Concours Chandieu
www.krstudios.com | (T) 206.448.1003 | (F) 206.448.1204 koryn@krstudios.com | PO Box 9446, Seattle, WA 98109 USA
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Table of Contents Cover Letter Project Visualization
3 Portfolio Presentation:
Exterior Projects
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CV
5 Portfolio Presentation:
Portfolio Presentation:
Children’s Projects
Interior Projects
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28
Artist Publications
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COVER LETTER OF INTENT: INTRODUCTION
My two-fold education in architecture and fine arts has naturally lead to a philosophy which utilizes architectural forms along with an extensive exploration of many types of materials, technologies and imagery. This becomes an integral part of my environmental exterior and interior installations. I work to develop an understanding of the individual culture, while preserving the original intent and spirit of these facilities. By integrating images, forms, lighting and technology we have an opportunity to discover a new visual language as a partnership in the public art process. These installations are fun, educational, and pertinent to their environmental ‘home’ and ‘sense of place’.
VISUALIZATION DRAWING INTENT:
COLLABORATION
For the Project Chandieu, it is important for myself as a public artist to work collaboratively with the Architects, interior, landscape & graphic designers to define a visual language back to the educational facility and the community. My studio incorporates all manners of computer drawing technology and prides itself with open and swift communication on all aspects of the design construction process. I see my job as to interpret the poetic language of the architectural team in a way that the pedestrians of all ages can interact with immediacy and joy.
BUBBLES & WAVES
PRIVATE SPACES COLOR LED PATH 3
SITE CONCEPT
I feel strongly that this collaboration between the design team and the artist is to build unifying theme and design amenities that will change the identity of this are as a comprehensive community endeavor. The plazas and area should be as dynamic in day and change, to a new visual language during the evening. This change can encourage further community use and add to the safety and iconic language of this neighborhood.
My concept would be to redefine nature in unusual ways using the simple language of the circle and structures such as our past project images. I would like to use this circle design, used in the interior of the school, as an integral part of the open plaza area and as a counter point to the ship concept - as if they are the “bubbles” of moving water. These circular shapes can be repeated as elements installed throughout the plaza as surface design, seating, concert area, and multiple pavilions, all to be developed as “special” gathering places with individual personalities emulating nature.
MOVEMENT
LIGHT BEACONS
I want the pedestrian area to look as if the plaza is ‘flowing and moving’ with small surprises everywhere appealing to all ages. I also see the importance of using LED lighting in the plazas as nighttime visual art – enhancing the joyful culture of community events while emulating the theme of flowing circular movement. The final piece of this process is an exploration of iconic beacon sculptural elements that can be seen from afar as if they are ‘sea faring lighthouses’, which can define this exciting area and service it as a safe harbor.
CIRCULAR MOTION
PUBLIC GATHERING NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
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KORYN ROLSTAD Bannerworks Inc. (dba) Koryn Rolstad Studios PO BOX 9446 | SEATTLE WA 98109 | (p) 206 448 1003 | (f) 206 448 1204 www.krstudios.com | koryn@krstudios.com Women and Minority Owned Business State of Washington Registration: WBE# W2F0902589 DUNS & CCR Registered Vendor - U.S. Citizen
EDUCATION Affiliate Assistant Professor – 2005-Present University of Washington, College of Arts and Sciences Bachelor of Arts, Fine Art – 1975 University of Washington, Environmental Design/Architecture Certificate Russian Language, Literature & Culture – 1970 University of Moscow Languages Spoken in Studio – (fluent) Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Mandarin AWARDS Nellie Cashman Award – 2003-4 Woman Business Owner of the Year American Society for Interior Designers, Northwest Division – 2003 Lifetime National Achievement in the Arts Society of Environmental Graphic Design Merit Award – 2000 Robert Crawford Elementary School Annual Print Magazine Award – 1999 Public Works Projects for the Federal Government Best of Category, AT&T Labs – 1998 Industrial Design Society of America Achievement in Lighting Design – Stir Crazy Restaurant Gold Key Award Finalist – Interior, Hospitality Design – 1997 Best Restaurant, Lighting – Interior Magazine – 1997 Interior Design Award – Restaurant & Institution – 1997 Banner Building, Project Developer AIA National, Honor Award – 1996 Northwest and Pacific Region AIA, Grand Honor Award – 1995 Seattle AIA, Honor Award – 1994
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PUBLICATIONS Building Diplomacy, The Architecture of American Embassies – 2004 4 Stop Press – US Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa The Architectural Traveler: A Guide to 250 Key 20th Century American Buildings – 2002 W.W. Norton & Company – Banner Building Project This Way: Design for Public Spaces – 2000 Rockport Press – Four Projects Recognized Urban Technology – 1999 Urban Land Institute – Banner Building Project AFFILIATIONS Arts Commissioner, King County Metro Arts Commission – 1993-1995 Intiman Theater, Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Music Madness, Northwest Designer Craftsmen – 2001-Present Lecturer – 1998-Present MIT, Dartmouth University, Harvard University, Virginia Tech, Howard University Symposium on Healthcare Design, National Series AIA – St. Louis, Toledo, Dallas, Washington DC CONSULTING
