Numerous ideas and designs are floating about for the Seattle viaduct’s renovation, but this one has been under wraps for quite awhile. For good reason - a design sketched on a napkin may sometimes seem like understated brilliance, unless the head behind it has no training or experience for the task at hand.

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I just got back from my week out at the AZA conference, held this year in Milwaukee, WI. In some ways it was the typical conference with booths, business cards and goody bags. We were the only Architecture firm there, and as a result were approached by a number of interpretive display folks. But I’m constantly amazed at how hard people work in zoo design to treat the animals as a real client and go beyond zoos just being a business. There’s something wonderfully tangible about architecture, nature, and the senses that I feel I’m more aware of every day.

I also extended my trip to visit the East Coast to meet up with my pals at blip, create tapas with Liz, hang with Jen in the village, see my family, and wish my Mom a happy birthday.

My flight back home ended with being placed next to a 70 year old fellow originally from Wisconsin, who’s now living in Washington State. He found it interesting that I worked for a place that does zoo design, and the topic of animals led to a story. He told me that when he was a teenager, he used to hunt mink by a stream on his way to high school. The forest where he hunted is gone, but the excitement he conveyed at remembering his time outdoors when he was younger is something I’ll remember whenever I encounter programs that bring kids into the outdoors. It’s magical; it’s very real.

Work. After years as a software engineer—usually at companies with products I didn’t believe in—I realized that the end product really did matter. Going out with the guys in a huge pack at lunch and listening to Lil John soundboards while coding didn’t cut it for job satisfaction anymore.

I moved away to the northwest with Mike, in search of a few things that may sound new-agey unless I explain in person over a plate of local produce or while gazing at the Olympic Mountains. I hunted for work thousands of miles from any contacts, and based my search on a fit of core philosophies. Luck? Determination? I’m not sure how things really materialized, but now I work for a company that I feel is innovative without being evil.

I work for an architecture and landscape architecture firm that specializes in projects that use green building techniques and tries to build sensitively on the land. There’s an importance placed on how culture and communities affect spaces, whether it’s a dwelling or an estuary.

My desk. Note the huge plants!

I wish I had photos of all my past working spaces. Some were horrid, dark, small areas with no windows and stained carpets. Most of them were fine. But now I can’t believe how much some natural light and a view looking out over a park can affect my mood at work.

I love open source software. I love working with guys that are quirky and a bit socially awkward, and goodness I’ve come to really like geek humor and talking shop. I still code. But the tech industry is just not my thing.

What I do love is going to a place every morning where I’m comfortable, use my computer to work on tangible results, and most of all feel proud of my efforts.

Seattle Central Library

My Dad asked me twice in the past week, “Have you been to the new library yet?”. It’s so nice to get pleasantly surprised when I don’t know what to expect! Holy cow what an awesome building. It was hard to appreciate what going on when I first stepped through the main entrance, but as soon as I got on the escalator I thought this is different… wow.. Seriously, I could spend all day at the Seattle Central Library.

This year’s Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, FL gave a hint of a positive direction for green building and sustainable design with its new “GreenTrends” section. However, I made a point of going to the non-green booths which dominated the trade show floor to ask people what their companies were doing to be more green.

The first couple of guys I talked to were from a design group. Despite their eco-friendly concepts one man remarked that it’s really up to the builders. “Ultimately it’s what the consumer wants and whether it’s sexy.”Next up was a cement company with two women fronting the information booth. What were they doing to be more green? They’re going “in that direction”, but they would need to “talk to the bigwigs in Mexico to really find out.”

The man I spent the most time talking to was a self-proclaimed treehugger that was in the business of designing cookie-cutter homes. He was torn that there is so much waste in his industry, but emphasized that he still has to make a living. “It’s all about perception and economics” was his opening line of non-salesman conversation. He’d love to design more green, but there just isn’t a demand for it because it isn’t what most homeowners can afford.

Every home built with sustainability is mind is a step forward, but the major battle remains to be pressuring major developers to design and build with the environment in mind.