AIA Seattle's observance of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of The American Institute of Architects, part of a nation-wide celebration in 2007 and beyond, highlights architects' community endeavors and collaborations to achieve livable communities, using care for water resources and natural systems as a guiding principle.

On the Water/On the Road
AKA "Walking On the Water"
Commencing September 2006, I have undertaken a journey supported in part by a grant from the AIA150 Blueprint for America for a program "mobilizing community design projects on waterfronts throughout the greater Puget Sound region."

AIA Seattle's 'On the Water' program aims to support and make visible architects working with their communities to create a better future by design, in the special context of projects that address our communities' relationships to natural systems and waterfronts. The journal below records some of the highlights of this mobile study.

My sincere thanks to AIA Seattle, AIA150 Seattle+ Champion Peter David Greaves AIA, and to all who join me in the widening circles of my travels.

- Marga Rose Hancock Hon. AIA
  AIA150 Seattle+ CoChampion

November 06:
11/17/06: Annual Meeting of AIA Washington includes review of AIA150 programs in Washington components.
11/16/06: Collegial meeting and dinner with SDA Seattle, with a reference to a 1973 scholarship benefit event of the 'Architectural Secretaries Association' and AIA Seattle, and exchange of insights about the organization's Seattle origins (1968) and the changes time brings to the work of designers and design administrators.
11/13/06: Commencing temporary residence at Mahlum, fresh in the glow of significant recognition in the AIA Seattle 2006 HONOR AWARDS for WASHINGTON ARCHITECTURE.
11/10/06: at Veterans Day, 25 AIA Seattle past Presidents assembled for a unique gathering in the hallowed Rainier Club, where a roaring fire helped dispel the rain and chill. Senior among them, 1967 President Fred Bassetti FAIA initiated a conversation about carrying forward the spirit of Action: Better City into future-directed design action – a motion that drew affirmation from all. Those present spoke of and invoked the inspiration of others absent from the room or the planet, acknowledging the ongoing advancement of professional leadership that characterizes the AIA Seattle presidency. Many have advanced to additional AIA and other significant professional service at state and national levels.
Pictured at right , from left: Gerald Pomeroy '74, Robert Nixon '70, Fred Bassetti '67, Al Bumgardner '62-'63 (proxy), Jim Sanders '93-'94, Jerry Ernst '86, Bob Joyce '79, Thom Emrich '88-'89, Marga Rose Hancock, Steve Arai 2001-02, Norman Strong 2000-01, Jennie Sue Brown '87, Roger Williams '87-'88, John Nesholm '90-'91, Jane Hastings '75, Lee Copeland 2007-08, Norman Johnston '81, Mark Hinshaw '92-'93, Ben Woo '82, Peter Greaves 2004-05, Kristen Scott 2003-04, Walter Schacht 2006-07, Richard Hobbs '85, Randy Everett 2005-06. Present but not pictured: Bert Gregory '97-'98. Photo: Pro Image Photography/Ed Sozinho

November sets off running with a productive Thursday morning session 11/2 with the AIA Seattle Diversity Roundtable, making big plans for a February 07 "Bridging" workshop with South Park citizens of all generations, following in the path established with UW CAUP student recipients of the Denice Hunt K-12 Internship, and onward to a June 07 Solstice event engaging new partners in community-building.

October 06:
This month takes me to NBBJ at Alley 24, a new location and a new building where the NBBJ practice goes boldly and intelligently forward (in the spirit of Change Design, the firm's recent publication). NBBJ has produced and supported numerous AIA Seattle Presidents: Dorm Anderson FAIA (1989-90), Bill Bain (Sr.) FAIA (1941-43), Bill Bain (Jr.) FAIA (1969), Jerome R. Ernst FAIA (1986), David Hoedemaker FAIA (1973), Floyd Naramore FAIA (1939-41), and Jim Suehiro AIA (1998-99).

Practically speaking, my location at NBBJ puts me not far from AIA Seattle 2006 HONOR AWARDS for WASHINGTON ARCHITECTURE Committee Chair Steve McConnell FAIA and other NBBJ folks much engaged, along with an active Committee, in conceiving, planning and implementing this year's program to culminate 11/6 at McCaw.

Highlights of my time at NBBJ:
11/09/06 parting impressions: The studio culture at NBBJ fosters a continuous and rich exchange, especially notable for interdisciplinarity, intergenerational features, community involvement, and the use of sophisticated supportive technology. Architects frequently summon administrative and technology staff to advise on how to enhance and communicate various aspects of their designs, with frequent use of these words: resize; reconfigure, reformat, download, upload, resource, daylight access, natural systems.
11/07/06: Plans for the Gates Foundation headquarters at Seattle Center come closer to reality, with expression of public interest in NBBJ's design for this major philanthropic faciity.
10/30/06: Bill Bain Jr. offers up a treasure reflecting family and professional history: "Architects Certificate of Registration No. L1," the State of Washington's first architect license, issued "this 10th Day of January 1923" to his father Bill Bain Sr. – another item for preservation and promulgation as part of AIA150 Seattle+.
10/27/06: NBBJ's observance of Pluto Day, a major party for the NBBJ family with all manner of fun complete with bagpipes, Taiko drums, and a hypnotist who brought out seldom-seen attributes in Jim Jonassen FAIA, John Pangrazio FAIA, and Scott Wyatt FAIA. A good time had by all the hard-working NBBJ crew.

Other October "AIA150 moments:"
10/10/06: A visit to AIA Seattle 1988 Medalist (and 1966 President) Fred Bassetti FAIA in the gently-rocking Lake Union houseboat he occupies along with his wife Gwen Bassetti. Fred signed one of the few extant copies of Action: Better City, a 1968 AIA Seattle publication recording an extensive program of urban visioning inspired by Constantine Doxiadis's visit to Seattle and meetings with AIA Seattle leaders.