Boeing Company/Teague, 7E7 Project – 2002-2004 Design, Research Engineer LMN Architects, Cincinnati Convention Center – 2004 Design, Engineering, Technical Research, Value Engineering Berger/ABAM, Hough, Beck & Baird, Arai Jackson, Architect, SeaTac International Airport – 2000 Design, Value Engineering USG Corporation, Multiple Projects – 1999-2002 - Design, Research Engineer
SELECTED DOMESTIC INSTALLATIONS Borders Group, Inc. – Ann Arbor, MI GlaxoSmithKline Headquarters – Pittsburgh, PA Boeing Commercial Airlines – Everett, WA Union Station – Washington, DC Lyrick Studios – Allen, TX Gaston Memorial Hospital – Gaston, NC Point Defiance Zoo – Tacoma, WA PNC Firstside Center – Pittsburgh, PA Museum of Flight – Seattle, WA SOCOM, General Staff Headquarters – Tampa, FL Bangor Small Arms Training Facility – Silverdale, WA Experience Music Project – Seattle, WA Mayo Clinic – Owatonna, MN Novell Corporate Headquarters – San Jose, CA Denver Museum of Natural History – Denver, CO Nortel Network Design – Dallas, TX SELECTED PERCENT FOR ART Florida A&M University – Tallahassee, FL Pierce College – Puyallap, WA Pensacola Regional Airport – Pensacola, FL Robert Crawford Elementary – Fairbanks, AK Hawthorne Police Station – Hawthorne, CA Dartmouth University – Lebanon, NH Kino Public Health Center – Tucson, AZ Cleveland State University – Cleveland, OH Hope & Healing Center – Nashville, TN Pensacola Regional Airport – Pensacola, FL University of Maryland Medical Center – Baltimore, MD Robert Service High School – Anchorage, AK Nunaka Middle School – Anchorage, AK Surprise Public Safety Building – Surprise, AZ Pensacola Regional Airport – Pensacola, FL University of Maryland Med. Center – Baltimore, MD Kino Public Health Center – Tucson, AZ Dartmouth University – Lebanon, NH SELECTED FOREIGN INSTALLATIONS Costa Linda Resort – Aruba, The Netherlands, Antilles US Armed Forces, NATO – Germany Hiratsuka Theatre 8 Complex – Japan Yellowknife International Airport – Canada Jeda Women’s Center – Saudi Arabia US Embassy – South Africa & Armenia Mishima Hospital – Japan Urayasu Sports Center – Japan Tashkent Peace park – Uzbekistan Sekisui Corporate Headquarters – Japan
20010 / 12 PROJECTS - RECENT INSTALLATIONS (EDITED) Sheltering Growth Lobby installation, Multi-Service Building – Houston, TX (percent for art) (Installed 10/09) 30’ aluminum tree, cascading rings and leaves, digital wall murals – 5th Ward rehabilitation neighborhood project for a social service and community service new facility. ($90,000) Reflections in Motion, Pierce College, Allied Health & Communications Building – Puyallup, WA (percent for art) (Installed 11/10) Suspended sculpture throughout a three-story entryway. ($70,000) Luke Milam Memorial & BEQ Graphic Murals – US Navy - Everett, WA (Installed 05/09) 6 floors and 3 wings of digital images and poetry / Environmental Memorial for Luke Milam (d. 2007), Milam was Navy/Marine Medic hero and survivor of the Columbine shooting. ($400,000) Shimmering Echoes – Municipal City Hall – Suwanee, GA (Installed 09/10) Two suspended sculptures on either side of lobby for new city hall - layered colored eco- resins. ($78,000) Nature of Community – Redmond City Center – Redmond, WA (Installed 07/10) Two LED back lit mural series each 40’ w x 6’ h depicting nature and community activities. ($100,000) Our Thriving Culture - Kaiser Permanente Hospital - Fontana, CA (Installed 02/11) Sets of large exterior wall panels depicting the culture of the hospital and surrounding community. ($100,000) Guiding Sails – Lambert’s Point Community Center – Norfolk, VA (Installed 06/11) Exterior concrete benches, 15 foot high sail sculptures and LED lighting. ($62,000) Eco-Stories – Mercy Medical Hospital – Des Moines, IA (Installed 10/11) Interior elevator lobby at Children’s Hospital, wallpaper layering and digital images. ($90,000) Sheltering Aspen - Marsac Plaza - Park City, UT (Installed 01/12) Exterior aluminum poles of various heights with radiant and transparent ellipse elements. ($65,000) Sand Piper Pavilion – ShouthShore Regional Library Exterior Plaza, Ruskin, FL (Installed 02/12) Seven pavilion structures providing shade and performance space in exterior plaza at regional Library ($95,000) TO BE INSTALLED 2012 Sky, River, Trees - Hands On Children’s Museum – Olympia, WA Exterior Plaza artwork installation – Exterior sculpture traveling along pedestrian- way. ($68,000) Sheltering Movement - Multimodal Transportation Terminal - Oklahoma State University - Stillwater, OK Interior suspended installation of radiant and translucent ellipse elements depicting themes of movement. ($70,000) Exterior Gateway Project - Calgary Children’s Zoo - Calgary, Alberta Canada Exterior Sculptural Gateway and Plaza for entry way into the new children’s educational zoo. ($250,000)
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Portfolio Presentation
Exterior Projects
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Sheltering Aspen Marsac Plaza | Park City Hall, Park City, UT
Sheltering Aspen in Park City, UT, is the
city’s first Public Art installation installed in the surrounding plaza of their newly remodeled City Hall (100 year old school house). After skiing for years in the area I decided to tie the strong natural elements of Park City – the unique aspen tree stands and their silver mining history – to push their ‘pedestal art’ concept to a full environmental experience for their community.
