Short field report: Lars Gemzøe and Jeffrey Ochsner architecture lecture doubleheader at UW

Just back from two not-quite-back-to-back but double-booked lectures on architecture at University of Washington’s Kane Hall.

The first was Copenhagen-based public space designer Lars Gemzøe of GehlArchitects.dk. He’s a partner at Gehl, a Danish firm that consults with cities across the globe on how to make better public spaces.

Gehl Architects consult with cities on how to make better public spaces

The second was UW professor Jeffrey Ochsner. His information-packed slideshow lecture ‘History of Seattle Architecture and Urbanism: 1880 - present’ was dense and yet intriguing. [Significant note: Power point was not used!]

One person asked Ochsner if Seattle design had somehow influenced architecture in other places. “I hate to puncture balloons,” the professor replied. “But yes. The shopping center.” Northgate shopping center—the first design to set buildings close together with a thin arcade between them and parking spaces all around—set an example for shopping malls across America, he said. See Northgate design essay at Historylink.org

I learned in Gemzøe’s lecture just upstairs half an hour before that shopping malls really took the wind out of the sails of public spaces. Malls replaced public squares. Yet they administered private rules. Shirts and shoes required. No playing radios. No sitting on the lawn, planters or sidewalks. “If you go to a city, these are the places people sit,” Gemzøe said.

Privatizing public space spelled doom for pedestrian-centered planning, and spawned a sprawling suburbia. In Gemzøe’s lecture, we saw examples of abandoned cities, with no people out and about and only parked cars. I liked how our lecturer stated the facts plain: “There can be no public space if there’s no public.”

But we also saw reclaimed cities. Gemzøe cited Portland as a city that’s turned itself around, by doing “heart surgery” to create a meeting place downtown and give people a reason to go there. He also talked about CPH’s own reclamation.

Enjoyed hearing from a local and an urban planning specialist how CPH made a conscious effort to close traffic on what’s today a 10m-wide strip of pedestrian-only thoroughfare. Even more interesting because I was just in Copenhagen to look for design inspiration last fall.

Seeing slides of CPH resembling some of the shots I took when I was there made me smile. I recognized the pedestrian-only street, of course, it’s pretty much what you run into no matter what direction you head. And I recognized the cut-off name of the department store Magasin, which I learned today owned the streetfront that’s got outdoor tables all year, where I had dinner with some strangers who asked me all about the life and times of… New Delhi.

Flashback to Raleigh 1998

I recalled hearing Dan Burden speak in Raleigh about Creating Walkable Communities in 1998. I asked the company I worked for if I could go to the workshop because my project had to do with building a master plan for a community college. After, instead of driving to the train station a few blocks away, I walked. I was late picking up a friend, but happy to be in the warm humidity of summer outdoors in downtown Raleigh, NC, and mulling all the way how sidewalks could be tree-ified and made more friendly.

Sponsors and things

Ochsner’s lecture was sponsored by the University of Washington Alumnae Association, College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Seattle Architecture Foundation. Gemzøe’s was sponsored by: the Scan|Design Foundation; The Northwest Danish Foundation; Green Futures Research and Design Lab; International Sustainable Solutions; UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning; and the UW Scandinavian Studies Department. —DK

For upcoming lectures, see Caup.Washington.Edu/Lectureseries

Also see DK’s posts:
On another Kane Hall lecture, ‘Translation in Wartime’
Design Kompany visits the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen

0 Responses to “Short field report: Lars Gemzøe and Jeffrey Ochsner architecture lecture doubleheader at UW”


  1. No Comments

Leave a Reply







Healthcare industry client enjoys Design Kompany What Clients Say People of DK

Work and portfolio of DK.

Contact DK DK helps you figure out who you are, why you matter, and why customers should care.

Think through how you're different from the inside out.

Let DK help you find the voice to inspire and motivate the exact people you'd love to work with.

We've helped dozens of businesses differentiate themselves in Seattle, Cork, Raleigh, and Tokyo. Try us for an international, modern style of graphic design.

Work



A1A
Allied Arts of Seattle
Atlantic School of English
Blitz!
Blue Gecko
The Broader View
Bonanzle
Case Design + Project Management
Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce
C'ODA
Counting Stars
D+A Studio LLC
Flow
Global Village conference
Group3 Architects LLC
Good Dog Art
Gupta Insurance & Financial Services
Hindsight Veterinary Care
Joji Minatogawa Architects
Kikokugo
Matchbox Mobile
MD Systems
Million Monarchs
Miyabi
Modern Business Training Services
Northwest Asian Weekly
Open Money
Petites Fleurs
Potters Bar
Portland Paws
Real Science
Redpill
Revolt
Row House Cafe
Spaccarotelli
TILU
World Beer Festival
Write with Meaning
Vibrance Nutrition + Fitness
Zenovation



DK in public



Guest post on Processed Identity
Lori Waxman reviews DK's Sharpie art
McGraw-Hill asks DK to judge in architecture competition
Northwest architects invite DK to talk branding
Seattle art gallery solo show
Watch our blog get critiqued
DK sponsors a park opening
Invited to University of Washington design school's professional night
Second short film screening in Seattle
Seattle Tech Startups invites DK to speak on branding
First short film at Southeast Asian Womens Film Festival in Seattle

 

aaron barker animation anime architect architects architecture art art direction art gallery artist trust artists beautiful simple belgian beer belltown blog brand brand identity brand message brand identity brand message branding brochure brown bag lunch business cards capitol hill capitol hill chamber of commerce capitol hill capitol hill community co working coasters collage color palette community contemporary art conversations copenhagen counting stars creative process creatives cupcake design design company Design Inspirations design kompany designers designers korner desk notes drawing drawings dream kitchen dream kitchen film films flow form/space atelier furniture design gallery glass sinks gnomedex graffiti graphic design graphic design graphic designers happy hour happy hour home alive identity identity design illustration illustrator image images inspiration Interesting Finds international district invitation japanese restaurant journalism kane hall korner layout logo logo design logo design love lunch magazines mark selleck marketing message miyabi moma monk mood board moving pictures moving pictures name names naming naruto neighborhood networking new business News at DK newspage design nick licata nonprofit Northwest northwest asian weekly northwest film forum nutrition nwen olympic sculpture park pentagram photo photograph photographs Photography photos psychographics rebrand Sakura samurai scandinavia sculpture park seattle seattle art museum seattle center seattle central community college seattle public library seattle times seminar short film short film sketch sketches spring start storytelling stranger stumbling monk tukwila typefaces urban craft uprising vermillion visual identity web site web site design white space youtube

Newsletter!


Email
Name


We publish a quarterly-ish newsletter with updates on our work, our forays into parenting, and special events.

Design Kompany on Twitter Follow DK on Twitter

Design Kompany is on Facebook Connect on Facebook



 

Categories

CONTACT DK

Design Kompany is in Durham, NC.

Mailing address:
PO Box 1512
Durham, NC 27702
@designkompany
c. 206.778.5136 My status | email