Yolanda Ho works in the Public Space Management Program in the Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) Street Use Division. She helps to develop new, creative ideas for the use and activation of Seattle’s streets and sidewalks, ensuring that these are simultaneously vibrant, safe and accessible places. As part of our Women Shaping Seattle series exploring how women have changed and continue to change the design of the city, Yolanda shares some insight into her role at SDOT, her perspective of Seattle and how her previous work has influenced her approach to her work.

Drawing on this year’s Design Festival theme of “Design Change”, is there a particular place or project that you think illuminates the way women have changed the design of Seattle? 

During my previous career as a landscape architect, I began to understand how policy determines what, where and how designers can create space. This led me to learn more about the forces that shape our built environment, including development economics, redlining and gentrification. Seattle’s Equitable Development Initiative, led by Nora Liu (formerly in the Office of Planning and Community Development), analyzed the growth scenarios presented in the draft Seattle 2035 plan in terms of areas of opportunity as well as potential for gentrification and displacement. Based on the report’s findings, the City created an equitable development implementation plan, which identifies priority projects and systemic changes required to advance equity. In the long-term, I believe viewing planning through the lens of equity and incorporating the needs of those most at risk of displacement will positively impact the future development of our city.

 What is your role at SDOT and what projects are you working on?

I work with the Public Space Management (PSM) Program in SDOT’s Street Use Division. PSM regulates use of the public right-of-way (mostly our streets and sidewalks), issuing permits for activities like sidewalk cafés, food trucks, neighborhood block parties and parklets. I’m part of the program development team, which explores new ideas for making our public spaces more vibrant while still ensuring the safety and mobility of pedestrians, cyclists and cars. As a relatively new member of the team, I’ve been working on how we can increase outreach to underrepresented communities so that they are aware of our programs and see us as a resource for implementing their ideas for enhancing their neighborhoods.

Can you tell us a bit about SDOT’s initiatives to improve public space?  

Our group was formed as a result of a task force convened in 2013 to comprehensively evaluate opportunities to create more vibrant public spaces. PSM’s program areas are a result of this process. Some ideas were driven by community interest, such as food trucks and street furniture, while others were inspired by successful efforts in other cities, like parklets and play streets. We continue to work on the program areas identified by the task force and are currently evaluating ways to make permitting less costly for uses that make public space more attractive and inviting, such as benches, lighting and planters.

What values, issues or interests are important to you and how do these inspire your work?

While I was still a landscape architect, I worked on a master development plan in Asia for a private developer. Looking at aerial photographs of the site, I saw dozens of rice fields and wondered what was going to happen to all the people if the developer constructed the seven golf courses and thousands of luxury homes we were envisioning. No one on the government side seemed concerned about the fate of the farmers; instead, the opportunity to attract foreign investment far outweighed protecting the rights of the public. This was incredibly frustrating, causing me to reevaluate my career and question whose side I wanted to be on. I believe that all members of our community should have a voice in planning and design, not just those with wealth and influence, and that the City has a responsibility to proactively engage with residents who might otherwise be excluded from traditional processes. In my role at SDOT, I endeavor to be as responsive, transparent and welcoming of ideas as possible.

What are the most exciting and most challenging aspects of your work?

I’m really excited to be a part of a group that’s tasked with implementing new ideas that will benefit residents, community groups and businesses. One of our big upcoming projects will be figuring out how to allow the sale of merchandise in the right-of-way. Currently, we only have vending permits for people to sell food or flowers, with a few exceptions. We’re in the very early stages of program development, which will require a great deal of public engagement and partnerships with other agencies as well as community groups. It’s a complicated process, but I think it will further the City’s goals to support and grow local businesses.

Are there any projects, issues or opportunities in Seattle on your radar which you hope to respond to in your work in the future?

I hope that PSM continues to contribute to the livability of Seattle. While increasing housing, affordable and otherwise, is rightly the focus of discussion, we also need to prioritize improvement of our public spaces. We are fortunate to be surrounded by gorgeous scenery, but our urban environment–what we experience everyday–should be attractive, active and enhance our quality of life.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Yolanda Ho first appeared on The Urbanist.

Drawing on this year’s Design Festival theme of “Design Change”, if you were to encourage people to visit one place in Seattle, where you have observed or influenced change through design, where would it be and why?