From the houseboat to a reception at the University of Washington Club (originally the Faculty Club) on UW campus to welcome incoming CAUP Dean Daniel S. Friedman PhD, FAIA. There I had the pleasure not only of the occasion, but of greeting several friends, colleagues, and contemporaries of Fred's, including his fellow AIA Seattle Medalists Bill Bain FAIA (1997), Lee Copeland FAIA (2000), Jane Hastings FAIA (1995), Phil Jacobson FAIA (1994), Norman Johnston FAIA (1991), Wendell Lovett FAIA (1993), and John Nesholm FAIA (2004) – among a festive roomful of UW CAUP faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and friends. They welcomed news of Fred and of the commitment of Bassetti Architects to republish A:BC as part of the observance not only of AIA150 but of the firm's impending 60th anniversary, in 2007 (see picture at right).

10/09/06: connection with colleagues at Seattle Architecture Foundation, reflecting on the shared history of our two organizations – including collaboration in elements of AIA Seattle's 1994 centennial observance, to produce the Blueprints retrospective of Seattle architecture as the basis of the Foundation's current exhibit as well as the publication of Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects (Ochsner, 1994).
10/13/06, San Francisco: a quick trip to attend (briefly) the NOMA Conference, where Dr. Victoria Kaplan presented from her book Structural Inequality: Black Architects in the United States; and a visit to the newly-reopened Center for Architecture, home to AIA San Francisco and kindred organizations – and an inspiring lunch with AIA SF Executive Director Margie O'Driscoll on a sunny Friday the 13th afternoon in the City by the Bay.

September 06:
For the launch of my On the Water/On the Road nomadic phase, I've accepted the gracious and "peerless" hospitality of Mithun, a bit of territory and internet access at the firm's Pier 56 HQ – not entirely coincidentally, the site of the "WWW: Welcome to Our Place" reception 9/14 and at various times a venue for several AIA Seattle presidential types, including Lee Copeland FAIA (2007-08), Thom Emrich AIA (1988-89), Bert Gregory AIA (1997-98), and Roger Williams FAIA (1987-88).

Mithun's connection to the waterfront incorporates not only its current Pier 56 location but several projects emblematic of the firm's commitment to sustainable community design: the much-recognized REI Seattle Flagship Store with its distinctive water feature, and IslandWood (originally Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center), the Bainbridge Island facility which uses the connection of people, land, and water as a basic principle of its design and operation.

Highlights of my time at Mithun:
*updates to bio of Omer Mithun FAIA, a founding father of the firm whose commitment to education and design excellence the firm expressed most recently in the endowment (with the Russell Foundation) of a Chair in Sustainable Design at the UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
*Mithunerfest 2006, a happy assembly of the Mithun family at UW Gould Hall, with beer and brats and music by the Mediocres – whose rocking "Mustang Sally" offers tribute to the vagabond human spirit (ride, Marga, ride!).
*Observing the confluence of generations and disciplines as employees interact in and along the central corridor connecting the studios and drawing all to the water-edge "Point No Point" gathering space, with its westward view of Sound, Olympics, and onward. I also enjoyed conversation and collaboration with numerous creative and cordial Mithun associates.

Other September AIA150 moments:
9/14-17/06: AIA150 Seattle's opening foray – the AIA Livable Communities Conference (AKA "WWW: Walking Working Water"), convenes a national assembly of urban visionaries at key sites along Seattle's central waterfront and urban neighborhoods throughout the greater Puget Sound region (Bainbridge, Ballard, Bremerton) in concert with the AIA Center for Communities by Design, the AIA Young Architects Forum and AIA's Regional/Urban Design, COTE, and Housing Knowledge Communities. Coverage in AIArchitect links to the local report of the doings here – including the "one AIA" MANIFESTO: WALKING WORKING WATER expressing support for AIA Seattle's advocacy of "Creating a new Seattle waterfront" as public bodies address the choices posed by the need to deal with the aging Alaskan Way Viaduct: Permanently remove the Viaduct, and don't replace it.
* Interview with David Sokol for his piece on Centers (and DeCenters) for Architecture, for the Architects Newspaper
* AIA Washington Retreat (Peter David Greaves AIA presiding), with excited talk about the real possibilities of one AIA facilitated by AIA Seattle 1985 President Richard W. Hobbs FAIA, with contributions from Jim Suehiro AIA , 1998-99 President now serving on the AIA national Board of Directors, and elected and staff leaders from all AIA components in Washington.

BACKGROUND:
AIA Blueprint for America funds 'On the Water'
4/06: As part of the AIA150 "Blueprint for America" observance of the 1857 founding of The American Institute of Architects, AIA Seattle's 'On the Water' has received funding for a program mobilizing community design projects on waterfronts throughout the greater Puget Sound region.

Projects initiated by various constituencies within AIA Seattle beginning in 2004 have established a focus on the connection of Puget Sound communities with water – at all scales: from wetlands-sensitive residential development to watershed reclamation programs (e.g. the Duwamish, a Superfund site in Seattle's South Park community) and harborfront initiatives in cities along Puget Sound – including major urban design opportunities around Seattle's central waterfront in the quest for alternatives to the aging and earthquake-damaged Viaduct. Through a series of community workshops, publications, and conferences, AIA Seattle and partners – various community groups, kindred design and building organizations, students in the state's two schools of architecture and K-12 youth – AIA150Seattle will highlight architects' community endeavors and collaborations to achieve livable communities, using care for water resources and natural systems as a guiding principle.