As you might expect, there were quite a few drawings and paintings, a few home improvements, but also a couple of “outside the box” design pursuits. Colin Benson, visualization specialist by trade, industrial designer by education, and bicycle-restorer by night brought in two amazing restored bicycles, including a bicycle built for two.  (Yes, many of the folks in the office took a spin on the bike outside the office the next day). Office manager Deadra Barnett shared her hidden talent as a makeup artist. Giving live demonstrations of makeup application, Deadra shared her talents along with some very helpful tips for applying our own makeup.

Jelena Lustica shared an amazing photo display – check out her set below:

Sean Quinn’s contributions were also of the photography variety:

Click here to view the embedded slideshow.

The rest of 2012′s fabulous design class included:

Donna Sharpe: Enamel Metalwork

Kyle Bendle: Photography and a drawing

Jim Doussard: Painting and Silhouettes

Azeez Bakare: Multimedia Presi presentation

Esher Wang: Paintings

Walter Urbanek: Painting

Izumi Mills: Jewelry design

Kerry Aucamp: Painting

Mallory McKenzie: Landscaping/Deck project

Nishu Sinha: Stone Sculpture

Sara Streeter: Painting and Graphic Design

Jarek Bieda: Illustration

Carl Mukri: Photography (roller coasters)

Check out last year’s fabulous designs in Sean Quinn’s post (3rd Annual) Design by Designers and those from 2010 in Yiselle Santos’ post, Design by Designers First Friday at WDC.

Photo credits: Jim Doussard, Kyle Bendle, Sean Quinn, and Jelena Lustica

Birmingham Library due for destruction

New Library - Completion 2013

One of the unexpected pleasures of doing research is the things you find out that you weren’t looking for. I was doing research on Strategic Alliances between Design Associations and was having a hard time finding much that was relevant. These associations are important to us in maintaining our professional status, but no one takes much time to do any specialized research around them. One of the strategies is to look for other areas that might relate and apply the research done for them to your work. I decided to look into Twinning for Cities, as often the effort to do so is run by well-intentioned volunteers supported by their local government without any great prospect for financial success, although they may hope to benefit by building a good relationships with their counterparts.

Since the university library had little on this, I went to Birmingham’s Public Library where I found quite a bit more, some of which helped me in my research. However, there was also the information I came across in the European Collection as well as the City Archives on Twinning, which was not particularly helpful, but was fascinating. There are records of Twinning going back as long ago as 836 between a city in Germany and one in France, but most Twinning happened in Europe after the Second World War. There were lots of reasons, but some that were identified in records I read from the City of Inverness Town Twinning Committee was they believed it would ‘enhance mutual understanding between citizens, fostering a sense of ownership of the European Union and finally developing a sense of European identity’, which was essential to healing Europe after the war. In the various documents I reviewed there were many comments that twinning was a foundation for peace, and recognition in some of the older ones that with the threat of nuclear armaments that strengthening trust and friendship on a one-to-one level could only help.

Birmingham and a city in Russia, Zaporozhye, have been twinned since 1973. There were a number of records which showed the planning for visits between them at various times over a few decades. One document from the mid 70’s was an itinerary of a visit from the Soviets (this was before the break-up of the USSR) to Birmingham. It listed all the events and locations they were going to visit over the week, including a Shakespeare play in Stratford Upon Avon and a visit to the to the highly acclaimed newly constructed Central Public Library, which opened in 1974 and was the the largest non-national library in Europe at the time. This was the building I was sitting in, which seemed like a bit of a dinosaur, with its inverted ziggurat structure in a Brutalist style. I’ve read that the exterior concrete cladding was originally white and has never been cleaned. There’s a new central library currently under construction and due to open next year and the one I was using will be demolished. I’m not sure I’ll be around in another 40 years to see what people think of this library which is designed to be a cultural centre drawing visitors from all over the world and has a metal filigree overlay on the exterior, which references Birmingham’s manufacturing tradition. Will some young designer sitting in the reading rooms browsing through archives be thinking it’s a great collection in an awful environment?

HOK Seattle’s Todd Buchanan (right) on the streets with fellow commuter Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

HOK is once again participating in Group Health’s Bike to Work Month and in our second week of the challenge have an impressive 15 teams representing 10 offices, more than 80 participants and have already ridden over 3,300 miles!  Washington DC is once again leading the competition in just about every possible category, followed by St. Louis and Seattle (more stats below). As the competition has ramped up there have been conversations amongst HOK colleagues around the world about the various bicycle cultures and conditions in their offices and cities. The trend over the last few years at HOK is clear; the top teams come from offices with the combination of bicycle friendly buildings located in bicycle friendly cities.

