1932 First Avenue
Suite 200
Seattle, Washington 98101
206.956.0883
Suite 200
Seattle, Washington 98101
206.956.0883
Harrison Architects
Heads Up
Running the Numbers
Today I came across a series of images I feel compelled to share, called Running the Numbers, by Chris Jordan. Chris is a photographer here in Seattle. You might say he's an Andy Goldsworthy of American trash; making statistics of our consumption visible and real with his painstaking photographic assemblages that manage to be horrible and beautiful at the same time. Here is his artist's statement and one of his images, reproduced here with his permission.Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait
This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.
My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.
~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007
Plastic Cups, 2008
60" x 90"
Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.
Partial zoom:
Detail at actual print size:
Others in the series include Barbie Dolls, depicting "32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006," Plastic Bottles depicting "two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes." and Cell Phones, depicting "426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day."
Please have a look at his website for more. http://www.chrisjordan.com/
-RH
Motorcycles and Climate Change
Those of you who know me (and those who have looked at our family's green roof garage or come across the book Manspace) know that I am an ardent advocate of motorcycles as transportation. I recently came across a UK study that validates my intuition with respect to motorcycles and climate change.An except:
In so far as climate change is a consideration, motorcycles have a clear
advantage over passenger cars. The maximum emissions of CO2 from motorcycles
recorded in recent tests, fall below the average values recorded from the
passenger car fleet. This is true for petrol engined passenger cars that
dominate the UK fleet and also the diesel fleet that exists on the basis of
its fuel economy. If one considers lower capacity motorcycles which dominate
the urban/commuter sector, their CO2 emissions tend to be less than half
those of the average passenger car.
When considering gaseous pollutants it is apparent that the nature of the
test cycle used during emissions measurement can have a significant
influence on the results obtained. For the purposes of comparison this paper
has considered the emission of two pollutants (NOx and HC) measured over
“real world” test cycles that have recently been developed for both
passenger cars
and for motorcycles. Comparison of these results has been put in context by
reference to the emission limits set out in legislation for passenger cars.
Lower legislated limits for passenger cars would suggest that the
environmental performance of passenger cars would be better than
motorcycles. The available data suggests that this is the case, although the
margin of difference is not as great as the difference in legislated limit
values would suggest. Average emissions of NOx and HC from motorcycles is
approximately one Euro standard behind that from petrol fuelled passenger
cars. However, the NOx performance from motorcycles is generally better than
that from diesel fuelled cars that are increasing in popularity because of
their fuel efficiency.
Future emission standards have been agreed for motorcycles and these are
almost certain to cause the use of carburettors (a major cause of high HC
emission) to cease. It is also expected that catalyst technology will be far
more widespread in the motorcycle fleet providing further improved emission
control. In addition, the complexity of the test cycle over which future
motorcycle emissions will be measured should reduce the possibility for
disparity between regulated and “real world” emissions.
Read a detailed abstract of the study here: <http://www.bmf.co.uk/briefing/Bikes-Go-Greener.html>
-RH
Energy Independence & Emergency Preparedness, Part I
A massive windstorm swept through Western Washington early last Friday morning, knocking down power lines and leaving 700,000 of Puget Sound Energy's one million customers without electricity. That's right: Seventy per cent (70%) of the PSE grid was knocked out. In Seattle, City Light's grid lost power for 175,000 customers. (I'm assuming customers means "accounts," or households.) A week later, many people are still without power, as Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy crews scramble to restore service.Centralization of Utilities and National Security
The centralized electrical grid is subject to disruption by storms, floods, earthquakes and, dare we say it, terrorist activity. Our centralized water supply is similarly vulnerable. (As is waste treatment...although the effects of disruption of our sewage treatment system might be more unpleasant than immediately dangerous....) I vividly remember Jim Bell, a ecological designer from San Diego, doing a slide presentation in 1992 or so for the then-fledgling EcoBuilding Guild. He first put up on the screen a map of San Diego, showing the six or seven aqueducts that supply the city coming in east to west down from the mountains. Then he added the five or six main electrical trunk lines, following similar east to west lines. And then a final slide that showed known earthquake fault lines, such as the San Andreas, all running NORTH and SOUTH, crossing every single water and power line. Seeing that convinced me on the spot that decentralized utilities was a concept that could garner support on both sides of the political fence.
