Design Manifestos: Amy Donohue of Bora Architects| Modelo Blog

Design Manifestos: Amy Donohue of Bora Architects

Amy Donohue (Photograph courtesy of Bora Architects)

Amy Donohue, AIA, became a Principal at Bora Architects in Portland, Oregon in 2007. For the last two decades, Amy has focused on designing higher education spaces, performing arts venues, and collaborative work environments. Most recently, she served as the Design Principal for the Shanahan Center at Harvey Mudd College and the Learning Innovation Center at Oregon State University. In addition to her higher education efforts, Amy has led numerous workspace projects for Google and Microsoft. She currently serves on the Board of Literary Arts. Amy holds a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University. Modelo spent some time learning about how Amy joined Bora Architects and about recent projects that represent the firm’s unique approach.

On becoming an architect
I always wanted to be an architect. My mother often tells stories of me going to parties as a five-year-old, coming home to describe the house in detail while talking little of the actual party. While my parents told me about architecture as a career, we did not have any architects in the family or in our group of friends. My interest was driven by a desire to draw and make new places, spurred on by travel with my family and the many different experiences that travel provided. I was keenly aware of the environment around me and constantly thinking of how I could change it.

Microsoft Building (Photograph by Brian Smale courtesy of Bora Architects)

On discovering her voice as an architectural designer
I grew up in Tampa, Florida, one of the older cities in the State and one with a fair amount of interesting architecture from the early 20th century. I attended the University of Florida as an undergraduate, a program heavily focused on design, with eight full semesters of studio as part of the four-year curriculum. We focused on understanding and creating space through making. None of the projects in the early studios were buildings — my professors worked to strip everything we knew about the physical world and take us back to the fundamentals of space, form and material.

After graduating from Florida, I headed to New York and a position with the office of Richard Meier & Partners. The office had a definite language and material vocabulary that was constantly being refined. It was interesting to jump into such a defined architectural language. The focus was on very fine detailing, light and the flow of space — good lessons learned for any architect.

In 1996, I was recruited to work for Nike in Portland, Oregon, as a designer in creating Nike retail spaces. I was given an incredible amount of latitude to design the projects and was able to work with many different designers — not just architects, or landscape architects, but also graphic designers, product designers, environmental designers and exhibit designers. This process expanded my notion of design, pushing me to think aboutarchitecture as creating experiences, not just buildings. Although it was outside of the architectural profession, the experience at Nike was a formative time in my career. It was a place to design with a group of people who approached the problem from different perspectives, teaching me a great deal about design thinking.

Harvey Mudd (Photograph by John Linden courtesy of Bora Architects)

On joining Bora Architects
I was a client of Bora while working at Nike, having hired the firm to partner with us in creating the retail spaces. I appreciated the way Bora approached the work, so much so that when my project was finished, I left Nike and moved to Bora full-time to work on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum. I worked with Bora for six months before heading back to the East Coast and a two-year graduate program in architecture at Princeton University. The Master of Architecture program comprised students from around the world — Hong Kong, Auckland, Athens, Moscow — whose voices offered me a variety of perspectives on architecture and urban space.

Returning to Bora after completing my graduate degree, I split time between my role as Project Designer and a position as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Design at the University of Oregon, where I taught for seven years until I became a principal with the firm in 2007.

On principles the firm adheres to
We are a research based office, digging into each and every parameter of a project and using that information to drive the design. A learning center at Oregon State University is very different than one at Harvey Mudd College or one at the University of Washington. We work to understand the place, the culture and the people involved with the building and wrap design around those ideas.

On her role at Bora
There are six of us who serve as Principals in the firm, responsible for everything from office culture to marketing to leading projects. In addition to winning work and providing more opportunities for the firm, we take seriously our job to make Bora a creative environment where people can do their best work. We make sure people feel supported, that they’re given good feedback and have the right tools throughout the day. Our studio is open, with principals sitting with teams, so that people across the spectrum of experience can participate in and contribute to the design. We host all-office charrettes in order to get perspectives from many different design voices. Often, we are looking for people who do not have experience on a particular project type to give a beginner’s mind approach to the design.

Oregon State University (Photograph by Steve Maylone courtesy of Bora Architects)

On recent projects that represent the firm’s unique approach
We recently completed the Learning Innovation Center (LINC) project at Oregon State University, a general purpose classroom building to serve the 30,000 students on campus. With its population and academic program growth, OSU was in desperate need of seats in learning environments. The registrar had outlined a program including rooms with seating capacities of 600, 400, 300, 200, 100 and 75. While the economics of delivering coursework at the University necessitated these sizes, the faculty insisted they have greater engagement with their students than typical auditorium configurations would allow. OSU is committed to increasing graduation and retention rates for their student body and this project was a way to make that happen. Research shows that student/faculty engagement is a critical factor in a student’s success. So the challenge for the design was how to shift these large classrooms into a more active learning pedagogy.

Our team jumped into an extended research process and began working closely with faculty, hosting a series of pedagogy charrettes where we tried to understand how they hoped to interact with their students. Gathering this data, we created a series of spatial characteristics for active learning classrooms, including visibility, mobility, adaptability and proximity. For the later, we researched the field of proxemics, which revealed the fact that if a faculty member is within 15’ of a student, that student cannot ignore her. A key design principle for the project was to make sure the faculty could get within this “radius of engagement” for each student.

We used these characteristics to develop a collection of classrooms that have never before been done in the country. The LINC has a 600-seat auditorium in the round, where students are never more than eight rows from their professor. Technology surrounds the room, so students can look at one another as well as see their professor, all layered over the information on the screen. A 300-seat version in-the-round places students just five rows from their professor while a parliament classroom hosts 175 seats in a debate style configuration.

The building opened this past fall and it has been a radical change according the both the faculty and students, particularly in terms of the way that they interact, in terms of the learning outcomes, and in terms of the engagement. By looking outside of typical classroom precedents and getting back to the fundamentals of human interaction in a space, we were able to create these new learning environments. We looked to other models — government and TV studio models, for example — at the start of the process. In early design charrettes, we called the 600-seat room the “Phil Donohue” (after the talk show host’s in-the-round studio), making a quick sketch of it to show the OSU faculty. We put it on the wall and the faculty said, “let’s do that!” It went from this initial, somewhat crazy idea to a more fully detailed design. After drawings and testing and full-scale mockups, the space came to fruition. Here we are a couple years later and they’re teaching in it. As an architect, it is exciting to see it go from this somewhat radical idea to a fully capable learning space. Now colleges and universities from across the country are calling Bora and OSU wondering, “how do we do this?”

Google Legal Office (Photograph by Tim Griffith courtesy of Bora Architects)

On her design toolkits
We work in many modes of design, from sketching to computer modeling to fabrication and full scale mock-ups. Obviously when we document the project, we use Revit. Earlier in the design, we heavily rely on Rhino, Grasshopper and occasionally Sketch-Up. The interface between these programs and our model shop is key, with the laser cutter and CNC router at work most often. Exploring the design problem through these many different tools is essential to our process.

On the state of design software
It is amazing what some software can do, especially when it comes to many different team members collaborating on a project. Grasshopper is interesting, although not overly intuitive, but it’s an amazingly powerful tool. I struggle –and I see our staff struggle — with Revit. It’s not a tool for day one. I find that it asks so many questions early in the process, many we simply are not ready to answer in the design. We are often still trying to let ideas get legs and breathe for a little while before the design is locked down. Revit asks a lot of questions early on that might prematurely model something before we’re ready to commit to what it is. Revit is a big, powerful program but it requires a lot of management and customization.

On the future of architecture in the next 5–10 years
There will be a great deal more integration between design, technology and fabrication. In many cases, the architects may become the makers — of surfaces, products, furniture and materials. Architects will work more closely with subcontractors, especially as we work more in the Design Build delivery process, to understand physical limitations of what they’re creating and actually incorporate those parameters into the design brief.

UCSC McHenry Library (Photographs by Chad Ziemendorf courtesy of Bora Architects)

On the future of Bora in the next 5–10 years
In the coming years, you will see more research from Bora — either in conjunction with clients, such as the Geometry of Learning research project we are conducting with OSU, or in design projects that are meant to provoke a different response to a question. We recently completed a design research project for the last remaining empty parcel of land along the Willamette River in downtown Portland, which is currently owned by ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation). We embarked on a pro-bono project to imagine a different future for the site — one which would preserve access to the river, enable residents to use the Willamette for recreational activities, and protect the current maker industry that resides in the neighborhood. We believe it is important to advocate for the best possible public space in our City.

On the technology and fabrication side, we’re working to pull that into every project. We just started a group in our office called LaBORAtory — an exploratory group tasked with pushing the boundaries on how and when to incorporate technology and fabrication methods into our process.

On advice she would give herself
I would tell myself to not be quite as serious or as singular in my design focus. As a younger architect, it is easy to get designer’s block and be frustrated that the right idea is not coming. My advice would be to experiment more; explore ideas for a little bit longer. Bring people in to discuss the design; listen and build on those comments. Find reasons why an idea can happen rather than why it cannot.

Design Manifestos: Brad Prestbo of Sasaki Associates, Inc. | Modelo Blog Series

Brad Prestbo (Photograph courtesy of Sasaki Associates)

Brad Prestbo is a Senior Associate at Sasaki Associates in Watertown, Massachusetts. He is an architect with twenty years of experience working on some of the nation’s most prestigious campuses. A problem-solver with great technical skill, he has been part of several award-winning project teams. As chair of Sasaki’s Technical Resource Group, Brad shares his knowledge of design and detailing with the rest of firm to promote better practices in architecture. Modelo spent some time learning about Brad’s journey through the profession and about his current role at Sasaki.

