Share the Love: Valentine Party to benefit CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project

We continued our tradition of combining social activity with social activism at our second annual "Share the Love" Party in celebration of our favorite holiday. This year, we shared the love with CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project - for a total lovefest. Above, Frank Etxaniz, CHAP founder, artistic director and inspirational teacher is on the ladder to install custom art panels created by CHAP's Children's Art Factory to fit the walls and doors of our conference room.

CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project - brings the healing power of art to children in crisis and their families with a mobile team of teaching artists working in Portland's children's hospitals. CHAP classes offer an art experience that engages and inspires -- where children can be seen for their artistic talents and not for their diseases or diagnoses. In 2010, CHAP reached over 10,000 and their families. Learn more at www.chap.name.

Children's Art is interpreted in a variety of apparel and other items such as the hand loomed carpet featuring a "love bunny" - just in time for the Year of the Rabbit! At right is a "bling" heart embedded into a giant resin foot that served as our bar for the evening.

Out & About: UC San Diego Sun Break

Abby & EA spent a delightful day touring the University of California San Diego campus in preparation for our work on a new lab building for the UCSD School of Medicine.
When a campus sign shop updates and maintains our sign programs, we like to know their capabilities before we design - that way, changes are seamless and our design remains intact. At UCSD, Mike runs the sign shop and he proudly showed us around to help us understand what's possible in terms of materials and fabrication technologies. We were impressed!
Bright blue sky, red hot pokers and blooming eucalyptus!
Abby & Renee Kajimoto, ZGF Architecture, smile into the bright sun while bundled for the cool weather.

Out & About: Signs of interest - China

Who can resist brush written Kanji in Beijing- follow the arrow!
Movable stanchions in the Forbidden City: symbols, arrows, Kanji and Chinglish.
Poetic regulatory signs: "Perilous hills, no climbing please" at left and "Tender fragrant grass, how hardhearted to trample them" at right. Note bollards at the Olympic Village shaped like the nearby Birds Nest.
Absolute favorite: "Carolina Blue" city road signs tell which way lanes turn (left photo) and illuminated signs (right photo) diagram traffic patterns ahead. Avoid the red areas!
Drinking water stations in the airport. Fill your water bottle only if you are a native: foreigners beware. At right, restroom icon tells you what kind of toilet inside.

Out & About: Rainier Building, Pierce College - Lakewood WA

We arrived at Pierce College's Lakewood campus on a typical late December day - pretty much overcast. When we entered one of the building's two winter gardens, the tiny bit of sun exploded to shower us with light.
The four levels of this state-of-the-art science & technology complex are organized around the winter gardens where, due to the site's steep grade, no more than three levels are stacked in any one spot.
Abby reviews a freestanding directory featuring building maps in both plan and section views.
Floor level entries off the winter gardens are color-coded to help with wayfinding. Opsis Architecture designed the building.

Out & About: A change of scenery - Tucson AZ

As winter approaches and Northwest skies go gray, a change of scenery nourishes the spirit and dazzles the eyes. In Tucson AZ, skies are blue and the saguaro cactus rules the horizon.
Xeriscaping is a way of life and art.
Javelinas (wild pigs) show up for a breakfast of barrel cactus -- in the garden (center) and as sculptures in the shopping mall (left).

Out & About and On the Boards: University of Idaho - Kibbie Dome Moscow, Idaho

Abby and Elizabeth traveled to Moscow, Idaho with Alec Holser and Chris Roberts of Opsis Architecture to prepare for our work designing signage and specialty graphics for the University of Idaho's Kibbie Dome.
There was a hint of snow in the air as we walked the site and documented conditions. The photo at right was taken (by others) on a blue sky day earlier in the year.
At the end of the day we were happy to come inside and sit down while reviewing stadium seating submittals.

Architecture Foundation of Oregon

When Elizabeth joined the Architecture Foundation of Oregon Board in January, the group was poised to clarify their message and logo in order to communicate AFO's expanding role in the community. She joined the team for a season of focus groups, brainstorming and design: in short, a rebranding exercise. The result: the new afo identity expresses the organization's approachable, community based mission and is supported by a short paragraph some call our elevator message:

"afo supports Oregon's quality of life and creates awareness of our designed environments through education, advocacy, philanthropy and inspiration."




The roll-out for the new afo logo coincided with this year's Honored Citizen event, for which Elizabeth also created the identity and graphics.

Harvest Designs

This year, our friend and collaborator, Jason Naiman has surprised and delighted us all with gifts from his garden. We are astounded by the natural forms of his climbing zucchini and, after much admiring, have created a variety of dishes with this amazing vegetable. Truly, a designer's delight. His latest and most beautiful offering - the Swan - is still being admired.

Out & About and On the Boards: VA campus at American Lake - Tacoma, WA

Our first design presentation for a new Outpatient Clinic on the Veterans Administration's American Lake campus in Tacoma WA was also our first visit to this idyllic campus. With a picture postcard view of Mt. Rainier, a striking collection of Spanish Colonial Revival buildings and towering Douglas Fir trees, we almost felt we were on vacation. Originating in 1923, the campus was established after the Veterans Bureau was formed in 1921 to care for soldiers returning from World War I.
Walking the site in the right photo, above, are Abby Alway and ZGF project architect David Staczek. Below, six flags representing the six branches of the United States Military join the American flag in front of the campus administration building.

