The Design Forum by Wilma Stordahl

Are McMansions Going Out of Style?

2005-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Could the gluttoness American trend of super-sized meals, SUVs, and McMansions be hitting a downturn? Check this article from the NYTimes.

Robert Murase Article from the Oregonian

2005-07-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

This link to the Oregonian provides another look at the works of Rober Murase.

Landscape Architecture Mourns the Loss of Robert Murase

2005-07-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

From the Daily Journal of Commerce

July 21, 2005

Robert Murase: 'a poet of stone and water'

By SAM BENNETTJournal Staff Reporter

Robert Murase, a landscape architect who created tranquil, Japanese-influenced designs, died Monday at age 66 from a heart attack.

Described by friends and associates as intuitive and introspective, Murase had a gift for arranging elements in a way that others said perfectly mimicked nature.

"I always considered him a poet of stone and water," said John Nesholm of LMN Architects.
Murase's most high-profile Seattle project was the Garden of Remembrance at Benaroya Hall, which features a stream of water that threads its way from Third to Second avenues, a memorial wall, and several walkways that draw visitors into a peaceful setting.

"That project has a certain reverential quality, right along a busy urban street," Nesholm said. "It is a place to get lost in one's own thoughts."

Murase also used stream-like elements indoors, such as the Pier 69 headquarters of the Port of Seattle, which features a 400-foot long water runnel.

Associates said he was proudest of the Japanese American Historical Plaza along Portland's waterfront. The plaza commemorates the internment of 110,000 Japanese-Americans and features bronze relief columns and poetry engraved on stones.

Photo courtesy Murase Associates
The Garden of Remembrance at Benaroya Hall was designed by Robert Murase.
"I felt that the memorial should not be a place that could be described as pretty, attractive, clever, a traditional park or a lyrical picture," he wrote in a book about the memorial, "but instead that it be a slice of life which interprets the Japanese-American experience with emotion and cultural sensitivity without sentiment."

His design of the memorial was influenced by the fact that Murase, who was born in San Francisco, was placed in a Utah internment camp along with his parents and grandparents, according to Dan Jenkins, a principal at Murase Associates' Portland office.

After World War II, the family returned from the camp to San Francisco. In his teens, he worked for his uncle, a landscape contractor, and he was further inspired by the 1958 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Exhibit of Landscape Architecture.

He went on to study landscape architecture at Berkeley, and was hired by Robert Royston & Associates in San Francisco in 1965.

He delved into Japanese design during his seven-year tenure with a landscape architecture firm in Kyoto. Murase then taught landscape architecture at University of Oregon for three years, worked with EDAW in Portland from 1980 to 1982 and formed Murase Associates in 1982. He opened the Seattle office in 1989.

He was a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and an honorary member of AIA Seattle. His firm has won about 50 design awards.

Richard Cardwell of Cardwell Architects said Murase devised great designs working with "very tough programs."

The Garden of Remembrance "takes you out of the hustle-and-bustle, and provides a nice place to sit and enjoy life and think," Cardwell said.

"He had a very natural, innate skill," said Jenkins. "Bob was very thoughtful, in terms of his design approach. He would understand the site and the issues, and sort of let ideas gestate. Solutions would come up after a thorough mix of all the considerations. It was a very emotional process for him."

Mark Reddington of LMN, whose firm designed Benaroya Hall, said Murase "was fairly reserved in the way he presented himself, and clearly very passionate and very thoughtful. He was almost spiritual about the way he thought about the elements he was putting into his designs."

Cardwell, whose office is near the Garden of Rememberance, said he often goes to the site to gather his thoughts.

"He was the best at what he did," said Cardwell. "This is a huge loss for me, and for the landscape architecture community."

Murase is surived by his mother, his wife, Judy, and three children, Scott, Shawn and Aya.
A memorial service is being planned for late August at Murase's residence, Santi-Ya, in the town of Rosburg in Wahkiakum County. For information, call (206) 322-4937.

Outdoor Wallpaper

2005-07-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

Check out outdoor wallpaper.

Sustainable Style

2005-07-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Follow the hyperlink in the title above to a list of companies dedicating themselves to sustainable style.

Sculptural Design

2005-07-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

The Isamu Noguchi Sculptural Design exhibit will start tomorrow, July 9th, 2005 and run through September 5, 2005 at the Seattle Art Museum.

Google Earth

2005-07-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Download Google Earth, the 3D interface to the planet.

L.A.R.E. Update

2005-07-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

The information below is sent out to all landscape architecture licensure exam candidates. Please send this link to anyone you know who is working towards obtaining their landscape architectural license.

Summertime is great for cookouts, vacations and spending time with family and friends. But don't forget, you can take a step closer to your landscape architectural license by taking Section A, B or D of the L.A.R.E. this July. (If you know someone "on the road to licensure” please forward this link.)

There are many reasons to register, here is the website:

http://www.clarb.org/exams_regmc.asp?target=fo

You will avoid the rush - Since CLARB now offers the multiple-choice exam several times a year, there are fewer candidates taking the exam at each sitting. This means that you are likely to get your first choices for exam sites and times.

You can take full advantage of the new computerized testing process - Less travel, less stress and a smoother application process mean that you can concentrate harder on preparing for and taking the exam. Passing rates have increased as a result.

