SUSTAINABLE SITE SELECTION FOR SCHOOLS In the case of a new school, the first job for the working group is selecting a site. All the decisions that go into making a sustainable campus or building follow. Location defines the impacts of development both to the site itself and to surrounding neighborhoods, transportation, habitat, and hydrology. — Published 2010.0602
	AIA'S BEST LIBRARIES 2007 When Scottish-American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie opened his first public library in his hometown of Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1883, the motto he had inscribed over the door was "Let there be light." Although he was probably referring to the enlightenment of learning, his words resonate today in the importance modern architects place on daylighting in libraries. — Published 2007.0523
	CANADIAN CONTEMPORARY Canadian architecture has always eschewed the dominance of formalism for more complex and integrated solutions reflecting its humanist concerns. The strong social-democratic trend of governmental supervision and community control in Canada influences architecture through a complex framework of programming, design guidelines, zoning by-laws, and building codes, within which designers must operate. Such a system is unlikely to allow stylistic concerns to override programmatic ones. — Published 2007.0131
	GRANDE BIBLIOTHÈQUE DU QUÉBEC A grand pedestrian promenade behind the front facade of the new Grande Bibliothèque of the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (BAnQ) links directly with the Metro, creating a 24-hour public thoroughfare tied into the fabric of the local community. The new library, in Montréal's Latin Quarter, houses two major collections: a large national reference library and an extensive lending library. But the 355,000-square-foot (33,000-square-meter), five-story glazed structure serves more than books. — Published 2006.0614
	AIA HONOR AWARDS 2005 Outstanding architecture has once again been given a spotlight with the announcement of the 2005 AIA Honor Awards. With a geographic range from Vancouver to Rome, and a range of types from urban highrises to rural hay barns, these works demonstrate distinctive and imaginative responses to place and function. — Published 2005.0223
	SEATTLE ARCHITECTURE AWARDS In the northwest corner of the United States, a decade of explosive growth in technology, trade, and communications has offered tremendous opportunity to design professionals. Such rapid growth also tests their mettle as stewards of the built environment. — Published 2002.0102
	TWO COMPACT URBAN SCHOOLS A school on top of a parking garage might not initially sound appealing. A parking garage would be a bleak, unlovely place, an aesthetic bludgeon to hungry young minds. But that's where design comes in. The Gonzalo and Felicitias Mendez Fundamental Intermediate School in Santa Ana, California, is tucked behind a shopping mall, on top of a parking garage. — Published 2001.0725

Patkau Architects