(continued)

The jury for the design awards included Craig Hodgetts of Hodgetts + Fung, Los Angeles, known for "urban scenarios" in several U.S. cities; Joseph Valerio of Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, one of Chicago's foremost architects; and Marion Weiss of Weiss/Manfredi, New York, designer of the Women's Memorial and Education Center at Arlington National Cemetery.

In their on-stage conversation at the awards program, moderated by Architectural Record senior editor James Russell, the group chose to focus on "the convergence of international attitudes with regional traditions," a timely subject in Seattle.

Perhaps more than in any other year, large firms, out-of-town architects, and far-flung projects were represented among the award-winners. Hodgetts observed that, perhaps because of the lively interchange that is part of the local tradition, he saw a level of craft among the design awards entries that is very unusual in Southern California.

Honor Award Winners

Top honors went to the Bellevue Art Museum by Steven Holl Architects, the Bainbridge City Hall by The Miller/Hull Partnership, Pine Forest Cabin by James Cutler Architects, and The Brain: A Filmmaker's Studio, by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen.

"These four buildings are expressive of the unresolved dialog among architects (in Washington) about where you are going," said Weiss.

Holl's museum, although not yet opened, promises to hold a series of spaces molded to receive and deploy natural light with ethereal effects first discovered here in his Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University two years ago. At the same time, the building stands with compact, muscular defiance in the field of high-end shopping centers and glass towers that is downtown Bellevue.

The Bainbridge Island City Hall, by the Miller/Hull Partnership, could not be more different. It is an expansive, light-filled modern barn, housing a range of retail-style services. Bainbridge Island is a small city that has remained decidedly rural, a ferry ride from downtown Seattle.

Both remaining Honor Award winners are deceptively simple boxes standing lightly on the landscape. One is for private retreat, the other for intensely focused activity. In their simplicity and relationship with the landscape, they represent the finest tradition in the architecture of the Northwest, by architects who have helped to define it.

The Pine Forest Cabin, by Cutler Architects, is located on the eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, a few hours drive from Puget Sound. It is notable for its restraint, beautifully simple layout, and underplayed surfaces and materials—a standout in an area that is becoming riddled with timber houses and tennis courts. Jim Cutler has given his typical care to the way the building meets the ground.

"The Brain," by Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, was designed as a personal studio and think pad for a client involved in the film industry. It is a loft-like cube, with a large focal window in the center of one side.

More Projects of Merit

Two more houses were honored with Awards of Merit: the Gosline Residence, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, and the Roddy-Bale Residence, by the Miller/Hull Partnership. Both houses are open, rectilinear structures on sloping sites designed by masters of tradition—Peter Bohlin and Bob Hull, respectively.

The Good Samaritan Hospital and Children's Center, by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, a sculptural modernist composition with humane, open areas, was also recognized in that category.

Commendations for Out-of-Town Projects

NBBJ received a Commendation for the Reebok World Headquarters in rural Canton, Massachusetts, an organic glass-and-steel sculpture influenced by Peter Pran, who is now with the firm's Seattle office.

The House of Charity in Spokane, Washington, by Northwest Architectural Company, is a bold variation on residential vernacular in the region. The Turtle Bay Park and Visitor Center in Redding, California, is a luminous composition by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson.

The Polson Building, a finely detailed renovation on Pioneer Square, by Mahlum Architects, also got a Commendation. So did the First Christian Reformed Church, by BjarkoSerra Architects, an all-embracing addition retaining the structure and roof profile of the original building.

Saffron, a suburban mixed-use development, by Bumgardner, is a particularly lively example of an important trend in suburban redevelopment: the creation of a dense, mixed-use center where there had been only vast tracts of single-family developments. This project received a Citation.

The Nature of Conceptual Design

And with a separate jury and presentation, AIA Seattle sponsored a competition for conceptual design, as well. The jury for conceptual projects included James Cutler of James Cutler Architects, Kevin Matthews, publisher of ArchitectureWeek, and Barbara Swift of Swift & Company Landscape Architects.

In their deliberation and their public discussion, they chose to focus on the definition of "conceptual" in architecture. Conceptual architecture is still architecture, said Matthews. As such, the idea must have a certain clarity and freedom from elements that are contradictory, extraneous, arbitrary, he said.

At the same time, all the jurors agreed that the concept had to reach a level of design that made it credible as a built project. And as architecture it must pass the ultimate test: to "grab somebody's heart," according to Cutler.

One project succeeded, a tube-like enclosure that dips down into the water on the shore of Lake Union. Stairs lead down the tube within the transparent walls, until the occupant stands entirely beneath the water. There, a cone-shaped tube leads straight up, breaking the surface and bringing the sky into view.

Entitled TransPIER and designed by CAST Design/Build, the project was the only one recognized in the Conceptual Awards category. It was fitting for the heart of Seattle—modest, magic, and completely at one with the environment.

Clair Enlow is a writer and architecture critic in Seattle and a contributing editor to ArchitectureWeek. She is a member of the Advisory Board for AIA Seattle.

As part of Seattle's Architecture Week, schoolchildren drew their own schools. Photo: Clair Enlow

Children were asked to envision a new school; some of their ideas will be presented to the mayor. Photo: Clair Enlow

The Turtle Bay Exploration Park Visitor Center (Redding, California), by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. "A strong composition of glowing boxes in a pavilion array." Photo: Karl A. Backus

Mithun CEO Burt Gregory and client Debbi Brainerd with a model of the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center, an example of environmental sensitivity in design. Photo: Clair Enlow

The Polson Building/Mahlum Architects Offices (Seattle), Mahlum Architects, "an incredibly intelligent and skillful reclamation of a fire-damaged building." Photo: Fred Housel

First Christian Reformed Church Additions & Alterations (Shoreline, Washington), BjarkoSerra Architects. The jury commented: "This form demonstrates "volumetric success...severe and simple, artfully contrasted with comfort, beauty, and ease of the congregation within." Photo: Fred Housel

Saffron, a village center (Sammamish, Washington) by Bumgardner. "With spare means, the architects have made a fresh approach to the typology of retail/residential mixing, integrating uses and promoting an urban lifestyle." Photo: Richard Nicol

The House of Charity (Spokane, Washington), by Northwest Architectural Company, "retains the iconography of house and home while projecting an image of gathering." Photo: Conboy Photography   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.