill have become

part of Montana’s beauty and character.

Today the mining economy has evaporated and small farms and

ranches are losing the battle to larger enterprises. What once

was a carefully planned functioning landscape is ironically being

transformed as people move to Montana to take part in the

romanticism of that landscape. The resort areas of Montana are

saturated with sprawling “mountain” homes each attempting to

outdo their neighbor and the grandeur of the landscape. They are

lonely fortresses defending their occupant’s privacy and purchased

view of the landscape.

With the loss of a primary functional driver like mining or

agriculture, designing something to be part of Montana’s landscape

is intimidating. Simple forms that provide little competition

for the landscape seem to provide the most design longevity.

Livingston residence.


ADD IT IONS TO THE MONTANA L ANDSCAPEUnderstanding the context of a site, forming a design response with

that context in mind, then editing that response to its most basic

execution has been my approach. A small human scaled space in a

big landscape can be a special thing, providing a sense of scale and

heightening the experience of a vast open landscape.

In a home near Ennis, Montana a geotechnical engineer helped

locate a 20 foot wide gap in the bedrock that had formed a hillside.

That gap dictated the location of the house and kept the form narrow

to avoid having to excavate bedrock. The result was a floor plan just

wide enough to fit in the bedrock gap that grew out of the hillside

in one simple gesture with one end firmly anchored and the other

cantilevered over the steeply sloping hillside. For a project south of

Livingston, Montana where wind is relentless through much of the

year, the program took a cue from agrarian planning (clustered farm

structures) and was separated into two forms and oriented to create

a sheltered outdoor space and backdrop for viewing the Absaroka

Mountain range. The neutral exterior color palette keeps the focus

on the ever- changing exterior light and weather patterns.

Ennis Photograph by Gordon Gregory

Livingston Photograph by Audrey Hall (www.audreyhall.com).

Ennis residence.


8/1/2012

QUESTIONS: [email protected]

Future Now Summit DATE: September 22, 2012 @ 9:00am–9:00pm LOCATION: Center for Architecture | 536 LaGuardia Place Future Now Summit Mission: The Future Now Summit seeks to empower and engage young professionals in a discussion about exploring the future of the architecture profession. Through a day long conference consisting of moderated panels and workshops, these emerging professionals will be given the opportunity to produce possible solutions for the profession's changing needs. This summit will address these changing needs by focusing on issues related to the current state of the following practice areas: architecture, design, construction, real estate, finance, and business. Summit Goal: Provide a platform of dialogue, bringing relevant, interested individuals together to discuss potential future solutions in the “Architecture Industry”. We define “Architecture Industry” as a professional industry surrounding the design, coordination and realization of Architecture from a conceptual idea to a built form. The Industry is comprised of future architects, licensed Architects, and allied professionals that contribute to bringing architecture to mainstream society through real estate, finance, media, construction, graphic design, industrial design, etc. Discuss the following questions:

What is the future of the Architectural Profession? How will Emerging Professionals impact the Industry? Will the Architect take on a new role in society? How can we begin mapping our own path in becoming an Architect and career advancement? Does the Industry need a new model of practice? How can Architects engage as leaders?

Publication to be dispensed, summarizing the ideas shared, continuing the dialog within Industry. Summit Target Audience: Maximum 170 emerging professionals, intern architects, young architects (licensed 10 years or less), and emerging professionals in the fields of design and construction.

8/1/2012

QUESTIONS: [email protected]

Future Now Summit DATE: September 22, 2012 @ 9:00am–9:00pm LOCATION: Center for Architecture | 536 LaGuardia Place Future Now Summit Mission: The Future Now Summit seeks to empower and engage young professionals in a discussion about exploring the future of the architecture profession. Through a day long conference consisting of moderated panels and workshops, these emerging professionals will be given the opportunity to produce possible solutions for the profession's changing needs. This summit will address these changing needs by focusing on issues related to the current state of the following practice areas: architecture, design, construction, real estate, finance, and business. Summit Goal: Provide a platform of dialogue, bringing relevant, interested individuals together to discuss potential future solutions in the “Architecture Industry”. We define “Architecture Industry” as a professional industry surrounding the design, coordination and realization of Architecture from a conceptual idea to a built form. The Industry is comprised of future architects, licensed Architects, and allied professionals that contribute to bringing architecture to mainstream society through real estate, finance, media, construction, graphic design, industrial design, etc. Discuss the following questions:

What is the future of the Architectural Profession? How will Emerging Professionals impact the Industry? Will the Architect take on a new role in society? How can we begin mapping our own path in becoming an Architect and career advancement? Does the Industry need a new model of practice? How can Architects engage as leaders?

Publication to be dispensed, summarizing the ideas shared, continuing the dialog within Industry. Summit Target Audience: Maximum 170 emerging professionals, intern architects, young architects (licensed 10 years or less), and emerging professionals in the fields of design and construction.


Taking a hiking trip this summer? How about a cruise? Going overseas? Or did any traveling in the recent past? We’d like to hear about your adventures! Featuring sketches, photography, stories or other visual media of your travel encounters.

Get in touch with the editor at [email protected] fordetails and to feature your travel experiences.

Send your submissions by August 15.

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Y A F C o n n e c t i o n I S S U E 1 0 . 0 5 | 1 0 . 2 0 1 2

2012 YAF ADVISORY COMMITTEE

2012 ChairJennifer Workman, AIA

Vice ChairBrad Benjamin, AIA, CSI, LEED AP

Past ChairAdam W. Palmer, AIA, LEED AP

Programs AdvisorMatthew M. Dumich, AIA

Communications AdvisorDeepika Padam, AIA, LEED AP bd+c

Young Architect Regional Directors AdvisorJason Dale Pierce, AIA, LEED AP

Events AdvisorVirginia Marquardt, AIA, LEED AP, CDT

Public Relations AdvisorJoseph R. Benesh, AIA, CDT, LEED AP

College of Fellows LiaisonWilliam J. Stanley, III, FAIA, NOMA

AIA Board RepresentativeWendy Ornelas, FAIA

AIA Staff Director, Emerging ProfessionalsErin Murphy, AIA, LEED AP

The American Institute of Architects Young Architects Forum1735 New York Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20006

http://www.aia.org/yaf

WHAT IS THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS FORUM?

The Young Architects Forum is the voice of architects in the early stages of their career and the catalyst for change within the profession and our communities. Working closely with the AIA College of Fellows and the American Institute of Architects as a whole, the YAF is leading the future of the profession with a focus on architects licensed less than 10 years. The national YAF Advisory Committee is charged with encouraging the development of national and regional programs of interest to young architects and supporting the creation of YAF groups within local chapters. Approximately 23,000 AIA members are represented by the YAF. YAF programs, activities, and resources serve young architects by providing information and leadership; promoting excellence through fellowship with other professionals; and encouraging mentoring to enhance individual, community, and professional development.

GOALS OF YAF:To ENCOURAGE professional growth and

leadership development among recently licensed architects through interaction and collaboration within the AIA and allied groups.

To BUILD a national network and serve as a collective voice for young architects by working to ensure that issues of particular relevance to young architects are appropriately addressed by the Institute.

To MAKE AIA membership valuable to young architects and develop the future leadership of the profession.

YAF Connection 10.04 Issue

Documents

Transcript of YAF Connection 10.04 Issue