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The Aspen builds tall stable trees with their yellow changing colored leaves developed at the top portions nearest the sun. These stands produce small out cropping of smaller trees and are unique in their own ‘community’ groupings – such as the growth of Park City. I have received many comments from the community and resort visitors about the visual and sensual experiences while walking up the ramp walkway between the 7 different tree stands. The ever-changing colored shadows play on the ground and walls, at all times in the day and night. Words like ‘Magical – Spiritual – Relevant – Fairy tale – Enchanted’ have been used. The project uses all recycled aluminum and eco-resin and is structurally sound enough to withstand the inclement weather and children’s hands on explorations!!
Year: 2012 Medium: Translucent and radiant PolyCarb elements clustered and suspended on the tops of aluminum poles. Located in large exterior entry plaza of Park City Hall. LED night lighting changing color at the base of the trees. Dimension: poles 20’ H x 6’D x 24’L Budget: $65,000 Commissioning Agent: Park City Municipal Corporation, Public Art Advisory Board
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Guiding Sails Lamberts Pt Community Center Plaza Norfolk, VA
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Year: 2011 Medium: Park sculpture and seating at a pedestrian pass-through and congregation area. 6 pole and sail structures depicting the marine culture of the area. Concrete, aluminum and exterior substrate. LED lighting system changing from day to night. Dimension: 20’ tall - 35’ x 12’ area Budget: $62,000 Commissioning Agent: City of Norfolk, VA, Department of Cultural Affairs
Guiding Sails installation in Lambert’s Pt
Community Center – Norfolk, VA was designed as a unique visual experience that has a connection to the new center in a very under-serviced neighborhood trying to change out of a high crime reputation to a growing and connected community. The six 20’ tall sails emulate the culture of Norfolk as a nod to the largest Naval fleet in the US (World), using the elegant forms of sails and wind. I continued with the forming of custom curved concrete benches – such as in a sailing race – as seating and resting places for the young children and seniors that this facility supports. Included on the benches are two stainless plates with two separate quotes about community, the lighthouse concept, and public safety. The vision of the project is seen from afar when driving and the newly installed LED lights give a ‘beacon’ of color changing images to add to the safety of the area. Many of the children and Seniors have to wait in the small central garden area of the parking lot for their transportation and have
found that this added feature only helped to reduce the neighborhood perception as a high crime area. A comment came to me from a young girl working at the desk – she said that the whole facility was surprised that ‘they would be special enough to receive this project and the seniors love this area for their lunchtime. To me this is what public art is about – how the community redefines the projects in their own voice.
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Nature of Community Cycle Wall & River Wall
Redmond Center Redmond, WA
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ature of Community – Cycle and River Walls were designed to give context to a long sidewalk area that needed to service a newer pedestrian context since a large effort is being developed to in city living for the Redmond, WA central community. This provides lighting, safety, context to the community values - Cycling capital of the US and their Natural Environmental Resources. I sandblasted the existing sidewalks with the cycle wheels and river waves – which are always noticed by the children,
while the LED lighting emphasizes the fast moving cycle circles and the slow flowing river tying Seattle and the East side together with the Cascade Mountain Range. These panels are engineered to look like they just float on the walls tipped towards the viewer and have a strong visual impact during the day, when there are more pedestrians. The project has now developed it’s own icon nature as a ‘guide post’ for directions and the new apartments and condos built across the street use the view as a kind of ‘TV’ viewing focal point from their terraces, I am told.
Year: 2010 Medium: North and South walls for new retail and public city center structures along pedestrian walkways. Depicting two major aspects of this area, “Olympic Cycling” and the natural environment. Digital images on Lexan panels attached to wall with LED moving back lighting for night view. Sandblasted wheels and river elements on sidewalk. Dimension: 2 mural installations: 12 panels each. 6’ H x 40’ W Budget: $100,000 Commissioning Agent: Nelson Legacy Group (Family Foundation), City of Redmond Arts Commission, WA
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Sandpiper Pavilions SouthShore Regional Library Exterior Plaza Ruskin, FL
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andpiper Pavilions (installation photos) became the final project installation for a long process with defining an open, unused plaza space at the SouthShore Regional Library in Ruskin, FL. I was commissioned for project that encouraged private space and seating out side and designed the Reading Grasses project shown next. During my presentation I emphasized the possibility to find a way that this plaza could have many uses as a large public space for evening events, concerts, gatherings, etc that could service the community and add more stake-holders for the Library system. The plaza is named after a great supporter Mr. Harkins, IV who wanted his beloved sandpipers emulated in small bronze sculptures. This is not what I do! So I designed ‘Sandpiper Pavilions’ who look like they are running along the shore as a ‘leggy’ group of sea birds. I added sandblasted bubbles along the 100’ plaza to emulate the shore and included nighttime LED lights in 4 programs that can add to a vibrant and exciting public gathering experience. These pavilions are engineered to cantilever out on their own weight with
only three legs each and strong enough to withstand any hurricane. The landscaping included new palm trees and I continued the Florida experience by cutting palm leaf patterns in the discs, which as you can see, give a strong artistic pattern on the pavilions and plaza. The pattern also reduces wind loads for the architecture. Mr. Harkins loves the project and has forgiven me for not casing the bronze birds as a solution. The library is already planning events, concerts, and astronomy nights for this area. Again this is what public art and a successful installation can be used to re-define a facility and area for more community activities, context and stake holdership.
