The first day of the 2012 CAE fall conference in Seattle has wrapped up, the sun having long ago set from a clear fall sky,. While only a half day, it was very full and I think there’s more to digest than I’ll be able to put down here. I’m starting to think that a couple of theme-based posts might be in order after this is all over, I’ll have to outline a few and see where I get.
The day began with OMA’s Seattle Central Library as a backdrop; after quick introductions we dove into our first panel of the conference. The three speakers discussed the atmosphere of change and crisis that is surrounding education today, and all argued that this situation of rapid change offers great opportunity for designers to engage. Douglas Thomas from USC described this challenging environment as one where contemporary education does not fit students or the world they live in, and where little of the wonder and excitement of authentic learning can be found. Barnett Berry, an advocate for expanding the opportunities that educators have to lead, presented the need for change in the context of the teacher’s role, where long hours and unrealistic
expectations mean that teachers leave the profession at an alarming rate. Jeff Sharpe acknowledged the challenges that educational institutions face today, and also reminded up that architects also often find themselves in uncomfortably constrained roles as they take on projects.
While change and crisis were the backdrops of all three presentations, the speakers all described ways they saw for design to shape the future of education. Jeff Sharpe’s presentation was all about the power design has to help organizations understand their core mission and carry it through all that they do; the designer’s way of thinking and working can invigorate much more than just a set of construction documents. Indeed, Jeff argued that more often than not construction documents are not the right answer, and that architect should be brave enough to facilitate a process whereby whole systems can change. Douglas Thomas also pointed out that teachers are often so busy teaching that they never stop to step back and think about their space, or how architecture might benefit their work. Barnett Berry argued that there are literally millions of teachers who are hungry to connect with interested professionals such as ourselves, and know that design could help them address some of the challenges they face in the classroom. Not only can architects help, our help is very much wanted.
After a quick break Brian Court from Miller | Hull gave us a quick look at the Bullitt Center, which we were to tour shortly. The Bullitt Foundation is a non-profit active in environmental causes and led by Earth Day co-founder Denis Hayes. They are constructing a 50,000 SF office building to Living Building Challenge standards on an urban site with the constraint of a true market-rate pro forma. Brian described it as a moon shot and explained some of the challenges they faced, such as limited available solar energy, a heating-dominated climate and the challenges of eliminating all red-list materials from the project. More on this later during the tour.
With our heads ringing with ideas from the panel and excited for the Bullitt Center we headed out. I found myself on the bus starting at Seattle University’s Lemieux Library and ending at the Bullitt Center- others saw the projects in opposite order. The Lemieux Library is a project completed in 2010 by Pfeiffer Partners and Mithun. A renovation of a ‘60’s-era library makes up the core of the project, but 35,000 SF of addition and extensive alterations to the library interior create a building that feels almost completely new. We focused on the wide range of programmatic spaces incorporated into the project- media editing suites, quiet study, group study, actively-social café, I think I could list several others. The university representatives we spoke with described their choice as one of meeting today’s students’ needs while not trying too hard to be technologically “bleeding edge”. Even though it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon outside it was clear that students were busy making all of the different spaces their own, some finding quiet in the dark wood browsing room, others working away at group projects in group study rooms that they had reserved in advance online.
The Lemieux Library's front entry, with students enjoying the informal seating - top. The library's active cafe, a popular space with students - bottom.
After a quick stop at Steven Holl’s Chapel of St. Ignatius we walked a few blocks to the Bullitt Center for a hard hat tour. Substantial completion of the core and shell is scheduled for late November, so there is still plenty going on, but also enough building there that we could all get a feel for the spaces and systems that make this building special. The buildings is 4 stories of timber over 2 of concrete; it’s a construction type that was popular in Seattle in the early 20th century, but this is the first timber building of this height to go up since the start of the Great Depression.
The Bullitt Center's distinctive PV wing
Everything in the building is highly tuned and carefully used. From outside its stealth wing of photovoltaics is the main thing you notice, but once inside the high ceilings and beautiful (yet thermally efficient) curtain wall create an interior that is bright and airy, and should reduce or eliminate the need for electric lighting on most days—certainly days as beautiful as today. It will be interesting to see how their energy budget works out as occupants begin to fill the building. It seems like we have new gadgets at our desks every day, so living with only the energy made available by the roof array, divided across six floors, will require real change on the part of occupants. It will be an interesting experiment, but one we all should think about.
A beautiful view from the top floor- and this opening will be all glass, even with the building's energy goals (top). The biggest array of (toilet) waste composters I've ever seen (bottom).
A quick bus ride took us back to the north end of Seattle’s downtown and dinner at Fare Start. Everyone was quickly put in a good mood by some delicious appetizers, wine and spirited conversation about what we had seen and heard. As desserts came out after dinner we learned that Fare Start is an institution of learning, too, and what we had just enjoyed had a social and educational component as appealing as the food itself. Fare Start trains people with zero income for the food service industry, and their success rate is impressive—about 80% of their graduates (who are homeless, just out of prison, or something similar) find jobs right out of the program, and 3/4s of those students are still in those jobs 6 months later. Their kitchen is a learning environment just as much as any 30’x30’ classroom, and Fare Start’s combination of hands on learning and strong core mission of providing healthy food to the community reminded me that learning can happen with all populations in all types of environments; it’s a mistake to limit the conversation just to schools. It also reminded me how great it feels to contribute: our first speaker, Dave Carleton spoke about the change that occurs in the students as they begin in the organization’s contract kitchen, where they prepare food for schools, shelters and similar facilities. Those students are providing healthy nourishment for others, and as they begin to appreciate the value of their work they begin to change themselves.
As we wrapped up for the evening Tom French, our second speaker of the evening and a passionate advocate for fresh food in schools, related a funny story about a snowy evening in Seattle trying to corral a slippery block of 2,200 lbs of frozen salmon. His passion and joy for the work showed in his face, just as it had in Dave’s as he spoke. I looked around and saw that passion for change and social justice in so many of the faces of the conference attendees, and understood that these values as much as any other drive us to design for education. I look forward to even more of this passion and learning tomorrow.