EK On The Go – Episode #15

Join us in this episode where we will explore the relationship of nature & Seattle’s ever-changing built environment, by exploring the work of Seattle-based architects Ray & Mary Johnston of Johnston Architects which has been around since 1990. With offices tucked into the hillside along the Burke Gilman Trail north of Lake Union, their practice has quietly turned out a gorgeous body of work including projects across many Seattle neighborhoods; The Maple Valley Library, South Park Library, Casa Latina Headquarters, The Seattle Humane Society Building, and the Seattle Public Utilities Ship Canal Water Quality Project in Ballard, to name a few.

Here is Ray & Mary in the studio with the item they brought along to share with you:

Show & Tell

EK On The Go – Episode #14

Join us in this episode featuring Paula Johnson of Willamette Cultural Resources Associates. Paula has over 27 years of archaeological experience across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California and has contributed to permitting and construction of many of the largest infrastructure projects in the Puget Sound, including transportation, wastewater, and utility projects. In this episode we will discuss how and why creating brand new urban infrastructures require the makers to study who occupied these spaces historically—as well as to take steps to preserve historical artifacts discovered in the process.

Here is Paula in the studio with the item she brought along to share with you:

Show & Tell

EK On The Go – Episode #13

Join us in this episode featuring Paul Suzman, founder of OfficeLease. In this episode we will deepen our appreciation of place—focusing on the business skyline comprised of Seattle’s office buildings for a fascinating glimpse of the people and companies that fill these office towers. Paul started his company in 1981 and at the time it was the West Coast’s first commercial tenant/buyer representative.

Here is Paul in the studio with the item he brought along to share with you:

Show & Tell

EK On The Go – Episode #12

Join us in this episode featuring Stacy Segal, someone who has devoted years helping people in Seattle learn and appreciate their built environment. Stacy, the Executive Director of Seattle Architecture Foundation, discusses why connecting people to the architecture, design, and history of Seattle matters.

Here is Stacy in the studio, with the item she brought along to share with you:

Show & Tell

EK On The Go – Episode #11

Join us in this episode and peek inside the world of real estate branding and placemaking to learn how builders and developers use placemaking to create more attractive and meaningful places. Red Propeller’s Jim Goldberg and Allison Jeffries will provide insight on how new apartment buildings, condos, and neighborhoods benefit from storytelling and naming.

Here is Allison & Jim in the studio, together with the items they brought along to share with you:

Show & Tell

EK On The Go – Episode #10

Join us in this episode featuring Roger Valdez, where we will explore perhaps the most talked-about topic in Seattle today: Housing Affordability. As founder of Seattle For Growth, Roger argues that best way to solve our affordability crisis is to make it easier for builders and developers to do their work.

No stranger to playing the “long game,” Roger’s background encompasses public relations, as well as advocacy in education, health, and housing. Roger was the chief lobbyist behind Washington State’s groundbreaking cigarette ban, which passed in 2005, 40 decades after the Surgeon General’s 1965 health warning.

In this discussion, Roger will share with us his influences, including Nobel Prize-winning economist FA Hayek and his Christian faith, which he says led him to embrace urban density as an opportunity to “love my neighbor.”

Here is Roger in the studio, together with the item he brought along to share with you (Click on the image to enlarge):

Director of Seattle For Growth

Show & Tell

Roger’s mechanical pencil: Graphgear 1000™

EK On The Go – Episode #9

If you enjoyed our most recent podcast conversation, featuring visionary development team Bill and Andy Parks, you will want to listen to this episode of EK On The Go.

We will explore the fascinating career of another local developer—Scott Shapiro. After graduating from Wesleyan University and Columbia Business School, Scott returned to Seattle 18 years ago to found Eagle Rock Ventures LLC, where he would create and redevelop iconic places into sustainable businesses to be enjoyed for many years to come. Scott’s hands-on approach—relying on funding from local investor-friends—resulted in Melrose Market, The (new) Harvard Exit, Lodges on Vashon, Lynnwood Bowl & Skate, and many other memorable local spaces! You may learn more about Scott at EagleRockVentures.com.

Here is Scott in the studio, together with the item he brought along to share with you (Click on the image to enlarge):

Scott Shapiro, Eagle Rock Ventures LLC

Show & Tell

Scott’s paper-based appointment calendar.

EK On The Go – Episode #8

If you enjoyed our last episode, exploring people’s emotional connection to place with artist and place maker Susan Robb, then our guest today, developer Bill Parks—a place maker of a different sort—will keep you On The Go with us for the next 45 minutes.

Comparing him to other developers, The Seattle Post Intelligencer described Bill Parks as “a unicorn running in a herd of mules.”  Bill brings a playful artistry to each of his endeavors. These include the Fremont Lofts & Stonewater in Fremont and Boulders in Green Lake. His philanthropic work embraces local places like Wallingford Park, Nestucca Sanctuary, and Chief Seattle Club.

Joining Bill today is his son Andy Parks, who grew up visiting Bill’s construction sites and is now helping manage the Lee Street Lofts development. This father and son duo, spanning two generations, illustrate some of the shifts occurring in our city’s culture.

So, roll up your sleeves, strap on your tool belt and pull up your work boots…as we learn about Bill Park’s vision that has informed a lifetime of development work and helped beautify our city. We will also see how this legacy may be pushed forward to the next generation.

Here is Bill & Andy in the studio, together with the items they brought along to share with you (Click on the image to enlarge):

Bill & Andy Parks, Developers

Show & Tell

                   Andy & Cory ~ childhood friends      |     Madrona wood carved by Bill at the age of 10

EK On The Go – Episode #7

Discovering and Creating Places that Matter for Our Emotions

In our last episode, we traveled with architect Bradley Khouri and learned how mixed-use development is reshaping our neighborhoods. In this episode, we focus on what may be getting lost in this process of change. Today, our guide is Susan Robb, a Seattle-based interdisciplinary artist and thought leader. Susan will show us how we can transform contemporary concerns such as climate crisis, social isolation, high-speed daily living into opportunities to re-envision and re-connect. Susan wrote the Seattle Artist In Residence Master Plan and is currently engaged by the City of Tacoma on a downtown place-making project. Susan’s on-going investigation of people and our emotional connection to place encompasses media such as sculpture, photography, video, performance, interventions, and socially-engaged work. Join us on an artistic adventure and learn how and why places matter to our emotional well-being.

Here is Susan in the studio, together with the item she brought along to share with you (Click on the image to enlarge):

Susan Robb, Artist

Show & Tell

And explore Susan Robb’s expansive body of work at her WEBSITE.

EK On The Go – Episode #6

Reshaping Our City Through Advocacy, Teaching, and Practice

In the driver’s seat is Bradley Khouri principal of b9 Architects, who has been recognized for innovation, design excellence and commitment to sustainability. He is the principal architect of many of the new popping up across neighborhoods that include Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill, the Central District, Wallingford, Fremont, and more. In this episode, we look at the factors shaping the changing appearance of so many of Seattle’s neighborhoods, how Seattle’s building & land use code shapes new development, recent initiatives to create housing affordability through upzoning and developer incentives and the responsibility of architects and developers to the broader good. So join us as we explore what Seattle’s neighborhoods will look and feel like once all the cranes that are reshaping them come down.

Bradley in the studio, together with the item he brought to share with you (Click on the image to enlarge):

Bradley Khouri, b9 Architects

Show & Tell