Year: 2012 Medium: Six pavilion structures, powder coated aluminum pillars and aluminum roofs in central plaza. The sandblasted walk-way depicts shoreline bubbles to further encapsulate the viewer. LED lights change from color to color at night. Dimension: 3,000 sq. ft plaza Budget: $125,000 Commissioning Agent: Hillsborough County Public Art, Tampa, Florida
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Reading Grasses Reading Grasses Concept was the first of
the Hillsborough County concept for the plaza commission and was designed a semi private seating areas. The concrete benches had quotes from Florida writers and musicians along with the 15’ tall oversized shore grasses as shade and screening. We are still hoping for a home for these wonderful benches, yet this process pushes me and the community to re-define this large public area, as you can see from the above final resolution, of the Sandpiper Pavilions. Year: 2011 Medium: Poured concrete, powder-coated aluminum - Depicting the flowing grasses of the shoreline area and providing context to an open plaza for a community library and larger areas for gathering or privacy. The project was designed to be seen from the road and used as a visual iconic image for the facility. Dimension: 12’W x 15’ H Budget: $125,000 Commissioning Agent: Hillsborough County Public Art, Tampa, FL
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Bellora Waterfalls Seattle, WA
Bellora Waterfall is a series of digital
printed panels on aluminum and aluminum sculptural layers of water features so prominent in the city of Seattle. This growing neighborhood of Bell Town is next to the Puget Sound dock terminals and there is great effort to capture rain run off waters, above ground, to re direct to gardens and recycling. This is one of several project that KRS installed as streetscape permanent art installations that can be used as cultural identification encouraging pedestrian use. Year: 2003 Medium: Digital waterfall images on aluminum plate - enameled aluminum. Depicting waterfalls and a river as a streetscape project on a major pedestrian sidewalk in the city center. It’s a public streetscape requirement for the city of Seattle. Dimension: 13’ W x 12’ H Budget: $35,000 Commissioning Agent: Marin Development, Seattle, WA
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Western Flowing Vine Seattle, WA Western Flowing Vine – Cedar and Vine
Street project was designed on two consecutive streets as hand railings because of the harsh street angles of the Seattle Hills. These streets bring visitors up from the waterfront and used as neighborhood identifiers along with utilitarian ‘help’. Made of powder coated aluminum tubing and wire screen, the installation emulated the ever growing natural projects built by the citizens, which include a community pea patch, above ground waterway and solar energy pump and collection systems. Year: 2002 Medium: Exterior handrail system up 17’ grade sidewalk. Exterior Powder Coated Aluminum and steel mesh. On two streets. (Vine street and Cedar street.) Requirement for pedestrian street art works. Dimension: 120’ L x 14’ H attached to concrete and stone floating 6” away from wall Budget: $40,000 Commissioning Agent: Cedar Development LLC - Intracorp, Seattle, WA
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Portfolio Presentation
Children’s Projects
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Bird Wing Canopy Pt. Defiance Zoo Kid Zone Tacoma, WA
Bird Wing Canopy is an engineering first that a 1600 ft canopy can
have a custom printed and unique pattern and still be structurally sound and serve the purpose for shade, rain covering, and identity for the Pt. Defiance Zoo. This is a educational learning center for children at this Zoo Park and our decision to make this canopy as a structural part of the Vet area came after many visits and discussions with the engineering and design team. I wanted a visual icon that can be seen from the many hills of the property and from higher area of the Tacoma area. We have noted that the bird wing is in full view of the airplanes from above going into the Northwest area on our sunny days (we do have sunny days!). My projects always have an industrial feel and are generally very highly engineered, yet I feel strongly that the general public needs to feel connected with the installations as a fun and exciting adventure without needing too much education and explanation. I want the project to be understood by children of all ages ‘2 – 102’!! The projects should feel like they are a seamless component in the whole environment of a facility or area.
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Year: 2005 Medium: Digitally printed image on transparent substrate canopy. Part of keeper building, petting zoo for Pt. Defiance Zoo. Designed for protection and an iconic visual guide for the new children’s science and research area of this public zoo. Dimension: Canopy: 1600 sq. ft Budget: $92,000 Commissioning Agent: Pt. Defiance Zoo, City of Tacoma, WA
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Illuminated Forest & Glowing Stix Calgary Zoo Entrance Plaza Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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These two separate proposal were de-
sign for a Public Zoo and/or a streetscape. These installations were made of large steel tubes with translucent tubing and LED lighting. They represented forests and trees and were designed as entryway beacons for the community. Some of the ‘groupings’ were deigned with motion sensor ‘sounds’ of animals, bugs and frogs to give the sense that the environment was not much different than the natural surrounding of the areas. The Glowing Stix project was to open
up and guide a new entry into a vital arts district that an existing freeway bisected the neighborhood. We needed to identify the area and encourage pedestrian and bicycle use and show that this area was safe and exciting.
Illuminated Forest Year: 2011 Medium: This installation uses LED lighting and large 3D forms to brighten the zoo entrance. Sandblasted animal paw prints are seen throughout the entrance, welcoming visitors to their home. Dimension: (3) 100’ Walls, Light Stix at 24’ Budget: $250,000 Commissioning Agent: Calgary Zoo, Alberta Arts Commission
Glowing Stix Year: 2011 Medium: This installation uses LED lighting and large 3D forms to brighten a freeway entrance and walking path creating a gateway to the nearby Arts District and encouraging pedestrians to use the paths. Dimension: Light Stix at 24’ Budget: $230,000 Commissioning Agent: Dallas Public Art Program
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Eco Stories Mercy Medical Pediatric Center Lobby Des Moines, IA
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co Stories – past and present is an installation in the Mercy Hospital Pediatric Care Lobby. We needed to appeal to young people (most who are very sick) from 2 to 17 years old. I designed layers of images from water to the sky and past, present and future images of nature, animals, symbols and tie them to man made items like architecture (pyramids), sculpture, balloons, etc. We chose 7 animal heads and printed on circular panels with laser drilled speaker holes and installed small mp3 computers
and speakers. We composed the separate animal voices as if they are talking to each other in their respective herds. There is a colorful button where kids of all ages can press and the animal sounds talk to them. There is a large visual panel that explains each animal and their history and relationship to mankind and the ecology of our world. This mural covers the walls, ceiling, windows and columns creating an exiting and welcoming environment that can be enjoyed by little kids yet also not make the adolescents feel like the space is only for children. This project was design as an interactive and educational installation along with a calming and joyful result.