Out & About: Japanese American Historical Plaza, Portland, OR

It's hard to believe it's been twenty years since we completed our work on the Japanese American Historical Plaza on Portland's waterfront. Yet on this bright, beautiful Portland summer day, a re-dedication ceremony took place in memory of the Japanese American citizens who were deported to inland internment camps during World War II. The names of these camps are inscribed on the stone in the top photo. Highlights included Lawson Inada, former Oregon Poet laureate, whose haunting poems describe the experiences of the Japanese Americans. "America the Beautiful" sung against a backdrop of water sprayed from a fireboat in the Willamette provided an emotional finale.

Out & About: Springfield & Eugene, Oregon

Field trips are an important part of our professional development at AK: we like to stay up-to-date with new projects in our field and to build a shared vocabulary of experience and insights into the world of environmental graphic design. On this beautiful day in June, we went first to Sacred Heart at River Bend, a brand new medical campus in Springfield, Oregon. Shown at left above, Abby provides scale for a freestanding entry monument. At right, Cherry admires bronze gingko leaves in a railing structure.

At the University of Oregon in Eugene, we stopped by the new Jacqua Academic Center for Student Athletes. We loved the playful use of letters in the landscape! Above left, Karen and Cherry are up close and personal with the site ID. At right, the University logo, which is the letter "O", is fabricated of aluminum and set at a rakish tilt to provide racks for bicycle parking.

Out and About: Shanghai, China: City of Contrasts

Shanghai may be the most cosmopolitan city in the world: it is certainly one of the richest. Old and new sit cheek by jowl - at least for a while - as economic progress devours the past in deference to the future.


Busy and impressive during the day, Shanghai is magical at night. Full neighborhoods are illuminated (but only until 11 pm, for energy conservation), and that includes bridges, the river embankment, and buildings of all sizes and shapes. In the French Concession (left photo), allees of Sycamores are uplighted in white and green, with illuminated pendants of persimmon and white. In the Bund, neoclassic and art deco buildings are symbols of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Western influence (right photo). It appears that China has staked a claim in LED lighting and the result is festive, uplifting and downright dazzling. Can't help but think some of Portland's neighborhoods might benefit from same.



Not all neighborhoods are affluent. Tucked between high rise avenues are narrow twisting streets where neighbors live and work literally on top of each other. Citizens live in very close quarters and daily life, including laundry, is conducted in the street.


Turn the corner and find Confucius and prayers tied to trees.


Where substantial construction fences line a street, whole blocks are coming down for progress. If you look closely, you'll see two guys sweeping the site with brooms (!) Similar guy, seen on the street, uses the ubiquitous street sweeper's broom, made of branches.


Progress has many forms. Here, signature buildings and ordinary projects dot the skyline along the Huangpu River. The tall icon in the middle (some call it a "churchkey") is by I. M. Pei.

Out and About: Expo 2010, Shanghai, China

Arriving in Shanghai, we see billboards and signs advertising Expo 2010; on traffic signs, billboards, and buildings. Expo's mascot is the blue "gumby" figure and Shanghai is proud to be hosting Expo - for the world, but most importantly, for China: "Better City, Better Life."


The Expo's iconic image is their own China Pavilion. As the official program says, "with the traditional Douguan Bracket and the concept of nine-folded script (a type of ancient Chinese calligraphy) it showcases the spirit and disposition of Chinese culture. This pavilion is visible throughout the landscape, from all views, taller and bigger than everything else - clearly a symbol of China's emerging position in the world.


The number of people at the Expo was staggering - and most often, we were the only non-Asians in view. People waved at us and took our photo as we stood in lines (for hours) and took photos of them. Everyone carried umbrellas (more like parasols) against the searing sun (and it's not even summer!). At first, I was chagrined to be carrying a black one, but then I realized that it stood out from the crowd!!


Many Pavilions were temporary as were their construction materials. Brasil's facade was made of "sticks" painted green.


We couldn't figure out what this building was for, but loved its form, covered in stretch fabric.


The bright blue on the landscape drew us near. It was covered in foam cloth - the type we use for packing material!


Everywhere water misted in fine spray to cool visitors. Here, it's coming out of the ground, cooling our ankles as we walk under the blue building made of foam cloth.


A few of the exposition centers are permanent buildings. This is the Expo Culture Center and when Expo is finished it will be a performance center in Shanghai's new River Park.


Pavilions varied in shapes, styles and quality. We quickly learned that those with short lines usually weren't very interesting inside. It was more fun to look at their exteriors. A five hour wait for the Saudi pavilion was based on the fact that they were giving away a diamond each day to one lucky visitor. Note the China pavilion sneaks into the composition.


The Expo Axis is a permanent feature of the park and will become a landscape boulevard after Expo. It includes an elevated walkway that spans half the length of Expo and provides amazing views of all pavilions, especially China. We did invest time in the lines for China and it was worth the approximately 3-hour wait - even with special tickets! It was beautifully constructed - looked good close-up, no five-foot rule here! And again, the exhibits were for the Chinese people - full of idealistic views of China, past and present, with no expense spared to create the most dazzling displays.