On becoming an architect
I have been enamored with this profession since I was very young. But of course a young person’s idea of what an architect does is very different from my day-to-day duties now. This profession has such depth and breadth, it would take a lifetime or two to explore every dimension. I’ve been challenged and inspired so much more than what a younger me could ever have anticipated.

I owe my two grandfathers for providing the inspiration and drive toward this profession. Lake was very handy. A quiet man, he taught me about making things with a hands-on approach — which I still value today and use with my students. Oscar’s lesson was to do whatever your were doing to the best of your ability. Whether the task at hand was delivering a speech in class or folding laundry, he wanted me to give it all I had.

In between my junior and senior year in high school, I attended Syracuse University’s college program in architecture for high school students. The Syracuse program was fantastic. Taking real college-level classes, away from home, making lifelong friendships and being totally immersed in this new and exciting world was eye-opening. I was hooked. A few of us received the Citation of Excellence for the class. Afterwards I applied for early-decision to Syracuse and was accepted.

Kit of Parks (Photographs courtesy of Sasaki Associates)

On discovering his voice as a designer
As important as my professors at Syracuse were, my first colleagues at PDRP were extremely influential on my career and who encouraged me to think past the small details of architecture. But nobody was more important than my wife, who was a constant source of encouragement. The project that launched my broader ambitions was Steven Holl’s Simmons Hall at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for which PDRP acted as executive architect. This was an intense project, and led by an amazing team. Working hand-in-hand with Steven’s office was truly inspiring. I can still recall receiving faxes (!) from Holl’s office with sponge prints and updated design direction and the subsequent conversations with colleagues about how best to incorporate them, make them constructible, all the while maintaining overall design integrity. It was an awesome experience. I made the mistake of keeping track of all of the overtime I spent on that project, which was so shocking that I don’t keep track of “time” anymore.

On joining Sasaki Associates
After Simmons Hall finished up, I was starting to feel burnt out and needed a change of pace. A former colleague suggested that I talk to Sasaki, which, at the time, was looking to build up its architecture practice. Working for an office with projects all over the world that touch the lives of more than one billion people makes one consider soberly what you are designing. In school and my early employment, I was solely focused on architectural building projects. Sasaki is an integrated design practice, incorporating disciplines such as urban design, civil engineering, environmental graphic design, landscape architecture and interior design, in addition to building architecture.

But what keeps me at Sasaki in the level of integration of those disciplines. The level of collaboration we achieve fundamentally changes the way each team member thinks about the built environment because the sphere of context is expanding. This forces the team to consider aspects of the built environment differently than through only one discipline’s lens.

On specific principles the firm strives to adhere to
We try to instill an inquisitive approach to our projects, and try to understand the fundamental nature of the problem we are trying to solve. Something along the lines of exploring the “first principles” of a problem, where the problem can be broken down to elemental pieces that require no assumptions. From this baseline, the team begins building up the reasoning to resolve the problem.

For example, when working on a project for Ohio State University, we wanted to use precast concrete panels to clad the project. Conventional thinking would be to use those panels as the environmental barrier system, but this system has an inherent flaw of relying on sealant between panels to maintain the environmental integrity. We didn’t want to recommend this approach to OSU. With “first principles” thinking, we developed a strategy to hang the panels, while creating a drained cavity cladding system, maintaining our air-water-vapor barrier and providing continuous insulation. Building Design and Construction magazine honored the approach in their “Great Solutions” series.

On his role at Sasaki Associates
I practice at the intersection of art and building science, which combine in an architectural alchemy that resolves clients’ needs and embraces the surrounding context. One side of me is obsessed by technique and detail. The other is spontaneous, adaptive, and wary of getting bogged down with complicated processes. This duality manifests in being a practicing architect who works on a variety of project types, disciplines and scales; helping make people successful — from emerging professionals to seasoned veterans — through teaching, product and service development, and mentorship; and in leading a cross-disciplinary group of “pirates” doing epic stuff in our Technical Resource Group (TRG).

Helping to found, and having been part of TRG for a decade, I now act as a mentor to the next generation of thinkers and makers. TRG started off as a small group that wanted to raise Sasaki’s profile through technical proficiency.

On projects that represent the firm’s unique approach
Today, simultaneous revolutions of mobility, connectivity, and identity are changing our experience of work and, along with it, our relationship to place. At Sasaki, we harness this power to make human hopes and dreams into sites and structures. This has been our core tenet since day one. In every project, new possibility is translated into new action. We think beyond the building, beyond the site, beyond the grid, to design for people and for society.

For us, that action is making in our “FabLab”, which represents much more than having a single space to develop prototypes or print specific designs — it is a mindset that brings our many disciplines together through hands-on, collaborative working processes and it is a way of thinking about the possibilities of project implementation of a project regardless of its scale.

Kit of Parks (Photographs courtesy of Sasaki Associates)

An example of success for this kind of proposition deals with the prototyping of building solutions for a model Master Plan for one of our clients. We developed a masterplan as part of the institution’s initiative of unveiling a new teaching methodology for their entire campus system that would overhaul not only their current pedagogical models but also their spatial ones. As part of the project, we developed a toolkit of solutions or ready made components — classrooms, offices, collaborative work areas, social spaces, that could be assembled in a number of iterations to create a campus and could also be produced as prefabricated components. The first building of this type is currently being built on their main campus — this building is one part conventional building (foundations, basement) and one part prefab components that are brought to site and assembled.

KIT OF PARKS
In the Kit-of-Parks project developed at ABX last year, in partnership with the ASLA, we created an instant park made out of modular elements transportable via bicycle. This Instant pop-up space was really successful as part of the exhibit. The premise behind it was to develop a prototype of landscape and urban furniture elements at its minimal expression that can be transported leaving no footprint behind, a temporary site specific, but also nomadic condition.

CHAPEL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The new chapel at Sacred Heart University serves as a beacon for spiritual life on campus. It has a striking presence on the new main quadrangle. The chapel is an important crossroads in the heart of the campus, midway between the academic world and the athletic and residential life facilities on the hill.

Sacred Heart University Chapel of the Holy Spirit (Photographs by Robert Benson courtesy of Sasaki Associates)

Developing prototypes were integral to the success of this project. We designed and built numerous prototypes, at different scales, allowing us to test materials, connections, comfort, and other factors. It was also a great way to engage the client in the design process, especially for seating elements. Building the pipe-organ scrim would not have been possible without the use of prototypes — the weaving process of each stave lead to several innovations in how to construct it.

On his design toolkit
We are in the midst of a very special cultural moment that’s been created by a convergence of several factors. The first is an exponential increase in computer processing power, which would have been unthinkable a decade ago, enables us to compute vastly complicated data sets. For example, we now run optimization and generative simulations consisting of several hundreds of thousands of iterations — using desktop computers, this would take weeks, but with a cloud service, it can be completed in a few hours. The second is immediate access to new fabrication materials and tools; not only 3D printing, but rapid full-scale manufacturing — advances in material science, especially heterogeneous composites which greatly outperform homogeneous materials used in conjunction with increased gantry sizes will open the floodgates of innovation. And the third is a general paradigm shift — in architecture schools and in practices — towards dabbling, tinkering, and greater risk-taking. This convergence means that design firms have a lot more freedom and ability to imagine high performance custom solutions, made from the most appropriate materials for that unique design, all done outside conventional delivery techniques.

Today, Sasaki maintains a dedicated “FabLab” to explore programs for office projects as well as non-billable work. Initially conceived as a lab, it has grown and permeated across the entire office space, rendering the whole office as one makerspace. We see it as one and the same as the innovation laboratory that is the office where every space (workspace, communal, recreational or other) can be subject for experimentation, such as testing different non-impervious paving materials in the parking lot, making our terrace into an urban farm, and converting our assembly spaces into virtual reality labs.

We wanted to take this same internal excitement about making and share it with the broader design community. Earlier this year, and in conjunction with the Boston Society of Architects, we co-founded MakeTANK. MakeTANK is a new committee which explores making and how to bring it back into the design process. To show off our explorations, we designed and built a demonstration pavilion to be on display at this year’s ArchitectureBoston Expo.

On the state of design software today
In my 20 or so years in this profession, I’ve never been as excited about our future as I am now. We are at a convergence of increased information sharing and software interoperability coupled with access to almost unlimited processing power and digital storage. Additionally the incorporation of new fabrication technology and techniques will transform the way we practice architecture.

Software has made tremendous advances from the early days of AutoCAD, but there is still so much more development to be done. The industry standard software packages are still at a larval stage of their development, the promise of BIM has not materialized, and practitioners who are using BIM software typically are using it for “electronic drafting.”

Today, software interoperability is clumsy at best. This includes getting different software packages talking with each other, and to different hardware. For example, have you ever tried to 3D print a version of your project from your industry standard BIM software? It’s almost better to rebuild it in a different software all together. We were so fed up with the process, we created our own utilizing voxels, then printing — super high resolution with an automated process that take minutes instead of hours.

Sacred Heart University Chapel of the Holy Spirit (Photographs by Robert Benson courtesy of Sasaki Associates)

We are really excited about where computational / generative design (ability to iterate and optimize) and advanced building performance analysis and data visualization (breaking down the vacuum of a digital environment and grounding it back in the analog via programmed material behavior, physics engines, fluid dynamics etc) will take us.

On the future of architecture in the next 5–10 years
1. We are departing from a model in which architecture is commodified and our focus is on a discrete structure or site. Instead, we are becoming social problem-solvers, actively understanding and shaping cultural, environmental, and economic spheres. And as problem-solvers, one of the solutions we can provide is built work. We need to design for solutions through collaboration and networking, within the context of our built and unbuilt environments, through disruptive innovation. The future of our profession relies on us transitioning from narrow technical experts to broad social thinkers and doers.

