AIA Seattle is pleased to award its 2010 Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship to Daniel Toole Assoc. AIA for his proposal to study the future of our downtown alleyways as new public spaces. His research will include the study of alleys in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia, where he will sketch, photograph, interview, blog, and record his impressions of vibrant alleyways that work. Daniel will receive $5,000 to complete his proposed travel and research and will present his research at an exhibition at AIA Seattle's gallery in Spring 2011.

To view Daniel’s proposal, “the alleys: a proposal for new urban spaces”, download the .pdf to the right.

The AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship expands the experience and opportunities of young professionals, encourages cross-cultural dialogue in the profession, and shares knowledge from architecture practice around the globe with members in Puget Sound. For more information, click here. Also, Daniel is keeping a blog; check it out here.

Daniel Toole Assoc. AIA is a graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture. He also spent time studying abroad in Europe with Columbia University’s New York/Paris program. After completing his BA, he relocated to Seattle and began working for Perkins + Will in the summer of 2008. The first thing Daniel noticed while walking between his apartment on First Hill and his office near the Harbor Steps downtown were Seattle’s abundant alleyways; they stood out as a unique urban network that had not yet been embraced by the city. As his interest grew, he began to photograph and sketch these spaces and eventually to think of ways to improve them.

Toole serves as the co-chair of the AIA's Design Committee and was inspired by a colleague to apply for the Emerging Professionals Travelling Fellowship. He intends to travel to national cities that are transforming their alley networks, including Chicago and San Francisco. He will also study the redeveloped laneways of Melbourne, as well as the culturally rich alleys of Osaka and Kyoto. He will maintain a blog that will chart his travels, recordings, interviews, and reflections on these places. He will work with AIA Seattle, the University of Washington and the City of Seattle, as well as other local and national groups, to create an exhibition and publication of his findings and proposals.