Erin Christensen will lead a panel to discuss first-hand lessons learned from leaders in suburban communities . 10.11 - 10.12.2013 8:00am, Olympia, WA.

Mithun’s Walking Mountains Science Center was recently awarded the 2012 building award for new commercial construction from the Colorado Renewable Energy Society (CRES). Each year CRES awards projects that encourage the use of renewable energy and new technologies that are directly applicable to Colorado’s unique building needs. The Walking Mountains Science Center serves as a key example of sustainable design, and is the first school in Colorado to receive LEED Platinum certification. The center’s focus on environmentally conscious design was intended to play an active role in the education of its students — with an emphasis on maximizing energy efficiency, minimizing building footprints and protecting the natural ecosystem.

More information about CRES can be found at www.cres-energy.org.

Enterprise Green Communities (EGC) recently featured Aeon’s South Quarter in an article about Resident Engagement Results. Aeon was highlighted for their direct collaboration with the surrounding community and use of EGC’s training material to plan a project that supports healthy living, lower utility and maintenance costs, and maximizes the environmental benefits of green affordable housing.

Continue reading about Resident Engagement Results at www.enterprisecommunity.com.

Erin Christensen to discuss forging alliances across agencies, disciplines and sectors. 10.23 - 10.26.2012 8:00am, Portland, OR.

The Grant County Public Utility District has announced plans to start construction in mid-June on the new Wanapum Heritage Center. Mithun designed the 50,000 sf replacement of the heritage center and museum in collaboration with the Wanapum Tribe of the Columbia River and the PUD to preserve the story of the Wanapum people. The center will house permanent and temporary exhibits, a collections repository, library and gift shop, as well as spaces for administration, active exhibits, cultural activities, community gatherings and academic conferences. The center is estimated to cost $10 million to $11 million and is expected to open in August of 2014.

Read more at djc.com*

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Mithun’s Coeur d’Alene Tribe Resort Expansion was recently awarded LEED Gold certification and was recognized by the Washington Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) with a Merit Award for General Design, and by the Illuminating Engineering Society with three lighting design awards.

An important aspect of the design of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s resort expansion was to create a strong connection to the surrounding lands. Two ecosystems are celebrated: the rolling hills of the Palouse Prairie and the native forests of Idaho. The resort sits at the edge between these distinct communities resulting in rich biodiversity. The new design encourages guests to interact with the site’s unique landscape through sensitive infrastructure improvements, including a new entry road, interpretive trails, amphitheater, outdoor fireplace and outdoor dining.

Construction on the $134 million First Hill Streetcar line was scheduled to begin in late April. A project that was approved by the 2008 Sound Transit 2 vote, it will connect Capitol Hill to the International District and is estimated to be used by 3,000 to 3,500 riders a day according to a 2007 Sound Transit report. Mithun completed concept design for all 10 plazas and a half-mile portion of Broadway Avenue. Services are expected to begin in 2014.

Continue reading:

• Seattle.gov, Bringing the Streetcar to North Broadway
• The Seattle Times, Newest streetcar to remake First Hill

Mithun’s Walking Mountains Science Center received an honorable mention at AIA Seattle’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) 2012 What Makes it Green? Awards ceremony. Walking Mountains serves as a key example of sustainable design, and is the first school in Colorado to receive LEED Platinum certification. Mithun served as lead designer, in collaboration with Zehren and Associates, for this 9,305 sf environmental education facility located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Anna-Mária Vág is a Hungarian-American fine art photographer and filmmaker originally trained as a painter. Her show, Mossitative, strives to “capture the essential spirit of moss and lichens on trees to inspire an interactive meditative experience.” The series draws on a wide breadth of Asian art forms, including Ananda yoga and zen garden design, to represent yin-yang theory and the Chinese and Japanese philosophies.

With this work, Anna-Mária encourages us to “place mindful attention on this unexpected color palette,” since we typically associate moss with vibrant emerald green. She intends to have the viewer consider the duality of expectation and actual experience.

For more information about Anna-Mária Vág’s work, visit www.Mossitative.com.

