Operated through the Architecture Foundation of Oregon (AFO) organization, Architects in Schools (AIS) is a statewide, six-week residency program for elementary and middle schools where students and classroom teachers work directly with practicing architects and other design professionals with the goal of developing awareness and understanding of the designed and built environment.
Read MoreAnother event, that we are very proud to help sponsor, is occurring this weekend: the DisOrient Film Festival. Here is the festival's mission: "DisOrient is the premiere Asian American, social justice film festival of Oregon. Our films—'By us, for us and about us'—break open the one-dimensional stereotype of the 'Oriental.' We believe in the power of film to inform, heal and connect people. We bring power to our voice as we share our stories and advocate for social justice."
Read MoreStaff visited the South Hills House for a tour. Though the finishes are still going in, the drama of the I-beams, skylights, and the views is already apparent. Project Architect Frank Visconti is currently completing the construction administration for the project.
Read MoreAfter finishing the move to our new office, we walked downstairs to Claim 52 Brewing for their soft opening. When Rowell Brokaw was deciding whether to develop and renovate the building, we saw Capstone Apartments, which is situated directly across the street, as this project’s biggest liability. But in the end, we decided to go forward with the project. From an architectural and urban design perspective, Capstone is a sad and sorry example, but it has, on a positive note, brought a large number of residents to this part of downtown. Ultimately, we must move on, repair the damage, renew, and move forward. We think 1203 Willamette is a step in the right direction.
Read MoreWe are excited to announce that we have moved! The Rowell Brokaw office is now at the following address: 1203 Willamette, Suite 220, Eugene, Oregon 97401.
We are still settling into our new space, but we will let you know should we have a formal or informal party. There is an exciting mix of tenants in the building: Claim 52, Katie Brown, Saucefly, deChase Miksis, Q. Sterry Inspired Architecture, and Watkinson Laird Rubenstein, P.C. The ground floor has a series of garage doors that open onto Willamette. The outdoor sidewalk area is intentionally deep to allow for outdoor seating and retail opportunities.
Read MoreThroughout the year, Rowell Brokaw has Lunch 'n Learns, in which reps come from various building industries to educate the firm on their latest products and services. Recently reps from E.B. Bradley Company of Portland showed us the Blum product line. They also brought along Blum’s Age Explorer Suit, which simulates aging 30+ years. Blum developed this suit to aid in their designs: their engineers experience firsthand what a 70+ year old goes through with something as simple as opening a cabinet. This understanding informs the function, motion and technology in their hardware. Blum has developed a series of motion technologies, lift systems, concealed hinges, runner systems and more.
Read MoreOn March 19 from 12:30 AM until 9 AM, Fortis Construction poured the 30" thick slab for the foundation of Tykeson Hall. It took 130 concrete trucks--1300 yards of concrete--to make the slab!
Read More“At the southern base of Skinner Butte sits the historic Shelton-McMurphey-Johnson House, built in the 1880s, the Ya-Po-Ah Terrace senior living tower, built in the 1960s, and an apartment complex built in the 1970s.
Now a group of local developers hopes to add a touch of modern living to the base of the butte with the first new construction around the Eugene landmark in nearly a half-century.”
Read MoreWriting sometime around the year 30 B.C., the Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio — Vitruvius, to his friends — laid out, in his foundational work De Architectura, three principles that should inform all architecture: firmitas, utilitasand venustas.
More than 2,000 years later, Eugene architect Frank Visconti translates those Latin terms as “firmness,” meaning that a building is structurally sound; “commodity,” meaning that it’s functional; and “delight.”
“That’s the joy that one gets out of it,” Visconti says.
Read MoreFour women-owned businesses are about to bring life to a previously moribund part of Eugene’s signature street.
The businesses — Claim 52 Kitchen, Katie Brown clothing, Saucefly Market/Bar, and Blue Bird Flowers — are preparing to open during the next several weeks in the newly renovated building at 1203 Willamette St.
“The location on Willamette Street is ideal,” said Jeannine Parisi, co-owner of Claim 52 Brewing in Eugene, a craft brewer that is opening its first restaurant/taproom combination. “We are part of a project that will wake this whole block up.”
Read MoreArchitects are passionate about pens and pencils: their heft, smoothness, mark. For many, they hold a talismanic power. After heated debate in the office, the Palomino Blackwing 602 has emerged as a staff favorite.
Read MoreOver winter break at the University of Oregon, Fortis Construction began to excavate the site for Tykeson Hall. They jump-started this process in order to minimize disruptions on campus. Now excavation has been completed and work on the foundation will begin. For live updates on construction, see the College of Arts and Sciences' website. Their menu also has a link for construction time-lapses.
Read MoreAs part of UO’s shadow mentor day, Mark Young hosted Paul Turner, a first-year undergraduate in the architecture department. The mentor day pairs students with professionals throughout Eugene, Portland, and Seattle. Students experience a “day in the life” or an actual work day in an actual work setting.
Read MoreA harsh winter storm in 2016 damaged parts of the The Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), a marine station owned by the University of Oregon and located on 100-acres in Charleston, at the mouth of Coos Bay. RB has been performing roof replacements, road repair, and dock repair. The OIMB offers undergraduate and graduate students an array of courses in marine biology, including marine birds and mammals, the biology of fishes, deep-sea and subtidal ecology, and marine environmental issues. The institute is comprised of teaching laboratories, research facilities, dormitories, the Loyd and Dorothy Rippey Library, and the Charleston Marine Life Center, an aquarium and museum.
Read MoreRowell Brokaw participated in this year's Reverse Crit. The event took place at the Hayden Gallery in the University of Oregon's College of Design and was hosted by the UO chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) in partnership with AIA-SWO. Students had the opportunity to turn the tables and weigh in on architects' current, real-world projects. Frank Visconti presented the Eureka Veterans and Homeless Housing project and garnered an award for Spatial Composition.
Read MoreUO President Michael H. Schill sent the following 'Open Mike' message to the campus community:
Dear colleagues and friends,
As I write this Open Mike, I feel the earth move under my feet. Before you get concerned that I am singing Carole King songs (she is one of my favorites) or having a nightmare about the Cascadia Subduction Zone, you should understand that just outside my office massive trucks and bulldozers are busy breaking ground for the new Willie and Donald Tykeson Hall, the college and careers building. Since the start of the term, construction crews have been diligently digging, hammering, and preparing the site for a stunning new building that will open in fall 2019. It is noisy; it is loud; and sometimes it feels like the earth really is moving, but it is all for a great and important cause.
Read MoreConstruction is moving along at Amazon Corner in South Eugene. Having completed the post-tensioned slabs of the basement and first floor, Essex Construction is installing the wood wall framing for the housing units. Before the weather turned, walls were being pre-fabricated on-site through a makeshift assembly line. Once completed, a stack of walls was lifted by a crane onto the building floor plate and then each wall was tilted into place. Currently, workers are constructing more traditional stud walls. In the installation of the floors, workers are hanging floor joists from the wall framing—a technique that has become standard in Portland. Many structural engineers prefer this method for a host of reasons: it eliminates rim boards, uses less wood product overall, may reduce building height shrinkage, and offers better insulative performance.
Read MoreArtist Garrick Imatani has completed the second phase of his permanent exhibit in the atrium of Straub Hall at the University of Oregon. For phase one, Imatani painted a mural of the Willamette River Basin. For phase two, he installed a sculpture of the Willamette Meteorite. In the development of this project, Imatani was compelled by the meteorite's geologic and human history: “Despite not even being from this planet, this extraterrestrial rock still manages to be a container for the complicated and often fraught politics of this region….”
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