Year: 2011 Medium: Mural and interactive sound installation for Mercy Pediatric Hospital Care Unit. The digital mural tells the story of the connection between eco environments, nature, animals and how mankind has interpreted their enviornmental connections with these themes. 7 animal head plates have a recorded sounds of each of the animal voices that are accesed by a small push button. The windows are covered with transparent film and back lit at night. Dimension: 42’ x 8 including ceiling Budget: $100,000 Commissioning Agent: Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines Public Art Purchase
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Sky River Tree Hands on Children’s Museum Exterior Plaza Olympia, WA
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ky River Trees are being installed as two groupings for a large plaza at the new Hands on Children’s Museum in Olympia, WA. We needed a iconic beacon for this area to be seen from the streets entering this newly developed area where the city government services are being moved to new facilities. This museum is a proud new project of a small 30-year-old children’s facility that helps to train young people in the everyday art of living and environmental stake-holdership. The plaza contains a huge outdoor lake, river, tug-boat, eco system for learning and I was hired to design their art ‘beacons’. The Squaxin Indian Nation is a great part of the river/Puget Sound Region with their hardy trading practices on the Sky River and its basin. I designed the tree stands to appeal to the adults from afar, and again using eco-resin bubbles and wave appeal to the children with the river colored shadows on the ground. All materials, again are recycled, and I used simple forms to be layered in ways that seem sophisticated yet accessible.
Year: To Be Installed April 2012 Medium: Steel totems suspending aluminum tubing and polycarbonate circular shapes. Shapes are translucent and reflect onto cement when the sun shines. Fun, light structure integrated into a child’s play and education environment. Dimension: 3 - 5 totems, 15’ high Budget: $68,000 Commissioning Agent: City of Olympia, WA, Park, Arts and Recreation Department “Arts Commission”
Portfolio Presentation
Interior Projects
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Growth of Potential Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH Monte Ahuja School of Business Atrium Year: 2006 Medium: Suspended sculpture of aluminum tube, radiant material and fluorescent darts. The airy, geometric forms represent clouds and brightly colored ‘plumb bobs’ visually dart throughout the space. Dimension: Atrium: 6 stories Budget: $140,000 Commissioning Agent: Ohio State Arts Commission
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I resolved the challenge of combining vi-
sual and inspirational language in a 7-story open space for a diverse student body at Cleveland State University’s Nance School of Business (‘Growth of Potential’). By pairing the unifying themes of water, land, trees, sky, and clouds with the animated language of Cleveland-based poets I worked to emphasis business educational endeavors as a creative pursuit. The poetry excerpts were designed on large image panels, to inspire the idea of ‘pushing through challenges’. The ‘cloud atrium sculpture’ was designed to reflect the only natural light from skylights and during the day and seasons refract different colors of light throughout their open space, originally lacking in interest and warmth. The layers of panels started at the lower study area (Water) and every level contained the separate layers of our natural elements and Poetry up to land and sky with LED lighting behind the panel edges. The text and colorful forms constantly reminded the faculty, students, and visitors of their curriculum goals and the pursuit of educational endeavors with imagination.
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Shimmering Echoes City of Suwanee City Hall Suwanee, GA
The Suwanee City Hall, GA – ‘Shimmering
Echoes’ uses sustainable colored eco-resin layered in multiple strings of ellipses to emulate ‘watercolors’ in the sky and support the park like setting, across the street from this new facility. This installation utilizes the relationship of the natural ambient lighting and the environment creating a new vision and experience for the viewer at many different levels and focal points. In the evening the two suspended sculptures are backlit and can be seen from the street through the large open clearstory entry – giving the city hall a public presence for a growing and dynamic community. Technically the project was designed to retrofit a space that was already built, by designing with the same similar shapes in cascading layers on stainless steel cable and aluminum frames where the point loads were under 15# at each ceiling attachment. This allowed us to leave the architecture intact and install from simple cross bracing from one truss to another, all of which visually complimented the structural ceiling system. The installation
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is set in a regional architectural style with roots in Southern Historical language, yet the piece is contemporary and adds to the open nature of the 3-story entry lobby and high window front shear wall. This is the first Public Arts Commission for the City of Suwanee, which is a well-managed and prosperous community with a large percentage of citizen stake-holdership in their success. This project allowed for a large and open public discourse for its legitimacy and allowed for continued education to the public, opening the way for more acceptance of the Public Art Process.