I’ve been a Seattle resident for five years, and even in my short time here the cityscape has drastically changed. If I could choose one place for people to visit, I’d encourage them to travel by bike (if able) along the new Westlake Protected Bike Lane. When I first moved to Seattle, I didn’t feel safe on my two-and-a-half mile commute from Fremont to the Seattle Center. After going through advocacy training at Cascade Bicycle Club, I was inspired to get involved with the Westlake Protected Bike Lane project. I attended one of the first community meetings about this project, and was able to see the project progress from idea to implementation. Thanks to a number of involved Seattleites and community-driven leadership from SDOT, Westlake now has a network of human-powered travel options for cyclists and pedestrians of any age or ability. I look forward to seeing pedestrian- and cycling- protected networks continue to connect all areas of our city.

What issues are you most passionate about in your work?

I am deeply concerned about the lack of intentional design in many of our rights-of-way. I am passionate about turning these overlooked spaces into places for people and nature. Seattle is the Emerald City, so why do we continue to add more pavement and create plazas that have few natural elements?

A colleague of mine recently shared this incredible quote from Bogotá’s Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, “Make sidewalks as wide as you value your citizens.” I’d also say, “Make the community as sustainable as you value your citizens.”

Could you tell us about your work and provide some insight into any projects you are currently working on?

My work is multi-disciplinary, and I am constantly on my toes to connect the dots and find ways to convert neighborhood wishes into reality.

Although I am trained as an architect, I find my flow when I’m working on urban design projects with community groups. I thrive at the intersection of innovation, sustainability and sociology. I am grateful that I’ve found the International Living Future Institute, an organization that champions this intersection and fosters a creative workplace at the Bullitt Center.

As the Manager of the Living Community Challenge, I support project teams that are committed to becoming Living Communities, as well as those that are interested in applying the philosophy in their designs. Much of this time is spent on education, research, resource development and phone calls with teams to discuss their goals and explore Living Community alignment and feasibility.

Recently, I’ve had the honor of working with InterImCDA and SDOT in developing an enhanced model for the S King Street Greenway. If funded, this proposal will explore how we can utilize the space between the sidewalk and the street for urban agriculture, and create a safe place for pedestrians and neighbors to gather.

What are the most exciting and most challenging aspects of your work?

The most exciting aspect of my work is working with a wide variety of stakeholders on Living Building Challenge and Living Community Challenge projects; everyone has a place at the table. Healthy communities should be for everyone, and we need all of our brains and voices to find solutions to getting there.

Whether you are: a teacher, a student, a real estate developer, a software developer, a city official, a designer or a resident, we need you to make a commitment to the future of our city. The future we want to create is one where all backgrounds and abilities feel safe, accepted, happy and healthy. The places we are trying to create are self-sufficient and they do not depend on fossil fuels. This idea of a better future keeps me, my colleagues, and project teams up at night.

The most challenging aspect of my work is that some of us feel this urgency to make change in our communities more than others. Taking action is difficult and requires courage; it is easy to avoid doing so when one is not faced with the imminent life threatening impacts of global warming daily themselves. There are far too many parts of the world that are burdened by climate change–and they are not the ones causing it.

What do you see as the most significant challenges facing Seattle and what do you see are the opportunities for design to transform this?

The lack of equitable access to green space. Nature helps promote mental and physical health, and provides many environmental benefits such as: protecting pollinators, reducing the urban heat island effect and food access, to name a few. The solution? I challenge designers and engineers to ensure that each piece of infrastructure they touch within the right-of-way have many purposes. Get creative. A rooftop isn’t only to keep rain off our heads and to house unsightly air handling units, it should now be a community-accessible pea patch and a place to enjoy the view of the city.

We are hosting a conversation online about this right now, join us in using hashtag #greenthegrey.

What has been your favorite project to date or what would be your dream project?

My dream project is to develop a tool to demonstrate the feasibility for turning Seattle urban villages into Living Communities. We need long-term vision plans for our neighborhoods. It’s easy to get caught up in planning for the next five years, but where do we want to be in the next 50? How will our neighborhoods be serving our children and our grandchildren?

I am thrilled to share that the North Rainier Mt. Baker Hub is thinking ahead. They are the first neighborhood in Seattle to register their commitment to pursuing the Living Community Challenge. A group of dedicated neighbors who are part of the Mt. Baker Hub Business Association are leading this effort. They hosted a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the Living Community registration fee after seeing alignment between North Rainier’s 2010 Neighborhood Plan goals and the high bar of the Living Community Challenge. This is the definition of a community coming together; working together to push a neighborhood to higher levels of environmental performance and social awareness. I encourage all Mt. Baker residents and stakeholders to get involved. You can contact Towncenterfriends@gmail.com for more information.