2. The profession must change in a few different ways. It’s critical that we empower our designers with any tools they may need. Implicit in the conversation around ‘MAKING’ is the significant impact of “DOING”. It’s really an incredibly empowering thing to put any tool, let alone a powerful physical tool, in the hands of a motivated problem-solver. It does something to the confidence and spirit, and this fosters a general culture of serious doers. Making will play an important part in our evolving practice through:

3. A return to building craft by way of alternative production means, where the typical boundaries between designer and fabricator, from conception to execution, are blurred or redefined. Design and fabrication optimized through the digital interface, producing feedback loops and corrective/editing mechanisms that accelerate and augment the iterative possibilities of those designs while providing several verification instances along the design process. Rapid prototyping and rationalization of custom materials, building elements or assembly create economies of scale and cost while allowing the mass production / fabrication / installation of tailor-made design solutions
A context where design thinking permeates all forms of education, enterprise and production, and 3-D printing allows anybody to experiment with design and fabrication, “design to build” becomes the norm.

4. The industry also needs to expand beyond our conventional fee-for-labor business model and be more entrepreneurial by seeking other revenue streams, such as product design, software development, acting as an incubator, and taking equity stakes in projects.

On the future of Sasaki Associates in the next 5–10 years
The conventional fee-for-labor architectural business model is dead. We are developing alternative business models which will allow us to deliver design excellence while creating additional revenue streams.

We are using these new business models to call into question every aspect of how we design, buy, make, move, and sells goods. We are prototyping and manufacturing building components that could be commercially available in different ways — for example, direct to consumer products via interfaces that allow them to specify different configurations. Given all the potential efficiencies of a highly integrated digital fabrication system, business process management may become the most important capability.

On advice he would give himself
Besides investing in Apple stock? I would tell younger me to help others be successful. I wish I learned this much earlier in my career. Instead of being limited to the project in front of me, I look for ways to help colleagues succeed at whatever they are doing. I think this is much more rewarding.

Also, it’s easy to get caught up in chasing your dreams and ambitions, of being fully immersed in work that you love and brings such joy to yourself. Not everything has to be perfect. With apologies to Grandpa Oscar, there is a point where it is good enough. “Good enough” should not be seen as a negative, or somehow not meeting goals that you have set, or something less than what it should be. “Good enough” is just the right amount of quality and excellence to more than satisfy your project’s needs.

Finally: don’t miss date night with your wife because of a deadline. Find joy outside of work, and you will do better at your work.

Contributors: Pablo Savid, Colin Booth

UNBUILT: inSPIRE REVOLUTION

UNBUILT: inSPIRE REVOLUTION

Alexander Bahr
Master of Architecture Candidate 2018
PennDesign, University of Pennsylvania


This project sets out to explore how graphic design can be used in architecture as a method for transmitting an specific message. In doing this, the project looks to validate the writings of Hans Hollein in Everything is Architecture in which he explains that architecture, as an extension of the human sphere, is a medium of communication that can project an specific cultural and metaphysical expression.

The design is a performing arts center that takes inspiration from existing spires in Philadelphia, specifically the graphic uniqueness of the pinnacle representing a certain neighborhood or group. Through a catalog of existing spire iconography, new combinations and mixed perceptions inform the new architectural geometry and works towards a new architecture informed by historical precedent, and not toward ambiguity. Through this process of objectifying an architectural graphic, the project came to understand that an architectural object alone does not hold full autonomy to the public perception of architecture. Only when an object is placed in an environment ready to receive it can the public correctly perceive the intended content.

Through advanced experimentation of graphic styles, architectural drawing techniques and rendering processes, the project began to telegraph architectural information through the use of a new graphic language. Shades of Magenta and Cyan and along with new hatches and patterns start to infer an idea of possible materiality and panelization. The project was deeply sensitive to the transmittance of a graphic silhouette and high graphic as a method of relaying a secondary graphic information to the visitor. As a result, methods of chopping and slicing the architectural form was done to create aperture and embed additional 2D graphic information into the architecture.

Archelectic: Pauhu Pavilion By Geometria Architecture Ltd

Archelectic: Pauhu Pavilion By Geometria Architecture Ltd

GEOMETRIA is an innovative architecture office and consultancy, working with the cutting edge of digital design methods.
The firm specializes in algorithm aided architectural design, precision parametric modeling, and the optimization and digital fabrication of complex geometries.


Pauhu pavilion and open stage realized mainly through voluntary work as a part of Tampere Architecture Week, in Finland. It is an annual event about architecture and urban planning, intended to add interest and discussion about the built environment. The theme in 2015, Interaction, aimed to increase discussion between citizens themselves and between architects and citizens.

The pavilion is an open stage for performances and in-promptu presentations. The inner form and structure frames the performer, also offering acoustical benefits. The form is inspired by the intricate plywood sculptures of the legendary Finnish sculptor Tapio Wirkkala. It is a simple, yet clever design, forming a seemingly doubly curved surface out of straight, flat and rectangular elements.

As a joint venture by professionals, students and corporate sponsors, the pavilion was constructed with a minimum budget and with a tight construction schedule. And as the location of the pavilion in the middle of the city’s main street makes it accessible and visible to citizens, at the same time it increases possibilities for vandalism.

During the design, the team had to tackle the questions of how to create a visually appealing, yet sturdy stage with limited time, almost non-existing budget and with limited possibilities for digital fabrication. Working tightly together with the material providers and manufacturers, they found solutions that integrate well into their fabrication capabilities and allowed us to concentrate on finding the best design solution within the given bounds.

The team used of parametric modeling as part of the digital design process in order to create the form, optimize the material usage and prepare material for fabrication and construction. The ability to quickly apply changes in the accurate 3D-model of the pavilion made it possible to stay in the tight schedule. Even through unexpected changes, such as when the city decided to add a new bike lane next to the road, shifting the location and allowed size of the pavilion in the middle of the design phase.

The pavilion is expressed through contrasts, such as the inner smooth surface against the textures cubic form, or the warmness of the spruce plywood against the black facades. The space is seemingly carved out of a solid block of rough timber, clad clad with a three-dimensional wood texture. The structured paneling is a new product innovation and development together with Jukola Industries. The texture invites passers-by to touch and feel the unusual material. The appearance light and shadows on the dark façade lives with the rhythm of the day and weather conditions.

The construction of the pavilion took eight days from a group of architecture students, and it was built off-site and brought to location on a truck. The pavilion is a temporary construction, scheduled to remain in its location until the end of 2016 as part of the city’s project to liven up one of the central streets of Tampere.

PROJECT CREDITS:
roject coordinator: Henri Käpynen
Architectural design: Toni Österlund (Geometria), Lisa Voigtländer
Tampere Architecture Week: Jon Thureson, Tuomo Joensuu, Saana Karala, Henri Käpynen
Lighting Design: Heini Ylijoki (Granlund)
Construction Specialist: Harri Seelbach (Teeri-Kolmio)
Electrics: Antti Pesonen (Kauppahuone Harju)

Students: Audrey Daudon, Andrew Davis, Lauri Heino, Aapo Huotarinen, Juuso Iivonen, Kasmir Jolma, Danuta Kiedrowska, Jenni Kinnunen, Magdalena Klimczak, Adrienne Marxreiter, Leonardo Morais, Petra Moravcová, Mari-Sohvi Miettinen, Crystal Nutsch, Martina Pozarova, Paloma Sánches, Heidi Sumkin, Mikko Toivanen, Ana Trigureiro, Manon Vanel, Lassi Viitanen

Archelectic: AmphibianArc / Nonchi Wang

Archelectic: AmphibianArc / Nonchi Wang

This article has been planned for awhile. Back in late 2014 I wrote Nonchi Wang, the Founder and Design Principal of AmphibianArc, an email about digitizing his early work “Monument to Copernicus.” This was when we first launched the Modelo alpha prototype and I wanted to share a website with a live 3D model of his project. His response was:

“Qi, that sounds fun. I always like to be part of the new technological developments, one of which your company is making significant contribution to. I am honored that you chose to use our projects to showcase the new technology. Let’s do it.” — Nonchi

However, we were unable to find the digital model of it. The physical model was made back in 1993 and they had digitized it a long time ago. Unfortunately, we gave up.

Monument to Copernicus

One year later, a little while after we started our Design Manifestos interview series, I reached out to Nonchi again to invite him to participate. I didn’t speak with Nonchi directly, but instead I spoke with his VP Luoya and she accepted the interview on his behalf. Luoya knew Nonchi was having some health-related situations, but later came to find it was cancer.

Several weeks after this, I got very upsetting news when I saw a friend’s post on social media. Nonchi had passed away.

Nonchi has been a very good friend and mentor of mine. Through my short period of time working with him, I got to know and understand him a lot. I still remember the first day when I walked into the office. I saw two amazing hand drawings of this curvy-complex-intriguing building, which is the “Monument to Copernicus.” I stood in front of them and stared at it for minutes. Nonchi came over and said: “That was one of my earliest works back in 1993.”

As someone who is familiar with the recent architectural history and who is focused intensively on digital design tools, I know what it means to design something like that in that period of time. My first thought was, “he is a pioneer,” and my second thought was, “but how come I didn’t know him at all?”

Later on, I also figured out he designed the “Beijing Planetarium” which was built in 2001. At the time it was built, it was the most technologically and conceptually advanced building in China. This made me even more curious when I thought about how his exposure and reputation weren’t exactly well-known.