Year: 2010 Medium: Two suspended sculptures made by layers of holographic acrylic and colored eco resin elements reflecting ambient light and color to emulate the new park complex across the street. Dimension: 4 story entry lobby with clearstory glass front. 45’H x 60’L x 30’W Budget: $80,000 Commissioning Agent: City of Suwanee, City of Suwanee Arts Commission, GA
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Sheltering Growth Houston Multi Service Bldg Houston, TX
Houston Multi-Service Building houses
several social service groups including WICK and Head Start, along with the Senior and Youth Services and the Community Center for an under serviced population in the 5th ward of the city. Set in an unused park, the lobby installation of ‘Sheltering Growth’ emphasized the new growing community with a 2 ½ story aluminum tree, suspended rings with holographic, white and aluminum recycled die cut leaves. The mural represented the nearby foliage of the trees as seen under different environmental and lighting contexts. Layering the panels and cut out shadows of the branches and combining the installation with the text from Herman Melville (chosen by the community) to inspire connectivity in this neighborhood.
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Year: 2009 Medium: Brushed aluminum tree; layers of aluminum, dichroic & translucent white leaf forms/ large formed rings cascade from ceiling. Upper soffit wall has series of digital panels of foliage images - 3-D layers of panels with images and laser cut lattice images. Dimension: Lobby: 32’ H x 60’ L x 30’W Budget: $86,000 Commissioning Agent: City of Houston, TX Houston Arts Alliance
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Reflections in Motion Pierce Community Collage School of Allied Art and Health Puyallup, WA views, was ‘weightless’ and lyrical and reflected the natural ambient light during the day and night. The aesthetic significance is the use of the high open space with a piece that covered over 180’, with point loads under 15# for each grouping, filled the architectural space without taking from the exposed structural elements. The many layers of ellipses use recycled ‘eco-resin’ and the colors change depending on the viewer’s perspective and the magnitude of natural lights. The project was intended to look different every time it is experienced over time and place. The budget was small and my use of repetitive elements, geometry of the separate framed groupings and the restrained use of color allowed me to cover more of the 3 dimensional space. I have been told that the Healthcare department sees the installation as ‘Hopeful’ and Inspiring, the Music Department sees the piece as a visual example of Musical Lyricism and the Art Department sees the project as example of a ‘new visual language in the relationship between architecture and art’.
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‘ eflections in Motion’ was designed for an Allied Arts and Healthcare Building at Pierce Community College facility, which included a very narrow and long entryway into the new building. I needed to appeal to the art, music and healthcare science students and faculty with an installation that would use a common visual language. The setting is in a dense NW wooded forest and the building re-claimed the forest wood to define a natural environment. I installed a piece that looked different from many
Year: 2010 Medium: Translucent and radiant acrylic elements layered on stainless steel wire, suspended from aluminum frames. The piece reflects onto the surrounding walls and floor, from the skylights above. Dimension: Atrium: 32’ H x 120’ L, Installation: 15’ H x 80’ L x 6’W, 1200 elements Budget: $70,000 Commissioning Agent: Washington State Arts Commission
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Publications
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U R B A N LA N D
Roslyn Hill.
Eve Picker.
Female developers in the Northwest part of the United States tend to concentrate on residential projects, with a smattering of retail developments that focus on creating a sense of community. These areas of concentration appear to be driven by their innate interest, coupled
Do female developers differ from male developers in their approach to projects?
What differences exist—if any—between female developers and male developers? With so little literature written about this topic, ULI Oregon/SW Washington recently explored a variety of questions with a number of female developers, primarily from Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. Their answers—and observations—may be of some surprise to their male counterparts, and may serve to enlighten women who themselves are on a path to becoming developers.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007
Maria Barrientos.
Do female developers differ from male developers in how they appoach development?
Liz Dunn.
Molly Blasier.
with perceived market opportunities bypassed by their male counterparts. Maria Barrientos, who launched her own company, Barrientos LLC, in 1999, in Seattle currently has six urban infill housing projects in development as a fee developer and for her own account. “Not many male developers have patience to handhold novice property owners and counsel extended families,” observes Barrientos, who notes that she seeks interesting Seattle neighborhoods “where I can contribute to neighborhood economic diversity supported by community leaders.” Liz Dunn left a career as a software engineer at Microsoft and as an executive producer with DreamWorks Interactive “to start my own business because I was tired of being a cog in the wheel,” she says. Dunn is involved with smaller-scale, mixed-use projects than is Barrientos because she says, “I only want to take on what I can personally control and get financed.” But Dunn shares Barrientos’s
Koryn Rolstad.
emphasis on community. Dunn asks rhetorically: “Do women take on riskier and potentially less profitable projects because they’re more interested than men in nonmonetary paybacks at the neighborhood, societal, or environmental level?” Portland developer Roslyn Hill was the first in her Alberta neighborhood to build lofts as a way to control tenant occupancy and building overcrowding. As one of few African American female developers, Hill says she understood density’s cost and benefits in the context of community and has included commercial space in most projects as a source of economic development, jobs, and income. Seattle developer Koryn Rolstad is a site-specific public artist who developed separate studio and living spaces for herself and a community of artists by providing unfinished, high-volume concrete and glass condominium shells much like the original SoHo lofts. Rolstad says she believes that men tend to measure their results by scale. “Can you imagine a woman wanting to build the world’s tallest building?” she asks. Eve Picker is a Sydney, Australia, native trained as an architect and urban designer. Today, as president of No Wall Productions, a Pittsburgh developer of urban mixed-use infill and adaptive use buildings, she has become fascinated with Pittsburgh’s
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“I tend to be very upfront in confronting my mistakes, admit them, correct them, and move on,” says Dunn. “It’s pretty powerful to admit a snafu, and correct it immediately. People respect and trust you even more.” All of the female developers interviewed agree that talking about
How do female developers deal with mistakes?
