Lonely Buildings

New Creative Event! May 23 is Giant Living Room #1 in Seattle.

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:13:43 -0700

New Creative Event! May 23 is Giant Living Room #1 in Seattle.

This is Colossal

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:11:00 -0700

This is Colossal:

Beautiful site with amazing arts & architecture.

Photo

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:50:55 -0700

Here’s to more Community Building events this year! Want...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:58:26 -0800

Here’s to more Community Building events this year! Want to bring one to your town? Email us! Some of these have spread to Tacoma WA, Austin TX, Portland OR, Lebanon PA, Vashon Is. WA, Anacortes WA, and more soon…

Fremont Abbey Arts Center renovation photo gallery. The Abbey is...

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:41:00 -0800

Fremont Abbey Arts Center renovation photo gallery. The Abbey is a 1914 brick church in Seattle I was Project Manager and finishing designer for in 2006-08.

The Abbey’s old pipe organ wasn’t fixable, so...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:33:00 -0700

The Abbey’s old pipe organ wasn’t fixable, so we’re re-purposing it into new useful items! I designed the basics for this bench and then Steve Withycombe added some nice touches while building it. The door was made by Clint Ceder. Other re-purposed items around the Abbey include a vintage couch, barrels, branches, and an antique TV we made into a bar.

Old (but fun) places for Weddings

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:09:08 -0700

I get asked a lot about good, local, environmentally conscious (yet cool) places to rent for weddings or nonprofit benefit events. People want something unusual though too, not just a boring hotel lobby or a fancy garden. So here’s a very focused list of places I think are “green” in more ways than one…
These venues are doing some interesting adaptive reuse and also implement green policies such as composting, healthy catering, and artistic designs.

SEATTLE, WA:

Fremont Abbey Arts Center*
(Renovated old 1914 church.)

415 Westlake
(Renovated old electrical supply store.)

Shafer-Baillie Mansion
(Very old house near Volunteer Park, now a B&B and venue.)

OTHER CITIES:

Treehouse Point, Issaquah WA
(Treehouses. Need I say more?)

Red Barn Studios, Chehalis WA
(The name almost says it all, but add “gorgeous meadows, a garden, sunshine” and you are happy. You can literally eat the veggies you have in your wedding photos.)

Green Union Building, Brooklyn NY
(Renovated old warehouse. Elegant & classy but tons of fun and great possibilities with decor.

*Ok, I’m a little biased on that one since I designed it.

I found this rather inspiring, from author David Brooks at TED...

Wed, 11 May 2011 21:41:01 -0700

I found this rather inspiring, from author David Brooks at TED 2011.

Tell Your Story With Your Whole Heart

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:42:58 -0700

Tell Your Story With Your Whole Heart:

A beautiful TEDtalk…

you’ll want to be able to say “i knew her...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 23:25:54 -0700

you’ll want to be able to say “i knew her when” so check this out, from my hometown…

kayleecole:

A new song, Love Somebody, filmed by Christian Sorensen Hansen in the Skagit Valley at the house I grew up in and will always call my home.

FREE Design for Reuse Primer

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:37:00 -0800

FREE Design for Reuse Primer:

Love this! Also from the book “Let My People Go...

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:26:56 -0800

Love this! Also from the book “Let My People Go Surfing”.

"…’put everything aside. There’s nothing to be afraid of, except a little cold water...."

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:50:00 -0800

““…’put everything aside. There’s nothing to be afraid of, except a little cold water. Just focus on the next step you are taking. I feel so happy running down the river, sun reflecting off the water, my body naturally going where it’s supposed to. I almost don’t think at all. I just respond to what’s in front of me’. ””

- “…He stops talking and heads downstream again. We slowly pick our way across the rocks, catching rainbows and brook trout. The day passes quickly, and my confidence rises. Soon I’m playing and racing down the rapids with eyes wide and senses alert, not knowing I’ve just received my first lesson in Zen. — The air drifts over my body. I grasp the immediate. I reach for the next hold.”
- Dean Potter

Full story: “A Lesson in Zen”
Mountain climber, Dean Potter, shares this touching story of his first lesson in Zen taught to him by his father during a childhood fly fishing trip. This excerpt is from the amazing book, “Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Business Man” by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia.

Infographics help you dream

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:59:00 -0800

Infographics help you dream:

… and are great using past numbers or even ‘future data’. [www.coolinfographics.com] I recommend creating various images even when you are in the dreaming and planning process. Even a simple Word Cloud can help in a meeting. Infographics based on made up numbers are of course much easier to come up with, so just be careful you don’t get yourself stuck in a off-mission project because of a nice visual that really took off in a meeting.

The Problem of Venue

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:03:00 -0800

The Problem of Venue:

by Bond Huberman for ARCADE JOURNAL

HIGHLIGHTS:

1. Three separate performance spaces: a black box, a proscenium and a thrust

2. A street-side retail shop

3. A street-side café,

4. A street-side or basement pub

5. Private artist studios available at an affordable rent.

6. Three multi-purpose classrooms / meeting rooms

7. Individual sized practice labs

11. An office / coworking space 21. Windows. Light. Access. Openness. / flexible multipurpose space

12. A communal kitchen

Inspired by stoops

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:55:00 -0800

So I’ve been thinking about doing a coffee table book with lots of nice photos of front porches in Seattle.
decks.
verandas.
stoops.

Did you know having a good front stoop, and using it, will actually reduce the crime in your neighborhood and also make your house that much less likely to be robbed? Indeed!

I’m just really not happy with many of our stoops. I think they need some design help. But there are some wonderful ones out there. Just saw 2 tonight on a walk around Tangletown in fact.

Open, welcoming, low, friendly, comfortable, room for a few chairs, bit of a railing, not too intimidating or high, etc. etc. I mean, come on folks… is it really that hard to make a good stoop these days? I know we all want our backyards to be fenced in with high security walls covered in barbed wire and broken glass… but the front stoop should still be the place to sit and watch the sunset and chat with passerbys (do folks still pass by?) and what… nod or wave to a neighbor?! How bout that!

BlueTree Facebook Page

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:43:19 -0800

BlueTree Facebook Page

Beautiful Photos

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:43:00 -0800

Beautiful Photos:

A great blog with gorgeous photos of abandoned buildings around the world.

One Percent from Architects

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:39:00 -0800

One Percent from Architects:

a great organization helping architects connect with nonprofits to help them with design projects all around the world

Design for Good

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 10:38:42 -0800

Here’s a lovely blog.