Since I haven’t worked with him for a long period of time, I really can’t come to a conclusion why he wasn’t that well-known, but I think definitely the lack of general marketing and social presence contribute a lot to it. I would describe Nonchi as a humble and quiet person with crazy ideas, who also has the talent to achieve them.

I used to work until pretty late in the office (normally 3am, the latest 4:30am) and Nonchi always left after I did. We used to joke that he is a slave driver, but he would argue back that he is a slave himself, given the fact he worked probably harder than most of us.

After my first project there, we had a long discussion about technology, design and career. At the end of the conversation he told me,“I bought a Porsche recently, I got it not because I like sports cars, but because I want to let everyone know that a hard-working, dedicated architect can make himself a great living”.

A couple months ago, I brought the idea up to Nonchi’s wife Meiling about finishing what I’ve discussed with Nonchi before (publishing a post like this). She agreed and signed off on the usage of all Nonchi’s work. Unfortunately, this post should have happened earlier. I would like to use this as a chance to salute to his dedication to this field, and his belief that good design is good business.

Background:

amphibian: Amphibians (class Amphibia, from Amphi- meaning “on both sides” and -bios meaning “life”), such as frogs, salamanders, and caecilians, are ectothermic (or cold-blooded) animals that metamorphose from a juvenile water-breathing form, either to an adult air-breathing form, or to a paedomorph that retains some juvenile characteristics. Mudpuppies, for example, retain juvenile gills in adulthood.

Amphibian
In 1992, Nonchi Wang, the founder of amphibianArc, received an Honorable Mention in the NARA/TOTO World Architecture Triennale. The theme of this conceptual competition was the “Symbiosis of History and the Future”. The jury consisted of Toyo Ito, Kisho Kurokawa and Kenneth Frampton. Except for the competition theme and encouragement from the jury to break boundaries, no program or requirements were given.

Architecture of the Space Machine

Nonchi Wang’s winning entry depicts a spaceship traveling in deep space. Space exploration, this entry argues, is humanity’s collective destiny and, at the same time, a recurrence of its ancestors’ evolutionary venture from sea to land. While fulfilling its destiny by going into space, humanity is making a leap from terrestrial species into extraterrestrial species. Our ancestor had made a similar evolutionary leap from marine species to terrestrial species millions years ago. Space travel is both an act of moving towards humanity’s unknown future and an act of reliving its history, therefore a symbiosis of history and the future.

The urge of entering the unknown territory has driven humanity from water to land millions years ago and from land to space in our time. In the scale of geological time, humanity has been living as amphibians — a life form living on one side of the coastal line, or the skyline, with its origin deeply rooted on the other side.

Arc
Arc, being a mere segment of a circle, signifies inherent partiality of all ideas or forms of knowledge. It is a symbol of humility.

amphibianArc
amphibianArc, founded in 1992, represents a philosophy of design and architecture that is informed by the idea of evolution in the formation of human spirit and habitation.

Projects:

Beijing Planetarium
Beijing, China 25,000 sq m 2001 Built

The Beijing Planetarium is a commission amphibianArc won in June 2001 in a multi-phased, international design competition. The winning scheme encompasses 25,000 sqm, including a 200-seat digital planetarium, two observatories, a 150-seat IMAX theater, a 48-seat IWERK theater, 7,000 sqm of exhibition space, and classroom and administration facilities.
The Beijing Planetarium has received the Zian Tien Yo Award (China, 2006), the AIA/LA Design Award (Los Angeles, 2006), and the China National Creative Architecture Award (China, 2009).

Wonder Mall
Shijiazhuang, China 170,000 sq m 2005 Built

This mixed-use development in Shijiazhuang, China combines 60,000 sqm of retail, 30,000 sqm of office space, a 35,000 sqm hotel, and 45,000 sqm of condominiums.

While fashion is ever-changing and multiple in expressions, Wonder Mall strives to embody the essence of fashion by articulating fashion as an act of wearing and accessorizing oneself. The architecture of Wonder Mall takes place at the building surface where the naked curtain wall as body skin is covered with weaves of metal louvers, the prêt-à-porter of architecture.

Caligraphy In Space
Shanghai, China 616 sq m 2009 — Present Under Construction

Calligraphy in Space is located in Nanhui District, Shanghai. Three-dimensional calligraphy is the key to the design. The concept is inspired by the natural and smooth writing of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Situated among houses styled in a Southern California vernacular, the architecture stands out in strong contrast to its context and signifies the client’s unique taste and character.

Hanhai Dongfeng Sales Center
Zhengzhou, Henan, China 1200 sqm 2014

Located at the intersection of Dongfeng Road and Fung Hing Road, this temporary building serves as the Sales Center for the Dongfeng Shopping Mall which will be completed in 2020.

Our idea of an ideal Shopping Mall architecture- a vibrant “urban container” — finds its continuation in form and style in this contemporary building. As a pilot structure to the shopping mall, the Sales Center blends harmoniously with the future context of the surroundings. The design is characterized by its limpidness and visual permeability; double-heighted curtain wall wrapped around by clean organic forms made of GFRC.

The building mimics the iconic design of the Dongfeng Shopping Mall project, which the building alone function as an advertisement to the potential shopping center tenants. The main lobby is surrounded with abundance of glazing that provides a wealth of natural light throughout the area. This provides a perfect setting for interior landscape and open up the building towards the city’s major traffic thoroughfare as a sign of welcome. The Dongfeng architectural model will be placed in the center of the lobby so that the potential clients will have an unobstructed 360 degree visual accessibility. The glass wall behind the reception desk not only will be used as a partition wall but also as a backdrop to display project animation to their future occupants.

Once built, this building will be a re-inventing of communication place which generates an immersive experience in Northwest Zhengzhou.

Zoomlion Headquarters International Plaza — Single Tower
Changsha, China 344,250 sq m 2012

This scheme uses the multi-level and multi-center space layout strategy, achieving the goal of multi-function and multi-target. 280 m ultra high rise single tower as the highest point of the massing, the scheme proposes 5 towers of 80–100 m and a podium to form an enclosed space. The structure of the conference facilities falls back on the 199.2 m ultra-high tower, which represents the founding year of 1992 of Zoomlion. A water feature suspended at the vertical midpoint of the tower represents the spiritual and architectural center of the complex. The most visible feature in the scheme is the “seven spacecraft” — seven pods representing the seven founders of Zoomlion.

Design Manifestos: Tom Nelson of BAR Architects

Design Manifestos: Tom Nelson of BAR Architects

Tom Nelson (Photograph courtesy of BAR Architects)

Tom Nelson is a Senior Associate at BAR Architects in San Francisco, California and a LEED Fellow with 30 years of professional architectural experience. His focus is on highly sustainably designed major projects for various higher education clients, cultural institutions and developers. Tom helped co-found the Los Angeles Chapter of the USGBC, and represents BAR as one of 50 firms in the US asked to participate in the A+D Sustainable Design Leaders Group.

As an experienced lead project designer, Tom pursues an architectural aesthetic that is bio-climatically responsive and creates humane space which is authentic in its context. He embraces technology and how, particularly the intersection of digital analysis and sustainable design, can enable more informed decision making early in the design process. Tom’s recent research has been focused on healthy building materials, identifying those which are appropriate for their use, have the least negative impact on the environment and human health, and are derived and manufactured in socially responsible ways. Modelo spent some time learning about Tom’s inspirations and current role at BAR Architects.

On becoming an architect
I have always loved to draw. Although I did not have an architectural influence as a child, there wasn’t an architect for 50 miles; I drew, painted, photographed and made prints of whatever I came across. I had a mentor, my high school art teacher who encouraged me to pursue art, which I did during my first year in college. My older brother had completed a fine arts degree a few years earlier. He was and is very talented, but upon graduation his interests went in a different direction. This experience left my father (the funder of my education) with an impression that an arts education would not be the best course. So I was given a choice; to follow my other older brother, the engineer or find something else that would provide a living wage after graduation. I chose architecture which at the time seemed the best sort of compromise — it would satisfy my desire for artistic expression and at least has kept me from living in a cold-water flat. Looking back, it was no compromise at all. The technical and aesthetic challenges have made it a lifelong learning experience and the rent has always gotten paid.

Technology fascinated me even before I knew what it meant to be an early adopter. I am always seeking out the newest thing, needing to understand how it works. I grew up around cars and trucks and learned mechanics almost through osmosis. All of these experiences shaped how I have grown in the profession. I put myself in the position to understand computers in the early 1980’s as they were just coming into use in firms. The computer is still the main tool I use and I continue to seek out the best (and often the newest) technologies to incorporate into my design process.

Law Winery (Photographs courtesy of Doug Dun/ Bar Architects)

On discovering his voice as an architect
Early in my career I worked for large firms because I understood that I needed to gain the experience of putting a building together before designing one. I felt that large firms would give me access to the most varied types and scales and would provide the broadest experience. I was right about that, but finding my voice took longer than I expected. It started to happen with the introduction of sustainable design principles. I had a desire to base my designs on some fundamental meaning and purpose that rose beyond the financial success of the project.

It wasn’t until I was asked to be a sustainable design advocate in 1997 while at HOK’s LA office that I began to understand how to create meaning and purpose through the designs by allowing the work to be more than shelter or workspace and have a relationship with the environment. I was influenced by a number of people within HOK, like Bill O’Dell and Sandy Mendler who took on sustainable design at large scale very early in the movement. Their book “HOK’s Guidebook to Sustainable Design” caused a ripple of change though the industry. I was fortunate to contribute a case study of a straw bale office building in the 2nd Edition. The argument they made about the environmental degradation caused by buildings was so compelling that there was no denying that the profession had to respond by changing how buildings are designed and to base design on a climatic response, careful material choices, building less and using less. I thought of it as essentialism.