The female developers also agree that admitting mistakes frees the listener to volunteer useful information, from which the female developers say they learn and which, in turn, helps them collaborate more with others. “I think most women have much less ego involved in getting a project developed,” comments Barrientos. Women are eager to be mentors, says Dunn. “I met Koryn [Rolstad], Maria [Barrientos], and Sarah [Schuyler, principal of Pike Street Corner Development, Inc., in Seattle] when starting out and all were incredibly generous with their time.” Dunn observes, “When men
Are female developers more collaborative than male developers?
Monica Smith.
Tiffany Sweitzer.
professors would ask, “What does the building say?” to which she replied, “What does the building cost?” Overcoming skepticism, Blasier enticed Whole Foods to become an anchor tenant on properties she and her partners acquired in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh and persuaded the city to agree to make key road improvements.
Jane Olberding.
your mistakes is a great way to learn from other colleagues. By contrast, they agreed that male counterparts tend not to reveal mistakes because it exposes their vulnerabilities, especially to male colleagues in a competitive environment.
Sarah Schuyler.
historic narrow sliver buildings and, overcoming tall odds, has redeveloped them as loft condominiums. [See “Long Answers for Urban Sliver Buildings,” October, page 205.] Pittsburgh architect-turned-developer Molly Blasier, says architecture
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“I am always willing to come right out and say I don’t know something,” says Barrientos. “That’s the
How do female developers seek information about fields that are new to them?
“Women are not as competitive, for the sake of winning or just competing,” says Barrientos. “While driven to achieve my goals, I don’t ever benchmark myself against someone else.” When Portland developer Jane Olberding entered a public development competition as a for-profit developer, she was actually able to produce affordable housing more competitively than the nonprofit community development corporation against whom she competed. But her goal, she says, was to provide the most affordable housing, not to vanquish a competitor.
Do female developers feel a need to be more competitive with their male counterparts?
give advice, they tend to focus on the numbers and the end product, whereas women also analyze the process, think about relationships, stakeholders, etc.” Dunn notes that males seem more willing to mentor women than men, especially men of similar ages. Men would typically define a man in his age group as a competitor, not a collaborator, and be less forthcoming, she suggests. Female developers in Seattle and Portland meet frequently to be mutually supportive of one another. While it might be easy to explain this as a result of not belonging to the “old boys club,” more likely, conclude the female developers interviewed, it is generated by a desire to share mistakes, learn from one another, and assist one another in developing successful projects. They noted they believe that collaboration without competition gives credence in the business community.
“Women do their homework better,” maintains Barrientos. “Before I started my own firm, I was the only woman partner in a male-oriented development firm. I was shocked at how little market research they did. Even the guys in my office still don’t value market research as much as I do. I spend huge amounts of time identifying the market, product, user, design, and prices.” Dunn agrees, “At Microsoft, I took a sabbatical to go to business school, came back and introduced product planning—doing market
Do female developers evaluate markets differently from male developers?
only way to learn. I don’t think most men do this.” If female developers did not understand a term or concept used by a lender, would they ask what the term meant, or, if they did ask, would they be concerned that the lender would think them unworthy of a loan? All the female developers to whom this question was posed, rejected the idea that questioning things would make them appear weaker. “If you ask the question in an intelligent way, it’s an opportunity to make a good impression, not a bad one,” comments Barrientos. “It speaks to trustworthiness and thoroughness. I think this is a difference between most women and men.” Dunn emphatically agrees: “At Microsoft, we jokingly called it ‘male answer syndrome’: the inability of a guy not to pretend he knew the answer to something, and to make up something plausible sounding if necessary.” Is there a difference when the person from whom the female developer is seeking approval is a woman? Is there a tendency to appear more competent before another woman? “I don’t think women look at gender differences this way when performing their duties,” observes Barrientos.
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In light of the fact that men still design and develop most housing and retail centers—why would female developers not have an advantage? “I am currently working on a block in Seattle where I control one side of the street, a male developer controls the other side, and we are trying to collaborate to reposition it as a new shopping district,” reports Dunn. “We are working with a female retail consultant and in our first few meetings he [the male developer] stared at us like we were speaking a different language.” Dunn crystallizes the difference by declaring, “To the extent that a man is not in touch with his inner shopper, he is not going to be equipped to do compelling retail. Maybe that’s why we have a lot of retail centers that don’t work.” Barrientos agrees, noting, “Since most developers are men, it’s hard to know how much better things could be if the people making the purchase decisions were [also] designing the retail spaces.” In the area of residential development, the developers still tend to
Do female developers have any advantages over male developers in retail and residential development?
research into demographics, cultural preferences, etc., before introducing a product. It was a foreign concept. The company had a ‘build it and they will come’ mentality.” The female developers interviewed say they tend to conduct market research that is as qualitative as it is quantitative, which they report is useful for smaller urban residential projects. They personally “shop the competition” as well as use focus groups. But, says Barrientos, she fills volumes with specific data that are used not only for her own planning, but also for articulating to equity investors and lenders the reasons for her decisions. Doing that is an important way to limit risks, she advises.
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49 If female developers have an innate advantage in knowing how to develop retail and residential projects, the opposite appears to be true with respect to developing office and industrial buildings. In this arena, female developers say they must contend with the well-established
Are female developers at a disadvantage in office and industrial development?