Further information about Marisa’s work can be found here.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Marisa Hagney first appeared on The Urbanist.

With over 20 years experience, Christine Scharrer leads Scharrer Architecture and Design, on a variety of architecture and design projects. She was the founding co-chair of the American Institute of Architect’s Seattle Women in Design organization and in 2015 was co-chair of the AIA’s Women Leadership Summit in Seattle. She has been involved in designing and delivering several transit projects for Sound Transit including Link light rail stations in Shoreline, Capitol Hill and Roosevelt.

Christine shared some insight into her work as part of our Women Shaping Seattle series exploring how women have changed and continue to change the design of the city.

The Seattle Design Festival is on at the moment and this year has the theme of “Design Change”. If you were to encourage people to visit one place in Seattle, where you have observed or influenced change through design, where would it be and why?

It would be a close tie between South Lake Union and Capitol Hill. South Lake Union because it is such a complete transformation and almost a 1960’s style urban renewal situation. Where a small scale/light industrial neighborhood once quietly sat at the end of the lake now you see block after block of new, mid-rise office buildings, new retail, and restaurants – it’s a whole different city.

Capitol Hill has been transformed in another way – it has always been a very vibrant, urban, and active neighborhood, but now we see block after block completely rebuilt with newer and larger residential buildings. Many buildings made a token effort to retain the neighborhood fabric by keeping the facades, but the end result is the same in that what was there is in most cases gone, both in form and in the cultural feel of the neighborhood.

What issues you are most passionate about in your work?

I am very passionate about creating smart buildings that make a difference in a positive way to the urban environment. We as a community and society need to be very serious about responding to the challenges that are coming our way due to climate change and socio-economic realities. I believe that good design can and should help us down the path of a prepared and resilient city. Since I started working on transit stations in 2003, I have become very passionate about transportation and the difference a well conceived transit project can make.

Could you tell us about your work and provide some insight into any projects you are currently working on?

My work is mainly in the public realm, with a special focus on transportation and infrastructure projects. I am currently designing a new Link light rail station at NE 185th Street in Shoreline, finishing up work on the underground Link station in the Roosevelt neighborhood, and designing the above-ground portions of a pump station facility in Ballard. Fun stuff!

What are the most exciting and most challenging aspects of your work?

The most exciting is the opportunity to be a part of many projects that will truly transform the region, and to design buildings that will be around for 100+ years. The most challenging aspect is that the types of projects that are this transformative take a long time to design and build, the project teams are very large, and there is much bureaucracy.

What do you see as the most significant challenges facing Seattle and what do you see are the opportunities for design to transform this?

Our population is growing so quickly that we cannot keep up with where to house everyone–that, coupled with an economic climate that has caused affordable housing to either disappear from the market due to renewal (see Capitol Hill above), or be re-purposed as investment or short-term rental property – has led to a true crisis.

Our opportunity is to be smart about infrastructure, low-income, and short-term rental policies, and mass transit opportunities. Sound Transit has one of the largest light rail construction programs happening anywhere, and that will definitely making a huge impact on the region and is exciting for people like me who like to design stations!

What has been your favorite project to date or what would be your dream project?

My favorite project is one that I worked on while at my last firm, Hewitt, and was able to continue to work on with Scharrer AD – the Capitol Hill Station for Sound Transit. This station has truly made a huge impact in this city, and it also happens to be my neighborhood rail station.

My dream project is…well, a rail project or public project with an unlimited budget!

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Christine Scharrer first appeared on The Urbanist.

We asked Rebecca her thoughts on Seattle, the role of universities in cities and her experiences as an architect and planner as part of our Women Shaping Seattle series exploring how women have changed and continue to change the design of the city.

You’ve been involved in some real game changers for Seattle, like your urban villages work. What do you think is the next big change needed in Seattle?

Seattle is on a roll, enjoying an enviable almost-golden era. Is big change needed? I am tempted to answer, humility. By which I mean such qualities as wisdom that seasons impatience for change, curiosity to explore beyond limited perspectives, patience to understand and believe in each other, and willingness to commit to making this a better Seattle hospitable to all people. I hope Seattle is capable of modeling ways of sharing wealth that ensure Seattle’s future as a region where everyone is welcome and can find their place in the social network, where anyone can find an affordable place to live, work that contributes and fulfills, an entire range of lively cultures and educational experiences, urbane and humane, respectfully interactive with its natural and historic context, and that we are able to act in time to achieve this.

