Archinect - Features

Striking the Connection Between Architecture and Nature With Seattle-Based mwworks

2021-02-22T09:04:00-05:00

Established in 2007, Seattle-based architecture and interior design studio mwworks has been diligently contributing some of the finest places within the Pacific Northwest's contemporary built environment: rough in the right places, comfortable wherever possible, and authentic by principle.

For the latest Studio Snapshot, Archinect connected with the firm's founding partners Steve Mongillo and Eric Walter to discuss their dedication to craft, the deliberate decision to grow the practice organically, and how the team kept its office culture alive and healthy during the pandemic.

In Focus: Aaron Leitz and Respecting Architectural Space Through Stillness

2019-11-21T12:15:00-05:00

In Focus is Archinect's recurring series dedicated to profiling the photographers who help capture architecture and who make the work of architects look that much better. In this series, we ask: What is their relationship to architecture? How do they work? What equipment do they use? What are their goals are when capturing buildings? And is there such thing as the perfect photo?

For this installment, Archinect chats with Seattle-based photographer Aaron Leitz. Specializing in interior and exterior architectural spaces, Leitz attributes his entrance into the profession to "coincidence and good fortune." However, despite his informal introduction to architecture and design, Leitz has established himself as a notable photographer who has worked with prominent architecture firms in Seattle, like Olson Kundig Architects and Suyama Peterson Deguchi, to name a few.

A fan of "respecting the process" and a believer that the "perfect" photo doesn't exist, Leitz seeks to capture moments by ke...

Pursuing Authenticity and Place With Graham Baba

2019-11-20T13:09:00-05:00

Seattle-based Graham Baba Architects started in 2006 by Jim Graham and Brett Baba, two architects who met while working at what is now Olson Kundig (back then, the firm was named Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen). The pair embarked on their own to found a practice that "creates places that tell a story, places that people are drawn to, and spaces that encourage social interaction and community," according to the architects. More than a decade later, the firm has grown to 30 employees and is now engaged in projects across over a dozen states.

For Graham Baba, each project represents an opportunity to tie together particular considerations for site, materials, and program that convey a sense of authenticity. As the architects explain, "authenticity can—and should—be found in every building by use of honest materials such as metals, wood, and glass celebrated in their natural state."

For this week's Studio Snapshot, Archinect connected with Graham and Baba to discuss, among other topics, c...

Deans List: UW's Renée Cheng on How Comprehensive Design Can Engender Inclusivity

2019-07-11T12:01:00-04:00

The Deans List is an interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programming, as defined by the dean — giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty and academic environment.

For this installment, Archinect spoke with current University of Washington College of Built Environments dean Renée Cheng. A licensed architect with years of experience working at firms like Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners and her personal practice, Cheng-Olson Design, Cheng has specialized in researching the application of new technologies within the design and construction process while also helping to pioneer innovative project delivery approaches. In our interview, Cheng shares how these approaches can be applied to the wide-ranging curriculum of an integrated design program.

Designing from the land up: an interview with Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape

2017-06-26T09:00:00-04:00

When Matt Wittman and Jody Estes founded their Seattle-based practice, Wittman Estes Architecture + Landscape in 2012, they saw a space in the market for an integrated practice that brought indoor and outdoor space together as one whole. For this Monday's Small Studio Snapshot, we talk with the duo about their love of nature, getting clients to allocate funds for landscape, and their goals for the future.

GoCStudio, a Small Studio in Seattle, Shares Some Secrets for Starting From Scratch

2017-05-08T09:00:00-04:00

This week on Small Studio Snapshots, we sit down with the Seattle-based practice goCStudio, founded by Jon Gentry and Aimée O’Carroll in 2012. The team fills us in on how being a small business allows them to create close relationships whether it be with a client, a craftsman, or the photographer of their next project.

How 4 US cities are applying architectural solutions to homelessness

2016-05-23T18:29:00-04:00

Housing First, a federal policy for ending chronic homelessness that grew out of initiatives in Los Angeles and New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s, provides what appears to be the most effective solution to homelessness in the United States: actually housing people. Since implementing Housing First programs in Utah in 2005, Salt Lake City reported up to a 91% reduction in their rate of the chronically homeless.

UpStarts: Paul Michael Davis Design

2014-12-08T16:07:00-05:00

When it comes to sustainable design, it seems like most firms skew either green but boring, or exciting but radically inefficient. Paul Michael Davis Design in Seattle, WA handily straddles this schism, creating visually compelling, sustainable designs at an affordable cost. Founded in 2009, in the midst of a recession which pushed many newly minted graduates out of the profession, PMDD has since expanded to include an associate and an intern, and occasionally collaborates with independent firms. Notably, PMDD is developing several low-cost prefab housing projects that look like places you'd actually want to live in.