These ideas were reinforced by timely encounters with people like Paul Hawken and Jenine Benyus. Paul Hawken left me with a new way to look at commercial enterprise in the “Ecology of Commerce” and Jenine opened the possibilities of “Biomimicry” and how buildings can learn from and use natural systems. Jenine recommended an obscure book to me titled “The Extended Organism” the thesis of which was the idea that colonies of termites are in fact a single organism, demonstrated by the unified activities of these small blind insects maintaining their mounds with tremendously complex pathways and passive ventilation systems all while farming their own fungus gardens at the base of the mound which also functioned as the heat source for the community — a truly integrated design. It gave me hope for mankind. Rudofsky’s books “Architecture without Architects” and “Prodigious Builders” were very influential to me. They provided an understanding of how indigenous people responded to their environment with the technology they had and created beautiful authentic structures.

I always begin the design of a project with a natural principal like the buoyancy of air or some other law of thermodynamics as the form driver. The intention is to make a place for people and connect them to that place. I find that biophilic responses are real motivating factors for people to feel comfort and a sense of connection to the place.

Law Winery (Photographs courtesy of Doug Dun/ Bar Architects)

On joining BAR Architects
Before joining BAR I was a lead designer and principal with Mithun in Seattle. I was with the firm for 9 years. A combination of a change in the project types Mithun was focused on and my own desire to leave the Pacific Northwest made me feel it was time to make a change. I had tried to settle in San Francisco at the outset of my career, but the economy at the time prevented it. This time it cooperated. I knew of BAR from their long reputation for great design in the Bay Area. When I met the leadership of BAR, I knew that these were people that I could work with and be a part of the firm’s continued growth. We had a common interest in producing great design and they were interested in increasing their capabilities in sustainable practices and digital technology. I was also interested in sharing the experience that I had gained and to use it on building types that I was not yet familiar with doing so. Those opportunities were presented by BAR.

Much of my career has been focused on Higher Education projects and at BAR I help lead the Higher Ed practice, but in keeping with my generalist roots, I participate in many project types in the office.

I had some experience in housing — the building type that currently makes up a majority of BAR’s work, but mastering a building type takes time. Fortunately there are a number of people in the firm who have made it their life’s work so there is no shortage of project examples and expert advice.

The main thing that has caused change is in learning how to approach developer driven housing project as high performance buildings. Most of the multi-family projects the firm takes on are urban infill projects. These projects present particular challenges. Many have only one exposed façade and are on sites that have a predetermined primary orientation. Usually, locating the building on the site would be a critical factor in building performance. Treatment of the building skin becomes a much more important effort. Another important element of high performance design is calculating the savings from energy savings and showing the payback to the owner in the discussion about capital investment in energy efficiency measures. Typically in developer financed projects in California, utility charges must be passed through to the tenants, so a cost savings for the developer or owner cannot be used to justify this investment. An argument can be made that the project may lease faster and have a higher valuation and this can lead to capital investment. Other approaches that may be appealing to developers are related to cost savings through faster construction schedules. This leads to research on different construction types such as prefabrication and cross laminated timber construction, both of which are highly sustainable while providing cost incentives to the developer.

Law Winery (Photographs courtesy of Doug Dun/ Bar Architects)

On specific principles he strives to adhere to
Since the built environment has such a tremendous effect on the natural environment, I find the phrase “first do no harm” inspirational. As Bill McDonnough has said, we can’t just do less bad, we must do good. Our designs should attempt to be restorative, not just sustainable. I try to set the bar for building performance very high by using the Living Building Challenge imperatives as project goals even if they may not be achieved, aspirational goals are essential. Buildings should be bio-climatically responsive, create humane spaces, and be contextually appropriate. I always start with passive design principles with the intention of reducing the energy, water and material uses. As much as possible the building alone should do the work of maintaining a comfortable and healthy indoor environment through its orientation, shading, envelope insulation, without relying on mechanical systems.

On his role at BAR Architects
I lead the design efforts of different project types and help influence design overall. My primary responsibility is for Higher Education projects, but I enjoy working on any other project type as well, such as mixed use, housing, and civic projects. Because of my long experience with using technology in architecture, I also help lead our digital design group. This group investigates software and hardware, creates standards for their use, and determines training needs.

On projects that represent the firm’s unique approach
Our process is more integrative. We employ dialogue with people and technology. Our clients and consultants are critical members of the design team. This approach is essential to the integration of Architecture; Site/landscape, building interiors and systems. Technology is integrated into our process to assist our thought, test concepts and encourage us to push further and challenge ourselves. Each project is approached without any preconceived notion of a particular style. The site context, program requirements, climate, and budget are all fundamental drivers of the design. Once the team gains an understanding of these, the iterative process begins with many ideas explored, and tested. The desired result is a balanced approach that can be represented by a clear diagram — an arrangement that is easily understood, efficiently accommodate all of the project requirements and result in the creation of spaces and places that can lift the human spirit.

Law Winery (Photographs courtesy of Doug Dun/ Bar Architects)

Law Winery, Paso Robles, CA
The project is a contemporary expression of a California working ranch that facilitates and demonstrates an efficient winemaking process while taking full advantage of its environs. Nestled into the hillside, this multi-level 23,778 square feet. winery fully engages visitors with a compelling tasting environment and showcases panoramic views of the estate’s coastal vineyards and topography.

Conceived to showcase the wines of this new, estate-grown brand, the winery features a production facility and tasting room that highlight the fractured shale geology of the hillside site, the climatic influences of sun and wind and the functional considerations of the winemaking process. Inspired by traditional agrarian compounds of the western United States, the design enables each element of the process to be expressed as a simple, distinct, and function-driven building form. The arrangement and connection of these core operational elements creates outdoor “rooms” providing programmed exterior work areas and places for visitors to relax and enjoy the views.

Creating a facility expressive of the winemaking philosophy was a primary design objective. The brand focuses on conveying the unique “terroir” through hand-crafted wines made with organically farmed fruit, passive management of the vineyard and gravity flow production processes. These objectives supported a design that intimately connects the building to the site and utilizes locally-sourced, durable materials to provide a healthy, long-lasting work environment.

Functional work-flow is organized to simplify the grape handling and winemaking process, allowing minimal intervention in the natural process and product. Equally important and reflecting the owners’ desire for a clean and contemporary style, the design provides visitors a refined, elegant and welcoming wine-tasting experience that captures the panoramic views of the estate’s vineyard to the north.

Connection to site and environs: The property’s slopes and topography were thoroughly studied to optimize the solar exposure, capture views and respond to local wind patterns. Building elements screen outdoor areas from the typical westerly afternoon wind. The visitor tasting room is positioned just south and below the site’s ridgeline, utilizing the natural topography to shield views of the buildings from a nearby road, while still presenting visitors an extraordinary 270-degree panorama and respecting the county’s ridgeline development restrictions. All of the wine storage and aging activities are located in subterranean rooms benched into the hillside. This location also provides protection and natural insulation from the hot summer days. The design approach not only minimizes the apparent size of the facility, but also allows exterior visitor parking within a courtyard that is contained on three sides by landscaped terrace or building walls.

A wine-tasting experience for all the senses: As guests arrive in the gravel-paved auto court, the Corten entry wall intentionally announces that a large portion of the facility was “cleft out” of the natural land-form. The small, cave-like entry door, recessed deep into the wall surface, hints at the subterranean barrel storage beyond and highlights the contrast between the solid and void that visitors will experience once they climb — via either the interior or exterior stairs– to the glass jewel-box tasting room twenty feet above. Surrounded on three sides by floor-to-ceiling glass and large sliding doors, which can remain open during a majority of the year, the simple but elegant tasting room embraces the casual comfort of a living room and offers indoor/outdoor terraces for a variety of entertaining options. Shaded by large roof overhangs, these areas heighten the connection to the surrounding landscape and provide year-round flexibility without costly indoor, conditioned space.

Creating efficient and healthy work environments: All production areas except the barrel storage rooms (where UV exposure is detrimental to the wine) have ample natural light, reducing the need for artificial illumination during normal work hours. Transfers of juice between crush, fermentation and aging areas utilize simple gravity flow, minimizing the need for electric pumps. State-of-the-art concrete fermentors provide a high thermal mass container, moderating temperature swings by absorbing heat generated during the conversion of sugar to alcohol. Within the large production spaces, high and low wall louvers allow exhausting of harmful CO2 gases produced during fermentation and passive night cooling of the spaces during most of the year.

Shaping the building to save energy: Building forms are organized to shade glazing from summer solar gain and admit warming winter sun. The roof shape is tuned for daylighting interior spaces. High performance low-e glazing insulates the interior and maximizes views and connection to nature. Roofs are oriented for PV production, with infrastructure in place for future plug-in arrays. The mass of the concrete structure works to exhaust heat using nighttime ventilation air and pre-cool the spaces. The barrel storage rooms are located below grade, harnessing the “Thermos Bottle” effect used to super-insulate the space and reduce energy use.

Extending the usefulness of water: Sloped roofs channel rainwater to a buried 15,000-gallon cistern, where it is stored and reused for landscape irrigation. A subsurface bioreactor recycles all winery process water for vineyard irrigation. Flat areas of green roof slow stormwater and allow evapotranspiration. Impervious paving is minimized. Xeriscape eliminates the need for ornamental irrigation. In total, these water conservation strategies save an estimated 135,000 gallons per year.