Easy to say–who would disagree? And yet not only do we have homelessness and hate crimes, we have underfunded public education, limited availability of arts programming for kids, insufficient open space, reduced bus transit, and both young people and older people at all income levels are being priced out of the city. I don’t imagine anyone has all the answers.

Locally, there are some bright spots to support and celebrate. To mention only a couple dear to a planner’s heart: Mayor Murray is in the process of restructuring City departments to facilitate information-sharing and strategic planning with a city-wide focus to overcome the traditional compartmentalized silo effect of isolated departments. The silo effect has been responsible–nationwide, not just here–for wasting resources and citizens’ good will with expensive and frustrating fiascos. Relatedly, the City’s new Planning Director at the Office of Planning and Community Development, Sam Assefa, is working with colleagues and staff citywide to develop integrated databases that will enable the City to coordinate its many departments’ goals, budgets, projects and outcomes, stretching dollars by anticipating as well as accommodating the inevitable changing conditions of Seattle and Northwest living.

How has the role of universities in cities changed over time?

When I served as Boston’s chief planner fifteen years ago, that city began to proactively collaborate with universities and healthcare institutions–so-called “anchor institutions” due to their more permanent identities, and physical infrastructure/campuses. Cities across the country now look to higher education and healthcare partners to not only pursue their traditional missions, but also to contribute to public transportation, open space, housing, and enhancing social and economic equity. And the institutions themselves have begun to find ways to adopt some private sector behaviors–and partners–in order to stretch their increasingly constrained budgets and develop innovative ways of pursuing their traditional and expanding missions.

The heart and soul of this new partnership approach is shared information and resources. Like University of Washington’s program “urban@uw”, which focuses university research and resources on specific City-identified issues, informing City leaders about university programs in order to find opportunities to do things in ways that may accomplish the goals of both. The UPASS program is a long-standing and outstanding example of addressing shared goals. With all students and many faculty and staff subscribing, University of Washington transit ridership has reached unprecedented highs and commutes by single-occupant vehicles reached unprecedented lows. Collaborating with the City as well as with private sector and non-profit partners has great potential to extend and enhance the university’s ability to address its needs and those of its community.

What can universities that have existed in city centers for a long time and that have an established reputation and limited opportunity to change their location (like the University of Washington) do to shape the city?

A proposed up-zone for the U(niversity) District is just about to hit the City Council agenda, and it will be followed soon by a proposed new master plan for the University of Washington’s growth and development. Both zoning proposals are responses to changing conditions and goals that have the potential to reshape this part of the city.

Perhaps the greatest of these is the new Sound Transit light-rail line that is to connect the U District south to downtown, other neighborhoods, and Sea-Tac airport, and north to Northgate and beyond. Anticipation of two regional light-rail stations, one at each end of the UW campus, galvanized community, City and University leaders to shape a newly collaborative effort with the idea of maximizing this opportunity for the broadly-shared goals. These include job growth, housing affordable to the full spectrum of income levels, a public realm and open space network sufficient to the community’s needs, integrated and multi-modal transportation, social services–altogether the elements consistent with a vital, lively, opportunity-rich and inclusive urban university community.

And what can universities do to improve student and visitor experience?

UW is a public institution, funded with public dollars for public education. Everyone is welcome to its diverse, beautiful campus, which is one of the most admired in the US (some would say world-wide). Aware of the potential to more completely welcome and serve students and visitors, a recent UW initiative convened a broad-based group to look for opportunities. High on the list of suggestions are an improved wayfinding and signage program, a well-located visitor welcome facility, and more extensive and coordinated use of technology to provide useful information when and where it is most needed. Expect to see the first phase of a map-based wayfinding program installed soon on the main campus; it will be map-based and include links to supplementary online information.  

What do you find most enjoyable and challenging in your work?

Both in my formal education and in learning on the go I’ve warmed to missions associated with “making the world a better place”.

“When I graduated from college in a lackadaisical economy, I had to define my own path and becoming an architect seemed like a way to serve the housing affordability part of a better-place mission. I didn’t imagine it would be a springboard to the enormous range of placemaking experiences and roles that I have explored and enjoyed.”

Three decades of learning by doing produced a range of outcomes that far exceeded my hopes and dreams for making my contribution: Many of Boston’s Big Dig icons–the Lenny Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, the Rose Kennedy Greenway and Conservancy and Crossroads, the vent buildings and highway structures, the construction phase pedestrian-walkways keep-the-city-open kit-of-parts. Seattle’s “urban villages” and Westlake Park and ARCADE magazine. And stewardship of the treasure that is University of Washington’s campus collection–Seattle, Tacoma, Bothell–in a time of enormous innovation and reorientation, helping to define the path forward. The challenges inherent in this work have to do with first understanding what the needs are and then exploring, developing and effectively communicating ambitious, even inspiring, and feasible options to intrigue and hopefully convince constituencies and decision-makers.