First Easy Baby Steps
There are things that can be done to ameliorate the effects of outages. In our projects, even where clients have not "gone the extra mile" and installed off-the-grid electrical systems, just having a well-insulated house with a supplemental heat source that can operate without electricity (like a gas or wood fireplace), and appropriate circuitry for easily plugging in a gasoline-powered generator can make the difference between inconvenience and major disruption. Here's what one of my clients, for whom we recently designed a new house in an outlying area, had to say:
We don't have power back yet, but we're keeping warm. . . . Right now [our daughter's] room is a balmy 69F, our bedroom is 65, and the rest of the house is 57 and warming. . . . Once it's warm, the house retains heat AMAZINGLY well, but I'm sure that's what you and [the contractor] had planned :-). The fireplace warms the living room nicely and extends a bit into the dining room but we're definitely at some point going to want to do the work that we "postponed"--to get it hooked up to some sort of system that can distribute its heat more effectively. One of those "we need to stay within budget cuts that we made that I don't think we would have done differently but would definitely have been a "nice to have" right now." Still, without it, we're faring pretty well.
Because of the generator outlets you put in we're able to keep the computer on in the kitchen so we can stay "connected", power the TV, some basic lighting in each room as needed, keep the phones charged, and power [our daughter']s entire room which was a GREAT decision - it means very very little changes for her and with the heat, makes for easy evening diaper changes and book reading, and she'll sleep soundly in her own room tonight as if there was no power outage at all.
Imagine however if you will, another scenario....in which power is generated, water is supplied, and waste is processed on a neighborhood or household scale. Stay tuned for Part II.
An Inconvenient Truth
All I'm going to say is this:You need to watch this movie. Everyone needs to.
And then, each of us needs to do something about it. We owe it to our children.
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
-RH
Living Buildings Challenge
Now we're talking.At the Greenbuild conference this fall the Cascadia Chapter of the US Greenbuilding Council offered up a challenge for green designers, builders and building owners to "go beyond Platinum." (Platinum is the highest current rating of the USGBC LEED rating system.) The criteria, for the first time in my mind, really address the issues of sustainability, including responsible site selection, limits to growth, habitat exchange, net-zero energy, a materials red list that bans a long list of chemicals, construction carbon off-sets, responsible industry, appropriate materials and services radius, recycling construction waste, net-zero water, sustainable water discharge, a civilized work environment (for commercial projects), healthy air and source control, ventilation, inspiration and education, and most surprising (and finally!) BEAUTY and SPIRIT.
For more: http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm?fileName=151203a.xml&sidebar=1
-RH
Global Green Lecture - November 30th
Rob Harrison AIA, principal of Harrison Architects, will take part in a panel discussion on green design on November 30th. Press release follows....______________________________
GLOBAL GREEN
A lecture/panel series showcasing sustainable planning and design in the
Pacific Northwest and Denmark
Green Architecture and Urban Design Lecture/Panel
Thursday, November 30, 7:00 - 8:30
Kane Hall, Room 100, University of Washington
Don't miss this lecture/panel series with prominent local architects who
will be showing recent urban planning and design work that exemplifies
application of sustainable strategies.
The panel will feature Bert Gregory, CEO of Mithun, to present the
firm's urban design plan for a sustainable neighborhood at Portland's
Lloyd Crossing; Margaret Montgomery, NBBJ, to unveil design strategies
for the new Gates Foundation Campus, influenced by Scandinavian models;
Robert Miller, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, to discuss the new Ballard
Library; and Architect Rob Harrison, who will show his recently
constructed Green Roof Workshop.
Diane Sugimura of Seattle's Department of Planning and Development will
recap the the City's green building program in an introduction to the
panel, and Jerry Finrow, UW Architecture Professor and former College
Dean, will moderate a discussion following the panelists' presentations.