Employing a material reduction strategy: Building materials were selected for durability and appearance and many were employed in their natural state as the finished surface. The palette consists primarily of cast-in-place concrete — both board-formed and smooth surface, natural Corten steel cladding, painted and galvanized steel structural framing, corrugated metal siding, heavy dash, integral color exterior stucco, interior veneer plaster and standing seam metal roof. This integrated, sustainable and site-responsive approach ties the project to its surroundings and to its function, while creating a humane and healthy place for people to work, gather and appreciate the process of making and enjoying wine.

Uscf ØeMission Bay HOUSING (Drawings courtesy of BAR Architects)

UCSFNet Zero Student Housing, San Francisco, CA
Our submission of a net zero student housing community garnered the Special Recognition Award at the 2015 Architecture at Zero design competition, presented by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC). In addition to creating a net zero facility for a specific site at UCSF, other requirements included a minimum requirement of 525 units and 775 beds as well as 19,500 sf community & support spaces, 18,000 sf Child Care and 1,500 sf UCSF Police Station.

Siting the buildings with a north-south orientation was deliberate, albeit unconventional. To achieve net zero performance, consideration of building orientation is important, but must be balanced with daylight access and solar control. For residential uses, an east-west orientation would limit direct access to daylight for nearly half of the occupants.

The ØeMission Bay design response lifts the massing, leveraging opportunities to link major green spaces to the north and south, and encourages street level pedestrian flow. Air currents across the site are directed up into the courts and light wells. The facade shading strategy is born of solar insolation analysis. Northwest and southwest facade scrims are shaped by the intensity of the annual solar radiation striking the facade. The opacity of the translucent scrim, directly proportional to the insolation intensity, allows for maximum window to wall ratios while minimizing solar gain. Smaller openings on the eastern facades are designed to reduce thermal loads. In addition, hybrid PV/solar thermal array further shades the facades and light wells.

All living units allow natural ventilation by cracking open the traditional double loaded corridor plan and introducing semi-enclosed light wells. Operable windows on opposing sides of the unit allow free cross flow of air. Light wells act as thermal chimneys, inducing convection currents upward, “pulling” air through the units. Heating is provided through high efficiency air-source heat pumps interconnected with the solar thermal panels on the roof, all of which combine to provide a very low energy solution. The podium is heated and cooled via in-slab radiant conditioning supplied by heat pumps for increased occupant comfort.

Uscf ØeMission Bay HOUSING (Drawings courtesy of BAR Architects)

Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, Culpeper, Virginia
The project represents the adaptive reuse of an outmoded Cold War facility into the world’s largest archival and conservation center for audio-visual media. Through careful consideration of site, architecture, and ecological factors, the design integrates buildings into the native topography and utilizes green roofs, porous paving, passive solar planting, and other sustainable techniques to create a unique project that is finely tuned to its purpose and setting.

Background and Scope:
The facility is the new home for the Library of Congress’s Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Collections. The 400,000-square foot complex provided for consolidation of the world’s largest audio-visual collection and improved facilities for research, digital conversion, long-term conservation, and public appreciation of the collection’s 11 million items, some dating back to the original copyrights of Thomas Edison.

Adaptive Reuse:The original 128,000 square-foot bunker served as a nuclear fallout shelter for federal banking officials broadcast material. Adaptive reuse of the bunkers entailed renovation and expansion of underground and partially underground structures, including a state-of-the-art collections wing, a nitrate film wing for highly combustible materials, and a central conservation building with offices, preservation laboratories, a 200-seat theater, and conference facilities. Working closely as a team, BAR and our consultants focused on a design approach to minimize the presence of these structures and extend the subtle beauty of the rolling hills and meadows uninterrupted through the site.

Design Approach: The team clustered the building program within five of the 45 acres and configured the structures to conform to the hillside topography, minimizing grading and site disturbance. While the Collections and Nitrate Buildings are largely buried, the central three-story Conservation Building emerges above grade to provide natural light to offices and work spaces through a series of terraced concrete arcades. The building follows the slope to enclose a central lawn court which represents the project’s only formal, irrigated open space, functioning as both a viewing garden and an outdoor event space. The courtyard consists of stepped lawn terraces around a circular reflection basin that reflects the shifting cloud patterns of the foothill region, bringing sky to earth and a sense of openness into the heart of the facility. The reflecting basin can be easily covered to offer a larger useable space if required.

The arcades themselves provide a series of trellises, and the arcade beams double as irrigated, insulated planters for deciduous Boston ivy. These living awnings shade the floor to ceiling glazing of the workspaces in the summer, while in winter the leafless vines allow sunlight to penetrate deep into the building and offset energy demands.

Roof gardens cover all three buildings, masking their presence on the rural Virginia hillside and forming perhaps the largest single roof garden east of the Mississippi River. Of the total 228,000 square feet (five acres), 146,000 square feet is ‘extensive’ green roof. The ‘intensive’ profile reflects the stepped profile of the Collections Building and supports a wider range of plant material. Its depth helps to reduce cooling loads required to maintain the Collections Building storage vault temperatures.

Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation (Photographs courtesy of Rien van Rijthoven and Tom Fox/ SWA Group)

On his design toolkit
Although I produce most of my design work with the computer, I still rely on hand drawings to begin the process and often produce sketches to explain certain aspects of the design as it progresses. I enjoy the dialog between analog and digital drawings. I often think about keeping myself honest with the precision of the computer but allowing the sketches to bring out the poetry.

In the last few years I have begun to use Lumion software in conjunction with Sketch Up and Revit for modeling. Lumion runs on a gaming engine and produces rendered environments in real time. I find it to be a design tool rather than a renderer. When I am navigating through a model in Lumion I get a visceral sense that I am in the space, mainly because of the atmospheric tools in the program. It allows a different kind of decision making to happen unlike just modeling or drawing. Although you do not model inside of Lumion, the interface between the modeling programs and Lumion is quite seamless. Other advantages of working this way are the multitude of rendered images that can be produce quickly. Experienced users can produce very compelling images without the time consuming post production that many rendering programs require. I’m surprised that more firms are not using this program.

I also use analysis software to investigate building performance. We are currently using Sefaira for whole building analysis. I’m always a bit wary while using this and keep a close connection to engineers to get feedback and insight on the results. It has been quite a challenge to get more people in the office to use it as part of their regular design workflow. I attribute that to the left/right brain divide that seems greater in designers. Many people are totally averse to looking at analytics and the back and forth from form to environmental influences that is required to increase building performance. As the software evolves, I believe there will be a friendlier interface which should make designers more attractive to it.

Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation (Photographs courtesy of Rien van Rijthoven and Tom Fox/ SWA Group)

On the state of design software today
The pace of change is shocking. I have been using BIM for many years, and its capabilities keep expanding allowing more disciplines to participate in modeling and analysis. VR is exciting and a bit scary to me. We are just about to test some VR software and headsets, so it is too soon to tell, but I am initially skeptical about whether teams will interact well using it. It probably isn’t analogous to the impact headphones have had in separating people from one another, but I will be interested to see how that plays out. We are also researching 3D printing to see if we can benefit from it in the office or whether we should contract it out to a service firm. I’m sure it has a place in the office, but this is a large investment and needs to be carefully considered. Drones are another tool that could be interesting. Their capability to produce 3D digital imagery of existing buildings and site features will be a powerful addition to our modeling and rendering tools allowing us to produce much more accurate context models very quickly. Creating topography and existing buildings has always been drudgery for me, so I welcome the drones.

On the future of architecture in the next 5–10 years
I think innovation is needed in the graphic user interface (GUI). How we interact with computers hasn’t changed much since I started using them in the 80’s, but processors are orders of magnitude faster, the images they produce are much more vivid and the amount of data processed is almost limitless. There have been many attempts at a drawing interface with a stylus, but there seems to still be a big disconnect there for most people. It’s possible that VR will provide this tactile missing link between the hand and the machine. The other area that I think needs much more work is in prefabrication and computer driven manufacturing. This is starting to happen and it presents a tremendous opportunity to reduce the amount of waste in the construction industry. It may also offer a return to the idea of the master builder. Maybe the architect can regain some of the control that we have been busy giving to consultants, subcontractors, and manufacturers. I fear that as artificial intelligence finds its place in the profession, the human element, aesthetic sense, and empathy for the user may begin to be diluted as we are seduced by what I’m sure will be its amazing capabilities.

There will be more technology both in the design process and in construction and the linkages between the two will be closer. Schedules will get shorter due to this integration and prefabrication. More design build teams and more architects working directly for contractors.

Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation (Photographs courtesy of Rien van Rijthoven and Tom Fox/ SWA Group)

On the future of BAR Architects in the next 5–10 years
We will form closer relationships with contractors and developers to be in a position to participate in design build, public private partnerships, and other alternative delivery methods. We will adopt technology to keep pace with faster schedules. This will include design and management software in the office and in the field. We will have to master the skills needed to produce documentation for fabrication so our designs can be used to create prefabricated elements.

On advice he would give himself
Maybe 3 things:

  • Stay outside of your comfort zone, it’s the most exciting place to be
  • Understand the financial structure of real estate deals
  • Learn management skills

Design Manifestos: Pete Smith of BWBR | Modelo Blog Series

Design Manifestos: Pete Smith of BWBR

Pete Smith (Photograph courtesy of BWBR)

Pete Smith, AIA, President and CEO, is a licensed architect and 30-year veteran of the profession. He joined BWBR in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1987 and was named head of the firm in 2012, representing the seventh generation of leadership for the 94-year-old business. Under his tenure, BWBR opened a second office in Madison, Wisconsin, and has grown its staff by more than 50 percent. With the growth of the firm, Pete has also overseen the implementation of a knowledge management program to leverage the power of design thinking beyond the boundaries of architecture to help clients with workplace strategies, evolving pedagogies in education, and health care service design. In 2015, AIA Minnesota honored BWBR with its biennial Firm Award, recognizing the firm’s contribution to the advancement of the profession in the areas of technology, service, and design. Modelo spent some time learning about Pete’s career as an architect and about what continues to motivate him today.