Being a woman has influenced every aspect of my professional experience. My being at the table or in the room was almost always a surprise to someone–because I was female. My pay was generally less than my male colleagues. My ideas sometimes couldn’t be heard until a man repeated them as his. It was expected that I would let children get in the way of my commitment to my job, firm and profession. The litany of consequences of being female in a male-dominated industry is long and well-articulated elsewhere. At the same time, there have been many gratifying and very meaningful aspects to being a woman architect: Public sector employers who sought qualified women, and public sector work meetings where there were as many women as men at the table all working explicitly on behalf of the public good; wonderful women–and men–who led the way, broke the ground and mentored me, wonderful women – and men – who sought my counsel, appreciated collaborating with me and applauded my – our – accomplishments; breaking molds and establishing new norms, challenging and changing expectations, casting broader nets for solutions, forging partnerships, focusing resources on social and cultural aspects of physical planning, convening conversations and leading advocacy that would make positive differences to others’ paths and in the practices of our admirable and beleaguered alliance of design, planning and construction industries. Exhilarating!

Further information about Rebecca’s work can be found here.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Rebecca Barnes first appeared on The Urbanist.

Drawing on this year’s Design Festival theme of “Design Change”, is there a particular place or project that you think illuminates the way women have changed the design of Seattle?

There really is not a change that one can say has only to do with women–change is a social activity–we are all in it together. Nevertheless those with a different background ask different questions and can often see different possibilities. So yes, women can see projects in a different light given their background and they can see change with difference. Women can look at public space for example and ask questions about who uses it in ways that white men often do not consider. William Whyte’s work on public space was predominantly focused on how white men used public plazas–today students are re-investigating that research and its conclusions to consider how women, minorities, children, and others use similar spaces.

So how have women changed Seattle–architect Elizabeth Ayer and landscape architect Roberta Wightman helped to establish design in the Pacific Northwest–both building on the materials, culture, and place of our region. Ilze Jones saw architecture as a social space, as buildings that can nurture community through process as well as spatially. Jane Hastings along with women such as Carolyn Geise, Elaine Day LaTourelle, Lottie Eskilsson, Cynthia Richardson took on projects with a collaborative approach, understanding the powerful potential of bringing the right experts and knowledge to the table. These women often worked with engineers, landscape architects, and artists, both men and women. So a focus on collaboration, partnership, and collective work can be attributed to women, with men engaged, more so over time.

Women, as with other groups that are often ignored in leadership bring diversity and I don’t need to again note the essential nature of diversity when you are thinking about public spaces, cities, and urban landscapes. Diversity is paramount, in our thinking, our voices, and our futures.

I would also suggest that women have helped to keep residential work on the table as an important part of a design portfolio–not just homes and gardens for wealthy individuals but social housing, public housing, and middle class housing and landscapes–these projects are critical as homes are where we spend our time growing up and living–a life. The big awards often go to those really big, really expensive projects, although residential remains the bread and butter of many firms, women have often been willing to be more forthright about the critical contributions of domestic design to our social and cultural health and wellbeing.

Could you tell us about your work at the University of Washington and provide some insight into any projects you are currently working on?

I am a historian interested in how design has shaped our worlds, our spaces, and in particular our urban places. This is not the story of just famous people but of all the ways design, designers, and design advocates imagine, construct, use, and remember our landscapes. Think about it–most of our times is not in buildings but between, outside, in the landscape–how does that space get shaped? Why? By whom? And how does our imagination alter such spaces as different people with a remarkable diversity of backgrounds use the spaces and places? How can urban, city histories help expand our imagination by looking at the work of diverse individuals and groups? In the end my mission is to expand and enrich what we understand about our world through history.

What values, issues or interests are important to you and how do these inspire your work?

I value the role of design–primarily intentional design, when we take responsibility for what we are imagining and offering and building and finally stewarding. I value the differences that can be generated when we pay attention to who is at the table and who is in the landscape.

Design is powerful if we use it with care, engage communities, and listen listen listen and then dream, dream dream, and finally work work work…

Given your scholarship investigates feminist histories of design and the role of women as professionals and practitioners, could you provide some insight into the contribution of women to the design of Seattle?

