64. Young Voices of Seattle with Sarah Burk, Siyu Qu, and Will Crothers

Living Upon the History. Image by: Siyu Qu, Lipeipei Sun, and Vlanka Catalan

“…building standards in general have to be based on some kind of body...how is that possible to do? ”

- Vikram Prakash

This week, Vikram sits down with young professionals Sarah Burk, Siyu Qu and Will Crothers to talk about the scene, culture, aesthetic, and ethics of Seattle’s practicing architectural community in the city today.

Timestamp Outline 

3:15       Vikram introduces Sarah Burk, Will Crothers, and Siyu Qu of the Young Voices Selection (YVS) program.

4:15       “Sarah…What do you think is the architectural direction of the work that you see today?” – VP

4:45       “…To me it feels like architecture… is starting to become more of a conversation between communities and the neighborhoods that it is starting to serve…” – SB

5:45       “Gentrification…it is represented in every aspect of what I do…I don’t have a solution, but the best thing you can do is to bring people to the table.” – SB

7:00       NIMBYism

7:25       “There’s a distinction I want to make between gentrification as a concern and architectural character as a concern.” – WC

8:30       “There is always the question of whether we want a city that is car focused or not car focused.” – SQ

9:05       “Other than Manhattan there is no other such [non car focused] city in America” – VP

9:15       NIMBYs

9:30       “What happened to the issue of regionalism? Is regionalism forgotten?” – VP

11:30     “Speaking of Miller Hull,  I think the Pike Place Market renovation by Miller Hull is a great example of Pacific Northwest Regionalism adapted to something very specific to Seattle.” – WC

11:45     “…but I think its hard to adopt Pacific Northwest regionalism…to the typologies that are being built now…” – WC

15:55     “[Portland vs Seattle architecture]…Portland has a more intimate scale...its definitely a planning issue.” – SQ

16:30     “…This also goes back to the idea of walkability and carless city planning…” – SB

18:30     “let’s talk sustainability…what is the cutting edge of sustainability in architectural practice in the city today?” – VP

18:55     Will talks about embodied carbon

19:30     Sarah mentions passive building systems

20:20     Siyu talks about Life cycle assessment and post occupancy studies as sustainable practices in a firm.

22:30     “Alright, let’s talk diversity. [Seattle] doesn’t generally do well in diversity…what do you all think? Is diversity an issue here [in the profession]?” – VP

23:15     Vikram elaborates the question further to cover diversity of aesthetics, diversity in building practices…

26:15     Transgender and normative expectations around gender and body types. – VP

27:40     “…but I want to go beyond bathrooms…” – VP

29:00     “…this goes back to Universal design and how do we create the best environment for the most? Oftentimes, unfortunately, we do end up excluding minorities whether that’s in a gendered or able-bodied capacity…” – SB

30:00     “…building standards in general have to be based on some kind of body...how is that possible to do?” – VP

32:10     “What kind of evolution would you like to see in the practice of architecture? Not something we are already doing, but something that is different?” – VP

32:40     “For me, ideally, architecture would be first and foremost: what is there? And can we reuse it? And that’s just the first thing…radical repurposing.” – SB

35:00     “…the most sustainable flooring is the one you already have.” – WC

36:25     “hyper mixed-use” – SQ

40:15     The group discusses the rising price of living in Seattle