Happy August! Read on about Environmental Works's Seattle Design Festival installation at Fire Station 7, reflections from Roger Tucker in his last months as our Executive Director, an exciting beach restoration project at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, and highlights from our social media!
Seattle Design Festival August 15-23, 2020
This year's Seattle Design Festival explores changing priorities and means of collaboration as our society grapples with racism, inequity, and a global pandemic. Our festival installation, 15th Avenue East's Past, Present, and Future, examines the history and present of Fire Station 7's mixed-use neighborhood as a springboard for envisioning its future. Fire Station 7's windows facing 15th and the trees along Harrison feature photographs, text, and renderings of 15th's past and present. Partnering architecture firm Board & Vellum (115 15th Ave. E.) is displaying findings from the 15th Ave. E. community visioning workshops we co-hosted in 2018.
Our installation also includes an interactive component to collect people’s aspirations, memories, and reflections about 15th Ave. E. See our Design Festival page to share yours!
All displays are accessible from public rights-of-way 24-7 during the festival, as well as on our Design Festival page.
Visit designinpublic.org for the full line-up of multi-design-discipline events happening August 15-23, all exploring the theme of About Time.
Roger joined EW in 1997 when Gleason & Associates came on board, and has served as EW's Executive Director since 2010. While he plans to continue collaborating with us, he will be stepping down from the executive director role at the end of the year. Below he reflects on his career and EW's past, present, and future.
What drew you to architecture?
As a kid, I liked to draw and build models. When I was in elementary school, I made models of the Pantheon and the Parthenon (with a lot of help from my dad, an engineer and artist). We'd also explore homes being built in our new neighborhood, in the days before hard hats, safety vests, and security systems. I loved to watch the building process.
What brought you to the Pacific Northwest?
After undergraduate school in architecture, I joined VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) and came to Seattle to work with United Inner City Development Foundation (UICDF) at 23rd and Madison. Apart from short hiatuses in Bellingham and NYC, I've lived or worked within blocks of that building for most of my career.
When did you first learn about the work that Environmental Works does?
One beautiful summer day in 1977, while I was working at UICDF, Mike Ross (civil rights activist, state legislator and UICDF Director) walked me up to the fire station to introduce me to then-EW Executive Director Steve Johnson. EW’s offices were on the ground floor, and the large doors were wide open. I was captivated by the group's energy and can-do grassroots spirit.
When did you start working with Environmental Works?
I almost began working with EW in 1986, on returning to Seattle from New York. However, I had just accepted a job with Jan Gleason right before EW offered me a position. Jan brought her practice, including Sally, me, and others, to EW in 1997. She started as Director of Architecture, and became EW's Executive Director within a year or two. Bill and Dan were already with EW, and we’ve worked together since then.
How has EW changed during your tenure? How have you changed?
While we still serve the same mission, we have greatly expanded our breadth and depth. Our staff has grown in size significantly. We've diversified the range of organizations and communities with which we work. We've started working in Eastern Washington. We have strengthened our capacity for community engagement in the design process. And we've maintained our commitment to design at the forefront of sustainability. Personally, I've grown older, wiser, and less prone to irony 😉
What do you most enjoy about working at Fire Station 7 and on 15th Avenue East?
Fire Station 7 and 15th feel cozy to me. After decades of working in our neighborhood, it feels like home.
Tell us about some of the EW projects you are most proud of.
I am most invested in projects with a strong community engagement process that leads to a shared vision that expresses the organization and community that the project serves. Neighborhood House Rainier Vista, KWA Senior City, and, most recently, Ethiopian Village are examples of that kind of commitment to a process that empowers residents and stakeholders.
What are your hopes for EW for the next 50 years?
As VISTA volunteers, our goal was to “work ourselves out of our jobs”: as the people we worked with became empowered with the resources and skills they needed to succeed, VISTA became unnecessary. EW should do the same. Fifty years is a long time – maybe we’ll have an equitable society in 50 years?
What are your plans for after you step down from the executive director role?
I would like to continue to assist the work of EW (on a part-time basis) in whatever way seems most appropriate.
What advice do you have for EW and our next Executive Director as we enter our next chapter?
Celebrate the WE in EW. Be kind. Look out for the common good.
What will you miss most about being EW's Executive Director?
The people and places who matter.
Edmonds Waterfront Center Beach Restoration
The City of Edmonds and Edmonds Senior Center are partnering on the innovative Edmonds Waterfront Center, a multi-generational community facility that will boast great energy efficiency along with great views. EW's Landscape Architecture team has been working hard on the beach restoration component of this project. An old creosote-soaked wood bulkhead and seawall that held up the former Senior Center's parking lot are being removed, along with associated toxins. Native plant communities are being restored, public connections to the Edmonds Marine Walkway constructed, and public beach access improved. The beach restoration will be completed by Fall of this year.
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