Check out the online gallery of Future Shack projects submitted by over 70 architectural firms from around the region. 

What does ‘neighborhood character’ mean to you? Why is it important and what is the role of architecture? Join AIA Seattle as our own local characters Steve Scher of KUOW’s “Weekday”, author Knute Berger, activist Kent Kammerer, and real estate maven Bob Melvey debate and discuss specific projects shaping the future of residential architecture in our region.

Joining them will be design and development professionals, Angela Brooks, Pugh + Scarpa Architects, Larry Beasley, Former Director of Planning, City of Vancouver, BC, and Kevin Cavenaugh, Architect and Developer, Portland and Gil Kelley, Former Director of Portland Planning Bureau, Portland. who were also asked to determine which projects they thought worthy of celebration. Invite your friends, your neighbors, (and for you architects, your clients!) for this timely discussion.

what is future shack?
A new residential architecture program for our times, Future Shack celebrates progressive solutions for urban living across a wide range of building types, budgets, constraints, and social agendas. Architects from around the region have submitted projects to the program which will be selected separately by two juries - one comprised of outspoken members of the public and another comprised of design professionals.

Future Shack is developed in partnership with the Seattle Times, which will publish selected projects in the September 13 issue of the Pacific Northwest Magazine. That evening, a public discussion of the recognized projects engaging the two juries and the audience will be moderated by KUOW’s “Weekday” host Steve Scher at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion, also on September 13.

FutureShack is held in conjunction with residential architect magazine's Reinvention Symposium, in Seattle Sept 14-16.

the moderator

Steve Scher
Host, “Weekday”, KUOW 94.9
Steve Scher is the longtime host of the KUOW’s current events show, “Weekday”. Weekday is a daily (Monday - Friday) call-in talk show that tracks the trends in society that will become tomorrow's headlines. The show brings activists, idealists, politicians and practical thinkers into the talk studio to talk about politics, art, education, transportation, social issues, science and much more. Delving in the story before it breaks into generic "sound bite" journalism, Weekday lays the groundwork for understanding all the issues. More about Steve.

the public jury

Knute Berger
Knute "Skip" Berger is author of the new book, "Pugetopolis: A Mossback Takes on Growth Addicts, Weather Wimps and the Myth of Seattle Nice" (Sasquatch Books, 2009). He writes the "Mossback" column for Crosscut.com, a Pacific Northwest online daily. He also pens a monthly back page column for Seattle Magazine, where he is Editor-at-Large, and is political columnist for Washington Law & Politics. He is a regular news commentator on Seattle's public radio station, KUOW-FM. Between 1990 and 2006 Berger did three stints as editor of Seattle Weekly. He was founding editor of Eastsideweek and executive editor of Washington Magazine. His writing has won numerous awards. In 2008, he won the Washington State Historic Preservation Officer's Annual Media Award for his coverage of historic preservation issues. He lives in Seattle.

Kent Kammerer
Neighborhood Activist
Kent Kammerer serves as president of the Seattle Neighborhood Coalition, an organization whose primary interest is the creation and maintenance of a high quality of life for those who live in Seattle and the Puget Sound Basin, as well as the governance to make such a life possible. Born on a farm in Iowa, Kent attended school in Lakewood, Washington and the University of Washington in Seattle. He taught art and photography in the Seattle public school system until retirement. He is now an active mountaineer, reader, builder and fixer of things who is curious about more than life provides time for.

Bob Melvey
Real Estate Professional with Windermere Real Estate
Bob has been a real estate agent for thirty-two years. His interest in housing began in 1974 when at the age of nineteen he and his mother pooled their resources and bought a three-story farmhouse in Ballard. It was in deplorable condition, but it did provide a foot-hold in a rapidly appreciating real estate market. With this new-found interest in housing and a glimpse down a path to financial security, Bob began his real estate career in 1977.
Over the years, he has noticed a gradual shift in people’s housing wants. Walkable neighborhoods offering a sense of community are now at the top of most everyone’s wish list. Energy consumption and use of sustainable materials are beginning to have some impact on people’s decisions.
Bob and his wife, Mary, have two children. Ryan begins college this fall. Katelyn is studying abroad and will move in to the old Ballard farmhouse when she returns.

the professional jury

Angela Brooks AIA
Principal, Pugh + Scarpa Architects, Los Angeles, CA.
Angela Brooks, AIA, LEED AP, is a recognized leader in the field of sustainable design and construction, and has been practicing architecture for 17 years. She is a principal at Pugh + Scarpa, where she is responsible for overall firm development, multi-family housing development and leading the Sustainable Development Department. She completed her own house, Solar Umbrella, a remodel that generates energy through a canopy of solar panels and was one of the AIA/COTE’s Top Ten Green Projects of 2006.

Ms. Brooks was a co-founder of a smart-growth development company and has also served as an Advisor to the National Endowment of the Arts, Mayors Institute on City Design. Currently, she sits on the Advisory Board of Solar Santa Monica, a program whose mission is to achieve net zero energy imports by 2020 for the city of Santa Monica; a model that can be replicated throughout the country.
Kevin Cavenaugh
Designer, Portland, OR.
Kevin Cavenaugh is a designer and developer from Portland, Oregon. He has created a practice based on the principle of wearing as many hats as possible in the construction of a building. He typically serves as developer, designer, long-term owner and property manager. He has most recently completed three buildings in Portland neighborhoods that use unconventional materials, exhibit strong environmental sensitivity, and bring lively uses to the street. By serving as his own developer, he can decide which risks he wants to take. By owning the buildings after they are complete, he brings the discipline of reasonable operating costs to the design process. And by serving as the property manager, he generates feedback for his future development/design projects. His most recent building, still under construction includes such innovations as a well that brings water from 300’ below ground (thus requiring less energy to heat it and cool it), an edible green roof that will serve as a food source for the fourth floor restaurant in the building, an arcade to reflect other buildings in the neighborhood, and sliding window-shading panels designed by 26 different artists. Photo: Doug Cogger

Gil Kelley
Former Director of Portland Planning Bureau, Portland, OR.
Since leaving the post of Director of Planning for the City of Portland, Oregon, Gil Kelley has worked for Portland State University as a research fellow and also teaches at the University of Amsterdam, NL. This fall, Kelley is heading to Harvard as a new Loeb Fellow. Established in 1970, a Loeb Fellowship provides a year of independent study at Harvard for outstanding mid-career professionals in fields related to the built and natural environments, according to the university.

As Director of Planning for the City of Portland, Gil oversaw the long-range and strategic planning activities of the City, including administering the day-to-day activities of the Bureau of Planning and coordinating major development initiatives for the City aimed at long-term urban sustainability. Mr. Kelley is also a key advisor to Metro, the Portland area's regional government. Previously, Gil served as Director of Planning and Development for the City of Berkeley, California.

Raised in Portland, Mr. Kelley graduated from The Evergreen State College (BA, Political Economy), and is a member of the American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners. He lectures frequently on urban planning and development issues in the U.S. and abroad.

sponsors

SILVER

BRONZE
Archvista, Inc.
Franklin Engineering
KrekowJenningsInc.
Lockhart|Suver LLC
Integrity Windows & Doors
Yellow Mountain StoneWorks, Inc.

Many thanks to these Special Contributors:
Artemide
Bo Concept
Fremont Brewing Company
Lockart|Suver
Mary Hutchison
Sing Super Honeycomb Panels