On becoming an architect
I grew up next door to Lloyd Bergquist, one of the ‘B’s of BWBR. I don’t know of any specific inspiration that came from that, but I remember being very much aware that he was an architect. His family’s home was so unique relative to the other houses in the neighborhood. It impressed me the impact an architect can have on the built environment. In high school drafting classes I began imagining spaces and it sparked my creative juices.

When I was wrestling with a major, architecture was at the top of the list. Also interested in medicine and education, it is interesting now that my practice includes designing healthcare facilities and doing a fair amount of teaching and mentoring. This path allowed me to have it all.

On discovering his voice as a designer
Admittedly, I was just an average design student and subsequently an average designer in practice. However, early in my career I found myself in a position where I had more work to handle than I could accomplish alone and needed help. Two things happened. First, the volume of work I could do increased and, second, the quality of the work I was leading improved as others were better at certain things than I. What I discovered was there were many ways to be an ‘architect,’ and I was pretty good at several of those. While being a ‘Big D’ designer wasn’t one of them, I found that I could lead a team, guide a client, challenge the design solutions, manage the process, inspire, and motivate others quite well.

Influences in my life are too many to list, but from my mother I learned organizational and leadership skills; my father, process and budget management and problem-solving skills; Lloyd Bergquist, a focus on the client and the firm and less on ‘me;’ and from the senior leaders at BWBR through my early career, how to lead others and eventually lead a firm.

Mayo Clinic Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (Photograph courtesy of BWBR)

On joining BWBR
Although Lloyd was a mentor of mine, it never occurred to me to ask him for a job. I worked at a couple firms during college and stayed on after graduation with one of them. As their market dried up, I began looking and stumbled across an ad for help at BWBR. My approach to architecture early was simply providing space to house a human activity. Over the years, I have grown to learn the significant impact that architecture can have is on the people that live, work, are healed, worship, and are incarcerated within. Because people are impacted, our process at BWBR has evolved, as well, to engage them in the process. This goes beyond having meetings and asking for feedback. We engage them deeply in the process, from identification of the problem and need to exploration of the design solutions to the implementation of those solutions and, frankly, to the change management necessary when they move in to those solutions.

On a specific principle he strives to adhere to
Keep the focus on the client and not on our ego as designers.

On his role at BWBR
My primary focus is on the sustainability of our practice — helping my peers and our staff make good decisions on behalf of our clients while maintaining the health and viability of our practice into the future. We are in our 94th year as a practice and our seventh generation of leadership. Our firm mission and my personal mission align around the idea that design excellence, a focus on client service, and staff development leads to business success. As a practicing architect, I approach every project with the focus to enhance and elevate clients using design as a conduit. By satisfying the most demanding of clients as project leaders, we can effectively develop future design and project leaders by creating distinguished architectural solutions for churches, health care organizations, schools, and companies heavy into research and development and manufacturing. It’s a balanced approach to the practice of architecture, demonstrating that business success and design quality are congruous.

Beyond maintaining existing and building new relationships in my seller-doer role, I also spend a fair amount of time mentoring future leaders of the organization, whether that is in the area of design leadership, technical leadership, business development or running the practice. By developing new capacities that foster professional success, we develop the capacities of the firm to serve a world that challenges us to be more diverse, more innovative, and more creative. Our approach to capacity-building has helped diversify the firm’s leadership ranks with more women, different thought leaders such as medical planners and security specialists, and helped implement new initiatives such as design research and knowledge management.

Mayo Clinic Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center (Photograph courtesy of BWBR)

On recent project that represent the firm’s unique approach
While I appreciate that there are many similarities between firms, we believe we do things a bit different. We excel on the design of complex projects serving the needs of many stakeholders. Because of the varied, and sometimes competing, ideas people bring to these dynamic facilities, we facilitate visioning sessions at a level that is unmatched, creating an engaging environment where people feel comfortable contributing their voice without hitting speed bumps that could drag out the process. We believe that because our work has such a significant impact on the people who will use these buildings, they should be engaged in the process. This leads to what we believe are more ‘relevant’ solutions. The buildings we design are about our clients and not about us — an approach that has earned us the reputation as ‘strategic partners’ with many of our clients. Projects such as Mayo Clinic’s Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center Building, Gustavus Adolphus College’s Beck Hall, the State of Minnesota Senate Office Building, Karner Blue Education Center or a large research and development center for a Fortune 500 company are good examples that demonstrate this focus on the client.

On his design toolkit
We use a number of tools to help communicate ideas and explore options with our clients. Design thinking is both analytical and emotional. The ability to create 3D imagery has improved our ability to communicate with and help clients visualize space. Our process includes a number of modeling techniques as well as ‘old school’ hand sketches and diagrams to begin the dreaming process. As the design develops, the tools are more refined, allowing a level of realism that aides in communication.

Fortune 500, Research and Development Facility (Photographs courtesy of BWBR)

On the state of design software today
Having started when creating a perspective rendering required hours of time and an understanding of how to set the horizon and establish vanishing points, the ability to practically press a button and experience the space from countless viewpoints is almost magic. The tools available today have significantly improved the design process and the rate of change suggests we have just scratched the surface.

On the future of architecture in the next 5–10 years
With 3D modeling and BIM technology, both in design and fabrication, there is almost no limit. What can be imagined can be fabricated. There is little disruption needed on that end of the practice. I think on the service end and how we engage all the stakeholders in the process, the integration of teams and the breakdown of organizational silos is where the greatest need is and where more disruption will occur.

Again, I see more and more integration of the various stakeholders: owners, design, engineering, and construction. We won’t come together necessarily as one entity but rather in a process that integrates the necessary skills and expertise to reduce waste and risk and create more innovative and impactful design solutions.

Fortune 500, Research and Development Facility (Photographs courtesy of BWBR)

On the future of BWBR in the next 5–10 years
BWBR is a well-established and successful practice. This makes change sometimes difficult. Why change if things are working well? We recently completed a strategic planning process that challenges us to be “nimble and bold” and developed specific strategies to achieve that vision. We are well on our way. Both the current and future leadership of BWBR are committed to evolving our practice and building skills of resiliency that will allow us to respond to whatever the future throws our way. We are also creating a design culture informed by research. Through research, we offer a more critical approach to design and measuring the success of those designs after implementation. Through research, we have the opportunity to create a more engaged workforce, innovate in process and solutions, and inspire people to exceed expectations. A two-way street, research opens opportunities to seek new knowledge and contribute to the profession’s body of knowledge.

On advice he would give himself
I’m afraid that if I were more aware of what I know now, I wouldn’t have learned the lessons…some of those hard lessons made me who I am today. Perhaps if I could whisper in my ear while I was sleeping, I would say, “Being an architect is more than what you were taught. It is richer and more diverse than drilled into you in school. Open your mind to the possibilities!”

Archelectic: EKKLESÍA by Pink Intruder

Archelectic: EKKLESÍA by Pink Intruder

We’re excited to launch a new blog series called Archelectic. With Archelectic, we’re exploring a diverse range of styles as well as the inspirations, tools, material choices and overall processes that make these projects possible. Our goal is to uncover unique, progressive and visually captivating new works from both up-and-coming designers as well as creative veterans.

Pink intruder is a project organized by a group of artists with expertise in performing interventions in urban space, edition of art and the organization and coordination of cultural events.


EKKLESÍA is an installation made with cardboard tubes with a metallic appearance atop a mosaic made of 96,000 wooden pieces.

During the Fallas festival in Valencia held every year the ultimate goal of these installations is to be burned to celebrate the arrival of spring. In this context we built a structure entirely of cardboard and wood joints. The purpose was to investigate to what extent we could carry up this type of structure, and also to place in a traditional context a contemporary image to provoke the debate between tradition and modernity.

The installation represented a temple where citizens can meet and realize the power they have to change things through debate and confrontation of ideas. Hence the title Ekklesia, as this was the ancient Greek assembly that met once a year between elections to decide if someone was annoying for the polis, and if that was the case expel him from the city for ten years.

The facility was visitable and columns were screen printed with real political messages with critical messages of citizens, trying to highlight the emptiness of political discourse and the need to provide it with content to generate discussion and be owners of our future.

The stage on which the installation was settled was a mosaic of 96,000 pieces based on designs of Nolla Mosaic, a traditional Valencian ceramic that was lost in the middle of 20th century. On the one hand its function was highlight a lost heritage and to emphasize that any innovation in a traditional context should be based on a thorough knowledge of tradition.

At the same time we also wanted it to be a participatory project and therefore the completion of the mosaic was made in different workshops with children at risk of social exclusion and various neighborhood associations.

“The ekklesia (from Ancient Greek “ἐκκλησία ‘) was the main assembly of Athenian democracy in Ancient Greece. Ostrakon (plural, ostraka), literally piece of vessel, is the Greek term that has come down to us as the famous exile by ostracism, and it was nothing but a law allowing citizens to banish for some time political or other harmful citizens for Polis. Over the potsherds the citizens had to write the name of the politician who was a potential danger to the community. In the Athens of the V century B.C. was an important political institution, safeguarding its democratic system of government from internal enemies. To apply law of ostracism the Ekklesia gathered once a year debating whether there was sufficient evidences to implement the ostracism, if that was the case the ostrakophoria was called , assembly where ostracism was voted. Such voting was held in the agora, with about 6,000 citizens entitled to vote. And the vote consisted in writing down on the piece of ceramic uóstrakon the name of the person that everyone thought it should be ostracized. Once the votes were counted the one with most votes was banished from Athens for 10 years, the exile was granted 10 days to prepare his departure from the Polis. The Athenian ostracism was a preventive law, which anticipated future conspiracies to establish tyranny.”