New study material helps you prepare - Exam candidates who took CLARB's new online multiple-choice practice exams had higher passing rates than those who did not. Three practice exams are now available on-demand at www.C2Ed.com

It's not too late to register - The last day to register for the July 25/26 exams is July 11th. Register before July 4, 2005 and avoid late fees of $25 per section. You can apply online at www.clarb.org in minutes. If you have a CLARB Council Record, your $75 registration fee is waived!

Remember, the sooner you pass the exam, the sooner you can apply for licensure and get the recognition you deserve. Register at: http://www.clarb.org/exams_regmc.asp?target=fo for the L.A.R.E. today.

If you have any questions, email Alina Grant

CLARB, Communications Assistant at agrant@clarb.org

If you have questions not answered on the CLARB website, in Washington, contact:

Matt Mathes, ASLA
WASLA Chapter President

or

Erik Sweet, ASLA
LARE Seminars Committee Chair for WASLA

for additional information about L.A.R.E. study sessions in Seattle and Pullman.

Robert Smithson

2005-06-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

The NYTimes ran a nice slide show and article on the work of Robert Smithson on display now at the Whitney Museum. Check out the audio slide show at http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/arts/20050624_KIMM_AUDIOSS/blocker.html.

Zero Energy Homes

2005-06-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to BedZED, the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Homes initiative helps inplement the latest research on green buildings. Check out http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings.

Landscape Architect Licensing Exam (L.A.R.E.)

2005-06-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

About the L.A.R.E.The Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.) is designed to determine whether applicants for landscape architectural licensure possess sufficient knowledge, skills and abilities to provide landscape architectural services without endangering the health, safety and welfare of the public. It is prepared and scored by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB) in accordance with all current standards for fairness and quality of licensure exams. CLARB is a non-profit association of the state and provincial registration boards that regulate the profession of landscape architecture in North America.

Each of the five sections of the L.A.R.E. is designed to test for minimum competency in a specific area of knowledge which is important to the health, safety and welfare of the public. The design of the test and the content of each section are determined through scientific studies of the profession of landscape architecture. These studies, known as "Task Analyses" identify the knowledge, skills and abilities required of newly licensed landscape architects in order to perform landscape architectural services without endangering the health, safety and welfare of the public.

The exam is prepared by CLARB's Examination Committee which is composed of landscape architect volunteers from across the U.S. and Canada. The L.A.R.E. is exactly the same in every jurisdiction. The same exam is administered, on the same days and under the same conditions in every jurisdiction. And all exams are uniformly graded by CLARB.

Successful completion of the Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.) is required for licensure as a landscape architect in the 46 U.S. States, one U.S. Territory and the two Canadian Provinces which license landscape architects.

Exam Calendar
The L.A.R.E. is administered across the United States and Canada only on dates established by CLARB. The graphic sections of the exam are administered by state and provincial registration boards or by CLARB in regional testing centers. The multiple-choice sections of the exam (C/L.A.R.E.) are administered by CLARB using a national system of computer testing centers.

It is important for candidate to contact the registration board in the state or province in which you wish to take the test to determine specific information about schedule, locations and application deadlines.

Established L.A.R.E. Administration Dates: Graphic Exam Sections (Sections C and E)
June 13 & 14, 2005
December 5 & 6, 2005
June 12 & 13, 2006
December 4 & 5, 2006

Established L.A.R.E. Administration Dates: Multiple-Choice Exam Sections (Sections A, B and D)
April 4 & 5, 2005
Future dates to be determined

Washington Chapter ASLA L.A.R.E. Review Class
The L.A.R.E. Review Seminar is a HOW TO take the licensing exam. The course is offered next in late June, 2005 in Seattle, WA. All candidates are expected to have started preparation prior to attending this seminar. Utilize the local study groups (Please contact Erik Sweet below for other candidate contact information)
Send an email to the address below expressing your interest in attending study course and the exact date, time and place will be sent to you. Study The Road to Licensure and Beyond (latest edition).
State of Washington sign-up information is available at: http://www.dol.wa.gov/design/lafront.htm

For more information, click on the ASLA link from the DOL website ands also visit:

http://www.wasla.org

Matt Mathes, ASLA, Chapter President and Erik Sweet, ASLA are regular instructors for the WASLA LARE study session, with 5+ years experience as LARE course instructors. For further information please contact:
Erik Sweet, ASLA, 2005 WASLA LARE Seminar Committee Chair
Cascade Design Collaborative
Seattle WA.
esweet@cascadedesigncollab.com

Thanks to Matt Mathes, ASLA, Washington ASLA Chapter President for the information.

Bedzed

2005-06-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Check out the zero (fossil) energy development at BEDZED.

For anyone not familiar with this blog, I often link the title of the blog to websites with further information. Roll over the titles and check out the links.

Photoshop Challenger

2005-06-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Will Microsoft's Acrylic be able to outdo Adobe's Photoshop? Click on the link above to try it for yourself.

The Design Forum

2005-06-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

If Vancouver, B.C. urbanista, Gordan Price, can have his e-newsletter, Price Tags, (which I love!) I see no reason, with the ease of web publishing, why I shouldn't start a forum of my own.

I hope to include commentary and links related to landscape architecture, architecture, urban planning, construction materials, professional development, and craftsmanship.

Just to name a few.

Post a comment and tell me what you'd like to see.