Tiffany Sweitzer became president in her mid-thirties of Hoyt Street Properties, the largest developer in Portland’s trendy Pearl District. Also overseeing Hoyt Street Realty, a full-service real estate company, Sweitzer notes that she has an intuitive sense of what works and what does not in residential units, especially kitchens. Her condominium sales centers, she says, have elaborate, full-scale models of several kitchen types and materials finishes. Dunn’s very first project won architectural awards for its innovative use of roll-up glass garage doors and loft kitchens integrated into living spaces. Rolstad developed the Banner Building, a Seattle mixed-use project in the now trendy Belltown area, with condominium units that were left unfinished to give buyers the opportunity to complete them according to their preferences.
“To the extent that a man is not in touch with his inner shopper, he is not going to be equipped to do compelling retail. Maybe that’s why we have a lot of retail centers that don’t work.”
be predominantly male. However, at least in the more politically progressive cities in the Northwest, women are beginning to make notable inroads.
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Monica Smith, a former Seattle development partner of Catapult Community Developers and now founder and head of Bluegreen Development LLC, relates that she was involved in the office and industrial development world, spending ten years managing international corporate real estate for Novell, Inc., in Bangalore, India, and later doing international property acquisition, leasing, and asset management for Microsoft in more than 50 countries. Yet, belying that office and industrial
“I know several amazing project managers of very large office buildings who are women. But, they are not developers, putting together the deals, bringing in large investors, and getting financing on really large deals. That’s still heavily dominated by men.”
network of male developers, lenders, and office and industrial tenants. Barrientos, who penetrated the development world managing the construction of golf courses decades ago, and who later became a principal in a diverse Seattle development company, says: “It is very difficult for women to break into that world on their own. I know several amazing project managers of very large office buildings who are women. But, they are not developers, putting together the deals, bringing in large investors, and getting financing on really large deals. That’s still heavily dominated by men.” Part of the reason may be that many female developers have little interest in office and industrial development. “I fled corporate America for a reason,” says Dunn. “I get up in the morning thinking about the way people live, shop, and play.”
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Because, historically, men have been more often in control of financial institutions, female developers may appear to be at a disadvantage when seeking financing. Some female developers have responded by putting together much more detailed financing packages for lenders and investors. “I have often had lenders tell me the package I send them is the most complete they usually get,” points out Barrientos. With exhaustive quantitative and qualitative market analyses of the competition, including firsthand shopping of competitors’ projects, female developers can often offset the inherent financial network connections. Moreover, rather than simply communicate with financial figures, many female developers say
Do female developers use different approaches from male developers to finance projects?
experience, she chose to develop townhouse communities and public/ private community ventures, like one venture with the city of Tacoma, Washington, creating a mixed-use and mixed-income project for 58 artists and their families. Smith recounts that she became the international real estate manager for a large software company at age 27 and spent more than half her time in Asia. At that time (1991), she notes there were few women working in the industry in senior level positions in places like China, India, and central Africa. “I was constantly asked about the difficulties of discrimination in my business. What I found is that the way people treated me [was based on] being a Fortune 500 client, not [on] gender, so I never felt discriminated against in the business setting,” Smith says. Although she minimizes differences with male developers, Smith notes that she may ask more questions, admit more mistakes, and share more information with her colleagues than do male developers.
Female developers may have natural tendencies to be more effective in limiting risks. Dunn suggests that
Are female developers more risk-averse; and how do they limit risk?
they are prone to articulate the many assumptions behind the numbers, which may actually give them a significant advantage. In her two most recent investor offerings, Barrientos reports that they were subscribed within two weeks and that 60 percent of the investors turned out to be women. Dunn reports that she raised outside private equity for the first time last year, and was fully subscribed, turning people away within a month of sending out packages. That reinforced her convictions, she says, “about being patient and reaping the long-term rewards of better design choices.” Another factor that may benefit women is the increasing number of women in financial institutions, which seems to be following their growing numbers in the legal and medical professions. While there are still few female CEOs, this trend has placed many women in the position of loan officers, perhaps of particular advantage to female developers since they are the ones who analyze and dispense loans to the developers. A “new-girl” network may be more important than an old-boy network as there may be a greater tendency for women to help one another. Several female developers have reported that all of the lenders with whom they have worked were women. As a female developer, Picker says she finds that women in development still face “huge obstacles.” Even though Picker was trained as an architect and urban designer, she sees her major strength as an ability to put together complex financial arrangements. Some men do not respond well to an aggressive, detailoriented woman, admits Picker.
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WILLIAM P. MACHT is a professor of urban planning and development at Portland State University in Oregon and a development consultant. (Comments from—and about—female developers are especially welcome in order to test the breadth of these conclusions; direct them to the author at machtw@ pdx.edu and/or willmacht@gmail.com.)
Are female developers more solicitous of public opinion than their male colleagues? Do city councils and other public decision makers treat them differently—positively or negatively? Is there a difference when the public decision maker is a woman? Several female developers suggest women are perceived to be less threatening, more cooperative, more concerned about advancing the public interest, and less representative of the stereotypical developer as rapacious and avaricious. Dunn avers, “Being a woman has never hurt, because frankly you stand out in the crowd. Council members, lenders, and the press remember me because I’m a woman, maybe unfairly, but why not take advantage of it?” UL
What factors affect female developers in their relations with the press and the public?
male and female definitions of risk may well be different. She believes that males tend to view risks as primarily financial, while females tend to view risks in the broader context of relationships with architects, engineers, contractors, consultants, lenders, investors, tenants, officials, users, and the public. Some female developers suggest they are more likely than men to be fee developers, more likely to develop residential communities than industrial properties, and more likely to hold, manage, and reposition their projects.
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Thank you for this wonderful opportunity!!
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