Living City Design Challenge 2011

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It all started when Gary Purves sent out an email to his professional contacts he felt would want to join him in an adventure and we all agreed...

The challenge was as follows:

"Calling all Professionals and Students for the Living City Design Competition

The International Living Building Institute, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, invites the world’s most talented and daring designers, planners, artists and animators to create a new global vision: a breathtaking, compelling model for the future of civilization. All entries must comply explicitly with all 20 Imperatives of the Living Building Challenge™ 2.0."

Our group of architects, planners, engineers, historians, designers, artists, consultants, students, and community members rolled up our sleeves just before Thanksgiving 2010.
Team members:
Stephan Frenzl, Gary Purves, Grace Kane, Jim Armstrong, Shelly Armstrong,
Karen Erickson, Kristin Kelly, Suzanne Oversee, Paul Crane, Andrew Marks, Chris Herman,
Clair Olivers, Nicole Faghin, Dena Peel, Rebecca Schmidt, Scott Schreffler, Szabolcs Pasztor, Traci Fontyn, Valerie Steel, Zsofia Pasztor.

We chose for our site the area between Broadway and Wetmore Avenues, Wall and California Streets in downtown Everett.

We submitted all of the required materials by the deadline. Even though we did not win the grand price, we are working on perfecting our ideas in order to present it to our local community soon in the hopes of seeing it become reality.

About the project:

The following is an excerpt from our narrative description edited by Gary Purves, Kristin Kelly and Stephan Frenzl. This narrative was submitted to the Competition with our design:

"Synergistic Urban Intelligent Transformation at Everett, WA
(SUITE-WA) Living City Design Tour

Welcome! You are about to stroll through and experience a new way of living, shifting old tired realities into a new sustainable and resilient urban ecology. We are pleased to introduce Synergistic Urban Intelligent Transformation at Everett, Washington or SUITE-WA.

Our Living City is inspired by Earth’s most delightful and wondrous gift--the flower: a blossom consisting of seven petals--site, water, energy, health, materials, equity, and beauty. As we walk, bear in mind what was once six, grid-style city blocks is now transformed through the Twenty Imperative vision. Let’s begin our tour!

SUITE-WA is nestled between the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound, bordered by working farms and the idyllic Snohomish River. While nearly 100 percent of our site was impervious, today in 2035, an oasis of living buildings, public open space, constructed wetlands, and a thriving agricultural center manage population growth without further compromising existing rural, farm and forest lands. Coinciding with the rebuilding of our commercial and residential spaces, we ensured equitable exchange of 23 acres through preservation in perpetuity of existing farmland. Our community is robust with wildlife habitats, wetlands, green roofs, and rain gardens..."

Continued....

"...As we end our tour, you have experienced living design, the Twenty Imperatives collaboratively integrated and embodied in the Living City: residents residing in harmony with nature and each other, enlivening our community’s creative mind and spirit. Education is the key: a continuum of inspiration elevating nature-based and whole system learning to new levels where students cultivate the permaculture garden, and much, much more. Everyone contributes, exchanging artwork throughout office buildings and residences, performing concerts and plays at the amphitheater, teaching dance, martial arts and self-healing, while offering services to community members in need.

The built and landscape environment entice our human senses reconnecting us to our wondrous Pacific Northwest. Life Festivals held each season celebrate and enact the rituals of planting, growing, harvesting and preserving crops. Our community is not perfect, not yet! But SUITE-WA is instilling harmony between man and nature, respecting each as equally important for the sustainability of our Earth, and all life."

Our team continues to work on this incredible project with the goal to present it to the communities of Everett and Snohomish County soon.

Please, let us know if you have any questions about our team and the work we are doing.

Email us through our
Contact Us page
or just call: 425-210-5541

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Innovative Landscape Technologies
Everett, WA
ph: 425-210-5541