The new headquarters for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation may not rival classical Greek architecture, but the campus is sleek, serious, eco-friendly, and humane as a workplace.
High-rise architecture is still trying to solve the problem that the tall buildings rarely work when you get close to them and when they meet the street.
The AIA Seattle Honor Awards show innovations in use of cramped city lots and thoughtful combinations of places to live and work. One architect talks about "going back to the natural zoning of cities."
Another botched opportunity: Seattle again fails to develop a spectacular park in its urban core. And a lake loop trail comes up short in terms of, well, fun. Bremerton does better on a waterfront park; Tacoma on a waterfront trail.