Building on the answer to question one–there are a couple of places women have shaped–one could argue that women as shoppers are a core reason for the importance of Pike Place Market or women as designers for City Hall or as advocates with Rich Haag for Gas Works Park or as leaders for projects such as Freeway Park. As patrons, as leaders, as civically engaged individuals. In design, women such as Sharon Sutton have had the guts to challenge us to address issues of racism and sexism and violence and inequities. She and others with her have insisted the build on the powerful potential of diversity–of voices, of approaches, of backgrounds, of stories. Susan Jones has offered a voice to the need to rethink how we build, what we build with, and how we respond to human needs for shelter. Susan Bolla has been an advocate for people and place, and most specifically in rethinking how we use, draw on, and steward the built environment over time, a champion of re-habilitation and historic preservation as a dynamic practice. Ann Schopf has been a mentor to many women and men in design, pushing a focus on craft that serves people and environmental stewardship for projects in healthcare and education–two areas where design can be remarkably influential–as a catalyst and a place.

Do you consider any particular women as pioneers or innovators in the design or development of Seattle, and if so why?

I think I addressed this above–but I would add that today women in landscape architecture  such as Kathryn Gustafson, Jennifer Guthrie, Shannon Nichol, Barbara Swift, Karen Kiest, and so many more are leaders in rethinking public space–how do we shape cities to nurture communities–not just today but tomorrow? How do we design for diverse communities, dynamic neighborhoods? How do we construct places that foster human and environmental health and wellbeing. The focus on public space is critical and must must must become a public priority. We live so much of our lives in public space so we must make those places generative catalysts for civic engagement.

What has been your favorite project to date or what would be your dream project?

My dream project would be making sure the waterfront is an urban landscape that becomes a catalyst for Seattle to think of itself as a city for people instead of cars. The Seattle Center re-visioning group is doing this as well–how do we envision these public landscapes into our collective futures? How do design for the future drawing on the strengths of who and where we are, ALL of us, not just the privileged few? Individuals such as Cary Moon, Julie Parrett (and her good work at the Olympic Sculpture Park), Mary Johnston, Nancy Rottle, and so many more are part of making sure we keep our eyes on the prize–a city that we can enjoy on foot, with friends, and in a thriving environment… And of course Design in Public is taking this challenge on–head first–so more power to all who are working on this–it is and will change Seattle moving us ever closer to a more resilient, fun, dynamic, and nurturing city and community.

Further information about Thaisa’s work can be found here.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Thaisa Way first appeared on The Urbanist.

What do you consider the most important in your work?

Our work takes us to some of the most spectacular landscapes in the west: the Grand Teton National Park; the prairies of Montana; the high deserts of central Oregon and the coastal temperate forest landscape of Washington, to name a few. We are lucky to live and practice in an incredibly diverse and naturally-blessed part of the world. These spectacular environments and the challenges we all face with climate change and urbanization call for diverse skills and thinking, so I think what is most important is always taking a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach. Not only does that provide the base for working across a spectrum of environments, it creates a space for collision of ideas to facilitate rapid change.  We need rapid innovative change.

Can you tell us about projects you’ve worked on that were innovative?

Throughout my career I have consistently pursued design work that shifts the status quo. Some projects have been particularly innovative, though, so I’ll detail a few.

West Seattle Bridge Corridor 

In the early 1980s, a major transportation corridor through Seattle’s industrial area was considered waste land. My vision was to create an opportunity to engage with a working port, to give people a sense of the relevance, and ongoing use of our industrial areas. I introduced bicycle paths, pedestrian routes, access to the waterways, and implemented a public art plan. Now we see many projects involving repurposing of industrial places, but at the time it was cutting edge. Today, it is increasingly a valued part of the city fabric.

Discovery Park Habitat Project

In the mid 1990’s, we were retained to lead a diverse team charged with the restoration of a wildland park in Seattle. The project was an opportunity to really test some early thinking around rainwater. We recaptured street water for reuse in creating ponds and wetlands, and this approach became a case study in the subsequent explosion of innovative rainwater use. We also fostered public acceptance of use of biosolids, which we used to establish a prairie grassland habitat. Now biosolids are valued as a remarkable resource.