Opening Reception:
Thursday, April 5
5:00pm – 7:00pm

Show Dates:
April 3 – May 8

Threshold is currently featuring work from three artists as part of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) 46th Annual Conference, taking place in Seattle from March 28 to March 30.

Noah Riedel is a potter from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The guiding principal to his design approach is function – making pots that perform well, but are still unique. His background and training is in traditional methods and his influences come mostly from the organic-modern movement.

To view a gallery of Noah’s pottery, visit www.biloya.com.

Originally from Fargo, North Dakota, Adam Helenske discovered a passion for sculpture and clay while in college. With a goal of becoming a studio potter, Adam moved to Seattle in 2010 where he enrolled in classes and worked as a studio technician at Pottery Northwest. Eight months later he secured a role as a resident artist at same studio.

More information about Adam’s work can be found at www.helenskeclayworks.com.

John Taylor started his career in ceramics 25 years ago and now owns Taylor & Tile Pottery studio in Seattle. His focus is wheel and hand thrown pottery, decorated with images of people and plants native to the Northwest.

More information about John’s work can be found at www.johntaylor.com.

Opening Reception:
Friday, March 23
4:00pm – 6:00pm

Show Dates:
March 23 – March 30

In an essay featured on the Landscape Urbanism website, Christian Runge, a landscape designer at Mithun, discusses how our use of project performance metrics has evolved. Through case studies of Mithun projects including Lloyd Crossing, Taylor 28, South Lincoln Redevelopment and the EcoDistrict Assessment Methods, the essay examines the development and implementation of predevelopment baseline metrics and new tools for measuring human and community health.

Read the full essay at landscapeurbanism.com.

Seattle Goodwill Industries held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, February 15 for the new Job Training and Education Center. When it opens in early 2013, the 48,000 square-foot facility will allow the nonprofit to expand its core mission to provide free job training and education services to better serve the community. Foushée & Associates Inc. is the general contractor for the project located at Seattle Goodwill’s Dearborn Street location south of downtown.

• DJC.com, Goodwill to Start $14M building on campus at Rainier, Dearborn
• Central District News, Goodwill breaking ground on new building Wednesday
• Seattle.gov, Goodwill breaks ground on new workforce training facility

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Anita H. Lehmann is a registered architect, illustrator and long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest. She received training in architectural drawing at the University of Washington and currently gives drawing and painting lessons at her studio on the edge of downtown Seattle. Anita has also provided architectural renderings for several Mithun projects including the Polyclinic, Costa Ladera and Google Experience Center.

Anita’s show is focused on edges and places of transition, “where the agrarian and the utilitarian speak a similar vernacular, in architecture and in landscape.” She describes the use of pencil and crayon in her work as capturing the “loose realism of the edge place which then dissolves toward abstraction:”

“My natural tool is the pencil or the crayon; the single line and the limited palette require the artist to tell the story of that place with a crisp economy. Color, temperature, movement, and character are evoked in a few, swift strokes. For me as an architect and illustrator, the drawn line evokes the honest nature of a place, expressing—literally—weight, value, and tone.”

Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 16th
5:00pm – 7:00pm

Show Dates:
February 15 – March 20

Urban Visions has hired CBRE to market the $70 million mixed-use building on 200 Occidental Avenue. Mithun is designing the 250,000 sf, 11-story project in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square neighborhood. The building will include street-level retail, 80 apartment units and 130,000 sf of office space. Recently, the office market in and around Pioneer Square has been a magnet for tech and creative companies:

“It’s amazing,” said CBRE broker Brandon Weber, who is marketing the 200 Occidental space with colleague Owen Rice. “The market has done a complete 180 over the last nine to 12 months.”

Continue reading about the project at www.djc.com*.

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Public artwork played a large role in the design of the Brightwater Treatment Facility and Education Center, and several pieces can be seen throughout the treatment plant, public open space and natural habitat. As architectural designer for Brightwater, Mithun participated in the art master plan. Gary Faigin recently toured the facility to reflect on the use of art in the treatment plant:

“The 9 or so artists whose work I saw had been given an ambitious agenda, to create works that directly referenced the ugly but necessary work of the plant, separating bodily and other wastes from millions of gallons of water a day, and then returning the water to the environment.”

Read the full review at www.artdish.com.