UNBUILT: Particulate Forest | Modelo Blog Series

UNBUILT: Particulate Forest

This week’s post features Jennifer Ng’s Particulate Forest. View the 3D model here.

Jennifer Ng
Instructor: Meredith Miller
University of Michigan
Propositions Studio, December 2014


Particulate Forest is discursive exploration into the engagement of spatial configurations with ambient or imperceptible conditions of the atmosphere. Through the attraction of dust, exhaust, pollen and other waterborne particulates, the forest acts as a translational device to its milieu; directly observing the environmental composition it is situated within.

The forest is composed of various types of material modules that possess specific means of collecting particulates such as the use of electrostatic charge, humidity sensitive fabric, photovoltaic technology and phase change mediums. The placement of each fabric module is situated within either the surface screen or a revolved core, its materiality is dependent on its altitude as well as location within the overall assembly.

Over time, the joints between modules disintegrate under the weight of accumulated particulates and allow for the interaction with adjacent modules to transmute and alter the spatial experience within the forest. Through modes of indexing and accretion, the Particulate Forest partakes in an investigation of representing temporality and the force of pollution through the physical degradation and ruin of materiality and space.

Design Manifestos: Kona Gray of EDSA | Modelo Blog Series

Design Manifestos: Kona Gray of EDSA | Modelo Blog Series

Kona Gray (Photograph courtesy of EDSA)

Kona Gray is a Principal at EDSA in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Reaching beyond the ordinary is at the heart of every project in which Kona is involved with. His strong sense of integrating creativity and regional resources when designing projects results not only in functional environments, but surroundings that invigorate the imagination. Kona has experience in many aspects of planning and landscape architecture, ranging from large scale planning to detailed site design with emphasis on hospitality and campus related projects. Modelo spent some time learning about Kona’s major influences and about what makes the firm unique.

On becoming a landscape architect
My father is an architect and he predicted that I would find my passion in landscape architecture because I designed large scale landscapes with matchbox cars, sticks, rocks, and whatever else I could find on the playground as a kid. Similar to so many other landscape architects, I stumbled into landscape architecture through a moment of synchronicity. Struggling with a focus on the building itself and not the entourage of the surrounding spaces made me a more holistic approach to design and the built environment was available. The profession continues to appeal to my love of nature, people, and how the two elements intersect through outdoor experiences. It is the perfect merger of my interest in the arts, sciences and environment.

W Retreat and Spa (Photograph courtesy of EDSA)

On discovering his voice as a designer
I have learned over the years that the most valued influences are relationships that shape your world. First and foremost is and will always be my family. My grandmother owned a boutique inn and loved hospitality, my mother was caring and inspirational, and my father has always been driven to be the best possible person. These influences are indicative of who I am and my wife and daughter continue to provide me with purpose, love and support.

Professionally, many of my greatest influences and inspirations have come from the leadership at EDSA, especially Edward D. Stone Jr., FASLA and Joseph J. Lalli., FASLA. They both possessed great talent and humility. At the University of Georgia, it was a presentation from Ian McHarg with WRT and a meeting with Walter Hood of Hood Design, both trailblazers, that solidified the role of Landscape Architects as leaders. Ian’s ability to map regional spaces with a masterful layering technique established this practice as an industry mainstay. Walter’s designs for people and places that are underserved the ‘forgotten spaces’ — bring social justice and beauty to those who would not normally have the opportunity to receive it.

Nova Southeastern University — University Center (Photograph courtesy of EDSA)

On joining EDSA
I received an invitation to join EDSA from J. Robert Behling, FASLA, our current Chairman, after a week-long review for my capstone assignment — required to graduate from the University of Georgia. Initially, I visited EDSA over spring break to gather research for the assignment, but ended up jumping right in to help the studio team meet a deadline. Unbeknownst to me, this ended up being my entry-level interview.

In the beginning, my approach to landscape architecture focused on the beauty of the designed environment. Everything we touch needs to aesthetically look, feel and perform better. However, I soon realized the business side of the profession was equally important. Not only must we create beautiful and purposeful places, but they must be economically sustainable as well. And most importantly, a space must be a reflection and inspiration to the people who experience these memorable places.

On specific principles he strives to adhere to
Grant Jones of Jones and Jones that declared recently, “Earth is our client.” I believe landscape architecture is not a luxury item and thoughtful design of the public realm is necessary to connect the built environment with the planet. It is our global responsibility is to design for people with a respect for the environment and to make this correlation seamless with empathy for the next generation. The most rewarding aspect of being a landscape architect for me is seeing a successfully complete project that is enjoyed by everyday people.

On his role at EDSA
At EDSA, we are a collective of peers. As colleagues we are responsible for the health and future of the studio based organization. My role and primary focus is leading and mentoring my design team on a variety of project types and scales from hospitality destinations to urban environments. I am responsible for introducing new clients to our services and expertise, developing proposals based on their needs, leading project design, managing the execution of design documents and seeing the project through construction.

Cairo Capital Central Park Map (Courtesy of EDSA)

On recent projects that represent the firm’s unique approach
We shy away from the ordinary and seek out the unexpected. Stretching our creativity and building upon innovation, we require every designer to provide three crazy ideas at a project’s kick-off. For example, Cairo Capital Central Park is essentially a 5,000-acre park in the Egyptian desert. It sounds crazy, yet we thought it would be fun. Jerry Van Eyck from MELK joined us for a design charrette in Fort Lauderdale. The pioneering idea of “ribbon like” landscape of intertwined spaces incorporates a walkable park, infused with the history of Egypt and the future of the planet. The overall design embraces the desert and integrates land forms so the entire space does not require irrigation.

We are also working on the New Norton Museum with Norman Foster + Partners. In this collaboration the architect is leading the design strategy. The project is very challenging and we are expressing the spirit of the museum throughout the landscape. We have curated the environment to be choreographed with the museums existing art collection and established garden rooms for guests to experience sculptures. However, the true star is an 80-year-old Banyan Tree. Our design dialogue focuses on the collaborative contribution and strengths of landscape architecture in conceptual design, plant selection, and execution of project details through construction.

On his design toolkit
We still draw by hand. And although it may seem old school, we find our designs are stronger because of it. The ability to express your ideas visually is essential to being a skillful designer. I love to sketch, paint, listen to music, read, attend concerts, visit museums and search the web for new ideas. If it is creative, I want to know about it.

At the beginning of our ideation process we utilize trace and markers to sketch out first concepts. Many times this process unfolds in front of clients in workshops and it is mind blowing to see our ideas come to life with their input. Once we have these thoughts on trace, we convert them digitally. We then refine, manipulate and enhance designs in the computer. In regards to software we use Sketch-Up to quickly model from an AutoCAD framework. This is followed by Photoshop for fine tuning the graphics and Revit, 3Ds Max, Rhino and Lumia for final renderings. We have totally embraced the Wacom tablets so every designer can draw digitally right on a large screen. We are consistently evolving and improving our technology as we see our hand graphics like that of the CGI industry that deals with animations. It starts out with a rough sketch or storyboard and is translated and refined with computer graphics.

Exterior West Plaza (Rendering courtesy of EDSA)

On the state of software today
Software is in a constant state of change. This can be good and bad. It seems that things are moving so quickly and every designer needs to stay current to utilize all latest tools available. We have been filming our designs with Adobe Premiere from the tablet and it is awesome. Video is a very powerful medium and it is more user friendly and reasonably priced today. It has allowed us to present in a way that we never imagined before — aminations, complete with voice over and music to help guide the mood of the experience. I feel that soon it will be common place to have videos and virtual reality incorporated into every aspect of design. This is very cool and I am so excited about the future.

On the future of architecture in the next 5–10 years
As a trained architect, I can remember the strong emphasis placed on the flat facade. That fact has not changed. What has changed is that people are realizing they need more than just the building. The Highline in NYC is a perfect example. Our profession has a tremendous future. We are the best kept secret in the design space and that means opportunity to take charge of shaping the built environment and preserving the land. We have always known that the spaces between the buildings create life and that is a lot of real estate.

Industry will embrace our calling to lead design endeavors with high performing landscapes. As president of the Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF), I find this exhilarating. The LAF introduced the Landscape Performance Series to the world and it has changed the way we approach and implement design. We are now looking at the current conditions of a place and the inherent benefits derived from great landscape architecture. The benefits are tangible and they cross every aspect of life from health to economics with transformative results.

Kona Gray in Egypt (Photograph courtesy of EDSA)

On the future of EDSA in the next 5–10 years
EDSA has begun incorporating landscape performance into our new designs and have participated in several LAF Case Study Investigations (CSI). Our first CSI projects were done retrospectively and we had do dig into the archives to establish the baseline state for projects. Now, we are engaged in a reformed process that establishes a list of social, economic and environmental objectives. These aspects are tested with our designs, measured throughout the process and evaluated pre as well as post construction. Additionally, we return to completed projects to learn what has worked and what failed — using these models for future case studies. The experience of merging the design process with the scientific method of research has proven that design is ultimately a craft.

On advice he would give himself
Actually, I have two pieces of advice. First, I would tell myself to be very selective in life as it relates to projects opportunities. And, second always surround yourself with good people that force you to be your personal best every day!