The evening will be a rare opportunity to see projects that represent
cutting-edge sustainable design at four different scales of work.
This is the first in the new GLOBAL GREEN series. The event is supported
by the Northwest Danish Foundation and co-sponsored by the Green Futures
Institute and the Northwest Center for Livable Communities, both in the
UW College of Architecture and Urban Design. Watch for future events
that will focus on Sustainable Energy, and on Civic and Green
Infrastructure.
Links:
http://www.caup.washington.edu/globalgreen/ (event poster)
http://www.northwestdanishfoundation.org/
http://depts.washington.edu/nwclc/
Man Space Debuts at 29th on Bestseller List
Just received this news from Sam Martin, author of ManSpace: A Primal Guide to Marking Your Territory, which includes my own garage for motorcycles as one of fifty "man spaces." (See lower right of cover.)
"Great news from the book world. Manspace landed at #29 on the BookScan bestseller list for the week of October 1. If you've never heard of BookScan I don't blame you. It's an industry insider tracking company established by Nielson (yes, that Nielson) that provides point of sale stats to publishing companies. They monitor book sales from all the biggest bookstores in the country including Barnes & Noble Inc., Walden, Borders and Amazon.com.
That means Manspace was the 29th bestselling adult non-fiction book from all those stores last week. And we didn't even have the full week to work with - the book came out on a Tuesday!"
Sam has created a website (www.manspacesite.com) where, ahem, men can upload descriptions and pictures of their own "man spaces." It's a bit tongue in cheek, and quite enjoyable.
We don't have our copy yet, but I suspect some editorial liberties may have been taken.... Honestly, I don't make Frith park the Mini Cooper outside!
> Order Manspace at Amazon.
-RH
Barbat-Harrison Garage to be on AIA Tour
AIA Committee on the Environment Case Study Tour:LITTLE HOUSE & BARBAT-HARRISON GARAGE
Two recently completed residential-scale projects showcase innovative problem-solving, design, and building technologies. The Barbat-Harrison Garage was built predominantly with salvaged materials, and has a planted roof. The Little House by Dee Williams is a 150 square foot architect-designed off-the-grid mobile home, which will be towed up from Olympia and parked next to the garage for the event. Dee Williams and Rob Harrison will lead the tour, in Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood.
Tuesday June 27, 2006
4-6pm
Visit the AIA Seattle website to register for the tour: http://aiaseattle.org/ce_060627_littlehouseandgarage.htm.
Senior Staff Position at RHA
We have an opening for a project architect/designer with 5-7 years experience in residential architecture. For more information, please visit the Working at RHA page on our site, here:Working at RHA
Thanks!
Harding Home is AIA Home of the Month
One of our projects, the Harding Home, has been selected to be the AIA Home of the Month for March 2006! There will be a tour open to the public on Sunday March 19th, from noon ‘till 3pm. For details, click here: <http://www.nwhomeandgarden.com/openhouse.asp>. The AIA Home of the Month program goes back more than 50 years. It is a real honor to be selected.The Harding Home was a huge and successful collaboration, with owners Tim and Heather Harding and general contractor Phoenix Construction our major partners in this endeavor, with a supporting cast of well, not quite thousands, but many many hard workers. Please have a look here at the full list. A big thanks to everyone involved!
As part of the AIA Home of the Month, the house appears in a 7+ page spread in the March/April 2006 issue of Northwest Home + Garden, on your news stand now. The fabulous photos were taken by my friend (and our second-story addition client) Marco Prozzo. <http://marcoprozzo.com/ > I think you will be able to see some of the photos on the Northwest Home + Garden web site starting in March: <http://www.nwhomeandgarden.com/ > The focus of the March/April issue is green building.
Noguchi at Seattle Art Museum
My first employer has an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, on now. I worked for Isamu Noguchi and Buckminster Fuller shortly after I graduated from architecture school in 1979. The office is now the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City. It was an incredible experience. At 75, Isamu had more energy than most of us 50 years his junior. A true genius.Noguchi Exhibit at Seattle Art Museum