2+U Project (Skanska Development)

We are currently working on a project in the cultural center of Downtown Seattle. It is an exciting team effort with Swift Company leading the development of generous public spaces that influence the buildings–rather than the reverse happening, as is usually the case! This is an effort to find the balance and integration of inside and out. The vision is a ‘village’ of retail, commercial, community spaces, and public spaces at the base of an elevated tower. Creating the place for rich vibrant daily public life is a design driver and central client goal. We’ve made a practice of close observation of human behavior and patterns and this research is creating a design that invites use. Design can, I believe, enhance civil life and by consequence, richness of urban life and social cohesion. I am lucky to be led by Lisa Picard of Skanska in this project, who is willing to push beyond the expected.

The Seattle Design Festival is on at the moment and this year has the theme of “Design Change”. If you were to encourage people to visit one place in Seattle where you have observed or influenced change through design, where would it be and why?

Understanding the history and evolution of cities involves an awareness of change over time. I would take someone to the central waterfront, describe what it was like 10 years ago, and encourage them to return in 10 years. The waterfront will fundamentally transform the character, quality, and identity of the city. It shows that it can take a long time, and a lot of hard work, to build a resilient city.

And still on the theme of change, is there a part of Seattle which you think offers significant potential for change?

An area ripe for change is the amount of land occupied by single-family detached bungalow housing. This land use is dominant in Seattle and needs to move quickly to higher density–and create community. Without adapting this, Seattle won’t be able to absorb increased population, provide for low-income housing, or combat sprawl. Seattle has the capacity and vision to do this!

Have you come across projects or policies in other cities that you think Seattle could learn from?

As a 2016 Fellow with the University of Washington Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies, I spent time in Auckland, New Zealand. I was so impressed. The creation of a super city results in consolidated coordinated planning and delivery. The Centre City Master Plan is an exceptional piece of work. It sets a clear strategy, tells a strong story, and sets the pieces in place to get to action. The use of education, outreach, and careful storytelling has developed a community which uses the same language, puts place and design at the top of the list and is focused on creating a place for Aucklanders. I have never heard a mayor say, “We are doing this for our citizens to love.” Just remarkable. Council-controlled corporations are empowered to program, develop, and manage important revitalization efforts including significant areas of the central waterfront. Strong, smart, and beautifully designed spaces are truly pedestrian friendly and are evaluated for performance, resulting in immediate implementation of improvements. Budgets are set aside that span election cycles and consistently fund the public realm. From large scale to small, there are important things to learn.

Further information about Barbara’s work can be found here.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Barbara Swift first appeared on The Urbanist.

Lisa Picard is the Executive Vice President and Regional Manager of Skanska Commercial Development USA, one of the largest construction companies in the country. In Seattle, she led the development of Stone 34, the first-market rate project to participate in the City of Seattle’s Living Building Pilot Program, and 400 Fairview, a mixed use building which received an Award of Merit from the American Institute of Architects Seattle Chapter in 2015.

The Seattle Design Festival is on at the moment and this year has the theme of “Design Change”. If you were to encourage people to visit one place in Seattle where you have observed or influenced change through design, where would it be and why?

One place I know we at Skanska really work to influence and change is feel and function of the work place. The past production of standard corporate offices was largely to create a monument and identity for the company–often to make the worker feel small. We’ve focused on creating a lifestyle at the office that is a desired workstyle, where neighborhoods exist in and around our projects. We fundamentally look to take the energy of the street and the community and have it dance with the buildings we put on the landscape. Why can’t all the things we love about our neighborhoods be at work? If we are passionate about work, we want to love the places we do it. Given the imagination economy and the drive to create new value, we can no longer go to an office tower or an isolated berm campus to do great work. We need the messiness of personal collisions and connections.

Several of your projects at Skanska are noted for their innovations in sustainability and technology. What are some of the innovations you have brought to your projects and how do you think they may change the way we think about the design of buildings, places, or infrastructure?

I think the biggest focus we have is on values before checklist. We sit back and ask “what do we really value about this project in this location?” Often times it’s providing a level of authentic expression because so much of what’s built tries to be something it’s not. Or we focus on connection. And these values drive decisions in materials, transportation enhancements, etc. When we focus on the values of the project, we always outperform the checklist approach. Other areas are to make alternative commuting fun and convenient. I think we are only going to see a great need for enhancing the structures for bikes, electric bikes, etcetera as our cities are in no way keeping up with the growth happening within its boundaries.

What type of projects have been the focus of your career and what are you presently working on?

Always urban and seemingly in areas where there are complex relationships to the neighborhood and the street. We find that the constraints always make the most interesting projects.

What values, issues, or interests are important to you and how do these inspire your work?

Realizing that real estate development is not a spreadsheet exercise, despite the fact that so many people working in this profession are only experienced in spreadsheet manipulation and fail to focus on the experiences created. Working in the built environment affects people, communities, and future generations. We need to see it as something that requires this level of attention.

