[ From left: The Dalai Lama, “Junior Soprano,” “Morty Seinfeld,” Le Corbusier, David Hewitt ] Something about all that real estate, especially when it extends so far below the eyes, tends to make people look goofy or dim-witted or both. There must be some universal law of design and proportion involved.
Christopher Alexander has a thing for four-story buildings (see the Pattern Language). And who wouldn’t agree that it’s a great to maintain a direct connection to the street — connection as in, you could shout up and ask your girlfriend to throw down the keys. But in today’s cities, does it make sense to put […]
I’m the kind of guy who gets excited about street walls. Like the beaut shown above, newly formed by the Trace Condo building along the east side of 12th Ave between Pike and Union on Capitol Hill. At six stories, it’s just the right scale to give a medium-width street like 12th Ave a nice […]
UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! The huge hole is right on track to become a new QFC underneath nearly 300 residential units at the corner of 58tht and 24th in Ballard. Strangely enough, the recently completed yuppie projects nearby such as NO-MA and Canal Station are selling, even with 1 bedrooms between 350K and 400K. Long gone […]
Shown in the elevation above is the six-story mixed use building that has been proposed for the southwest corner of 23rd and Union in the Central District. The project was approved by the Design Review Board on April 2, but still needs City Council sign off on a contract rezone to raise the height limit […]
This morning I attended a breakfast meeting put on by the Urban Land Institute featuring a presentation by Ewe Brandes on their recently published book “Growing Cooler,” which details the relationship between housing density and greenhouse gas emissions (see related post here). The room was filled with the likes of Diane Sugimura and Joe Tovar, […]
I had a premonition. Terminal 46 has been pulled back out of the memory hole by the folks who want to bring us “Emerald City Center.” They don’t have any land or funding, but they think Terminal 46 would make a dandy location for the multi-sports and cultural complex rendered above. Oh, and they haven’t […]
[ “Hydropolis,” assembled in Germany, shipped to Dubai, will be the world’s first underwater hotel. ] Dubai. Yep, you’ve heard about it, but you best be taking a look at this astounding summary. Alas, Dubai, apparently your 3400-foot Al Burj tower won’t be the tallest for very long. “Mile High Tower” is coming to Jeddah, […]
  Velib – Paris’ “Bicycle Transit System” San Francisco is finally getting around to updating its 1997 bike plan. It plans to add 34 miles of bike lanes, almost doubling what it currently has. And to do it, they are looking at removing curbside parking and traffic lanes in some cases. That’s what it […]
In past posts I’ve been critical of Seattle’s progress toward mandating green development, so I can’t let this pass: As of yesterday, Seattle will require greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions evaluations for every project large enough to trigger a SEPA review. (Residential projects with four units or less, and commercial projects 4000 square feet or less […]
Consume = use up = unsustainable. Nuff said? Yes, yes, yes, I know, I know, of course it’s a good thing that people are becoming more conscious of the impacts of their purchases. But, call me a curmudgeon (or worse), I just can’t stand marketing verbage like this: “Green Festival, the largest and most authentic […]
[ Boren Ave N., between John St and Harrison St, looking West ] Shown above is the initial concept(pdf) for Amazon’s new headquarters in South Lake Union, to be presented at the Early Design Guidance meeting on April 2. This project owes its existence to a two-block, rezone granted by the City Council last December […]
“Water is the new energy.” So says my architect friend Rob Harrison, as quoted in the April issue of Metropolitan Home magazine. It’s a quip that may seem hyperbolic, or perhaps a little too cute. But not if you ask the United Nations. Expect to be hearing a lot more about “water footprint” in the […]
[ Diagram illustrating proposed affordable housing height bonus ] The process of updating Seattle’s multifamily zoning code has been underway since 2005, the most recent milestone being the environmental determination of non-significance issued on December 7, 2007. The proposed ordinance will be put before the City Council in Spring of 2008. I was recently reminded […]
Remember four or five years ago when everyone was hot for Terminal 46? But the Port of Seattle didn’t want to play, so all we’ve got to show for it are these pretty pictures: [ Nitze-Stagen’s vision for Terminal 46; rendering by William Hook ] [ Rendering from Allied Arts 2004 Waterfront Design Charette ] […]
Construction is about to begin on HomeSight’s 102-unit Pontedera Condominiums and Lofts, rendering above, located at Hiawatha Place and Dearborn St in the Jackson Place neighborhood. Half of the units will be affordable to families earning less than 80% of the area median income, and half will be sold at market rate. The March Jackson […]
This is Frank Gehry’s $2 billion vision for Grand Avenue in downtown LA adjacent to the Disney Concert Hall. The project had been stalled by financing setbacks related to the real estate slowdown, but construction is finally set to begin after $100 million of funding was secured from the Royal family of Dubai. Meanwhile, the […]
Built in 2007, I simply ask the question, why? Unfortunately, this is my generation’s legacy, to surely be looked back upon in disgust. Imagine if at the turn of the century the beautiful neighborhoods that populate Capitol Hill or Queen Anne, as examples, were filled with the abortion of style this house represents. What’s happened? […]
On Tuesday night’s Housing Forum put on by the Seattle Great City Initiative, a panel consisting of Tony To, Charlie Royer, Maria Barrientos, and Sally Clark participated in an often lively discussion on what Seattle needs to do to meet our housing shortages in a sustainable manner (disclaimer: I’m Vice-Chair of the SGCI Steering Committee).  There was some great perspectives […]
