#seattlepark

“To create architecture in the city is to build places and give life to ‘time’ (i.e. past, present, and future).” - Fumihiko Maki 

We are so excited about the vision of the completed waterfront project already underway with construction of the new Elliott Bay seawall. However, projects of this scale take years, which is why Friends of Waterfront Seattle began to think “what could happen NOW to bring change and excitement to the waterfront with an eye towards the future?”

Friends partnered with the University of Washington (UW) School of Architecture and formed the Hot Spot master studio with professor Peter Cohan to generate ideas for interventions on the waterfront, develop those ideas, and come up with a design for a pavilion/community magnet that will be fabricated by the UW graduate students throughout spring 2015, and installed in the existing Waterfront Park this summer.  The pavilion will transform the space, provide shelter from weather, be a platform for exciting programming such as music and dance performances, and will feature wi-fi access so we expect to see a lot of people working outside in Waterfront Park during sunny summer days. It is interesting to note that the origin of the word “pavilion” comes from the Latin “papilonem” meaning “butterfly” - a symbol of transformation and exciting change. Check out some pavilion designs from around the world here for more inspiration.

The design process for the Hot Spot pavilion began with all 15 students quickly brainstorming ideas for the site, then the students split into 4 groups based on common themes and approaches. Once these projects were developed Friends of Waterfront Seattle and its partners chose one design to be built. Over the next quarter professor Kimo Griggs will lead students in refining the final design, construction documentation, fabrication, and building processes, providing students the valuable experience of creating something that is built for the real world. As a former student of the UW College of Built Environments I also participated in a design-build studio and learned so much from the process of making (street furniture on the UW campus) that I could not have learned through the theoretical projects typical of design education.

The chosen design, dubbed “The Edge”, is a long structure with a translucent roof that will cross the existing concrete wall at the Waterfront Park, symbolic of tearing down the Viaduct that has divided Seattle from our picturesque waterfront for so long. I was really impressed with how thought out their design was, from the simplicity of the fabrication to the way they would transport the pieces to the site, to the vision for a colored light installation on the roof and ideas for how the pavilion could be home to events. 

Friends of Waterfront Seattle is happy to feature an exhibit of Hot Spot with beautiful models and images made by the students in Waterfront Space. 

Jordan Monez is a multi-disciplinary designer with degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Recently she worked as a one of the designers and cartographers for the Burke Museum's Waterlines map of pre-1850 Seattle and in the summer of 2015 she will be an artist in the Duwamish Revealed exhibition and with 4Culture Historic Site Specific. Jordan was active in the early Waterfront Seattle community participation events and loves to share the Waterfront project with visitors as a Guide at Waterfront Space. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and volunteering as a docent at the Olympic Sculpture Park.