Join us in this episode for a conversation with Christopher Patano, AIA, founder and studio director of Patano Studio.
Chris’s diverse architectural/landscape architectural portfolio includes parks, aviation facilities, schools, factories, corporate headquarters, transportation facilities, and private residences. His architectural journey began in his native Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and remains informed by Northwest materials and idioms, although it has taken him to such far-off places as Salerno, Italy.
Among Chris’s most remarkable projects is the award-winning, all-electric, curvilinear observatory at Goldendale Observatory Park in southwestern Washington, close to Portland and an easy drive from Seattle, which was published in Architectural Record in 2021. Inspired by astral bodies in orbit, the Goldendale Observatory boasts an unusually large public telescope and innovative late-night public programming. Patano Studio has risen to the challenge of carbon neutrality by 2030.
Prepare to be dazzled by Chris’s insights into sustainable design and construction – for instance, his preference for CLT (cross-laminated timber) over steel, as the wood product is much more fire-retardant and has a smaller carbon footprint.
“Building nature.” - Christopher Patano