What are the most exciting and most challenging aspects of your work?

That every day is different, and if you realize you aren’t punching widgets, you can positively influence other developers and builder to also positively impact communities for generations to come.

What do you see as the most significant challenges facing Seattle and what do you see are the opportunities for design to transform this?

That we have done absolutely nothing about the population growth that just happened over the last five years, and we are going to continue to experience extreme challenges in moving around our city. This will certainly change the dynamics of where it is desirable to live and work, and we are seeing this already. Combine this with the fact that we also have not kept up with new housing, and it’s a story that’s affecting many other economically successful cities. Our challenge is if we can change before change further happens to us.

Further information about Lisa’s work can be found here.

The post Women Shaping Seattle: An Interview With Lisa Picard first appeared on The Urbanist.

A recent article in the Guardian asked: If women built cities, what would our urban landscape look like? The article discusses how men often dominate in decision-making and leadership regarding the built environment and questions whether the look or feel of places would be different if more women were responsible for their design. While such questions are important, they can overlook that women DO build cities and ARE shaping our urban landscapes. In the case of Seattle, there is at least a century worth of women influencing the city’s design, which inspired us to explore some of these contributions of “design change” through a series of interviews and stories over the coming weeks.

Elizabeth Ayer, the first architecture student

Elizabeth Ayer (1897-1987) was a pioneer, graduating from the University of Washington in 1921 and becoming the first first woman to register as an architect in the State of Washington in 1930. Ayer and her counterparts across the world, undeniably paved a way for women to enter built environment professions and influence the design of places. She practiced as an architect for 50 years, influencing residential architecture in Seattle through a mix of modernist and traditional approaches to design.

She worked with Seattle architect Edwin Ivey, becoming his associate and playing a key role in the design and management of their residential projects. When Ivey died suddenly in 1940, Ayer took over the firm with her colleague Rolland Lamping, with both serving as architects for the U.S. Engineer’s office during World War II. They established their firm, Ayer and Lamping following the war, focusing on residential design.

First female mayor

In 1926, Seattle was the first major US city to elect a female mayor, Bertha Knight Landes, who served for two-years. She had been one of the first two women to be elected to the Seattle City Council in 1922. Women in Washington State had only been granted the right to vote in 1910. The 19th Amendment was passed, allowing women across the nation the same liberty in 1920, generating a great deal of excitement for her appointment as mayor. The focus of her tenure was described as “municipal housekeeping,” addressing the city’s corruption and finances, and appointing qualified professionals to lead city departments. She is credited for returning the street railway system to profit and expanding recreational programs and park facilities. One of her most unique initiatives included offering $1 a year to community members to report reckless drivers!

Although Landes was endorsed by all of Seattle’s major newspapers, she was not re-elected. There have been no female mayors to lead the City subsequently.

Beautifying spaces

A linear parkland along Seattle’s Elliott Bay, with views of the Olympic Mountains, honors the work of Myrtle Edwards, who served on the Seattle City Council from 1955 until her death in 1969. Edwards was an influential figure in Seattle Beautiful Inc., promoting public parks, boulevard plantings, and programs to beautify neighborhoods. She was also influential in acquiring the land for Gas Works Park. The Park was originally to be named after her, however in 1972 her family requested her name to be removed due to the retention and design focus on the gas work infrastructure.

First female-owned architectural practice in Washington State

L. Jane Hastings, entered architectural practice in 1953, after graduating from the UW as the only woman in her class of 200 students. She established the oldest woman-owned architecture firm in Washington State in 1959 and was the first female president of the American Institute of Architects, Seattle Chapter, and Chancellor of the AIA College of Fellows. She worked as an architect in Plant Facilities for Boeing, before taking a civilian position with the U.S. Army in Germany in 1954-1956. Upon her return, she worked with several architects on significant projects including the Seattle Opera House and Burke Museum. The Hastings Group (1974-1995) created designs for over 500 residential projects, as well as commercial projects, university buildings, alterations to Sea-Tac Airport, and I-90 bridge and tunnel. Many of Hasting’s residential projects were featured in the Seattle Times Home of the Month and in 1971 her Karrow Residence won the national AIA award in conjunction with House and Home magazine. Hasting’s architectural achievements are noted, particularly as her “concern for energy efficiency predates the energy crisis era of alarm”.

The first of our interviews with women in design in Seattle will be published tomorrow.

The post Women Shaping Seattle first appeared on The Urbanist.