As a regular bicycle commuter myself I ride over an hour each direction on both isolated suburban trails and busy city streets and know that I’m fortunate to live in a city that is taking the national lead in creating a connected bicycle network, where streets can be shared safely by all modes of transportation. This morning at the Bikes & Bagels event, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn pointed out that at that very intersection there is a convergence of a streetcar, the monorail, bus lines, bike lanes, cars, taxis, pedi-cabs and pedestrians, illustrating the need for Seattle’s Bicycle Master Plan, adopted in 2007 and currently undergoing an update. Seattle’s mayor is the real deal and bikes to work every day, including to and from various events and appearances.

Watch this video “Biking to Work with Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn”

So as bike to work month rolls on, and as I roll on, I’ll continue to appreciate the miles of trails and roads I ride each day and the ongoing efforts of those working on behalf of the community. For those of you who ride in bicycle challenged locations, I tip my helmet to you.

Week 2 Stats – Leading Organizations (click to enlarge)

Week 2 Stats - HOK Teams (click to enlarge)

To start off, we have my compatriot on the intense front line of Asia marketing and business development – Jacqueline Holt, our “business generator” and Director of Marketing in Hong Kong (though rumor has it she was formerly MI-6).

Describe a typical day in your life
No matter how many hours I sleep, I usually feel fresh and tuned in in the mornings then walk to work – super slow motion. Everything stays calm and chilled until the minute I get to my emails! Getting rid of spam, respond to the real ones, deadlines, inquiries, meetings, calls – internal, external…. So much action! Somehow, I noticed that I “run” in the office occasionally… and work late. Weekends are busy too… a lot to do to be sure that I look gorgeous the next week… no eye bags at least!! And friends of course – house parties or try different restaurants.

What is the favorite part of your role in HOK?
Dynamic! It is not easy to find a firm that has the kind of culture that matches my personality – open & direct! I can totally express my thoughts to anyone, including the leaders; and they are always open for discussion. In fact, they may just be polite??? It’s actually gotten even better the last 1-2 years. I really like the “strategic” craving for “quality” clients and projects. It’s so me…

Has your career evolved as you would have expected, or were there any unexpected turns along the way?
Unexpected – but in a good way. I didn’t expect the “diversity” when I first joined. I’ve worked 7 years at HOK and my focus has been different every year. From putting together submissions to conference / PR , monitoring budgets, business development, business plans, strategies; and combinations of everything. Always something new to learn!

What is your favorite food and why?
Italian, Japanese (fatty tuna) and Sichuan, and they have to be good. Why? I love seafood and spicy food.

What is your hobby?
Is? I have too many to handle… I like golfing, gadgets, holidays, spa, occasional clubbing, food, shopping of course, sailing, reading, movies, soap operas…

Is there a little known fact about you that you would be willing to share with our readers?
I guess people would think that I’m good at handling stress; and I love challenges – the harder the better, and the unexpected!

What does it mean to be a woman in the workplace/architectural industry to you?
It’s not unusual for a woman to work these days; as for the industry, it’s actually quite advantageous to be a woman, especially in China, where the industry is dominated by men.

You may have won the first battle, but you have not won the war.

In response to your previous post:

1. The two headed monster known as Halak and Elliott won the Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed. Oh yeah Elliott has 1 fewer shutout in half as many games as Quick.
2. Hitting a goaltender is not LEGAL in hockey. If Dustin Brown tries it though, he will be opening the Polak door. Ask Braun from San Jose below … you don’t open the Polak door   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fagmyLwwquw
3. I seem to remember the Sharks beating the Kings just before the playoffs in back-to-back games.  How was San Jose’s Power Play percentage in those games … oh yeah about 30%.
4. I believe Hitchcock has won this     … But I guess that experience means little in the playoffs.
5. The Blues seem to have already tasted that Sun, Sand and Surf. They liked it so much they beat San Jose and want some more.

Can’t wait to see your office sporting a Blues Victory!

HOK is certianly the type of firm the appreciates the dedication that people make to HOK, which is in fact what makes HOK the great organiztion that it is.  It is important to recognize the diversity of each of these individuals that make up the greater part of HOK.  To celebrate and enhance our diversity, as well as to show appreciation for the hard working employees of Corporate and the North Central Region, HOK St. Louis’ Diversity Task Force decided to hold a coffee break to bring coworkers together and to announce the task force plans for the year.

In an effort to remove some barriers, get people away from desks and talking, the “Where Were You Born?” coffee break brought everyone out for coffee, juice, doughnuts, and fruit and to put a pin in a map to show where each person was born.  It was fun to watch people go up and put a pin at their birthplace which always started a conversation, “oh, you were born in Texas also”.  While there was a lot of speculation that most pins would be placed in the St. Louis region, it turns out that is not the case.  There certainly was that expected concentration, but nearly half the pins were placed elsewhere in the United States and a considerable handful of international birthplaces.

You’ll have to stay tuned for the Diversity Task Force 2012 plans which include Diversity Week in July with possible events like Leaders of Today/Tomorrow Panel, Speed Mentoring, Lunch Lottery, HOK Art Show, and a Taste of Diversity Cook Off.  The year will be topped off with what will hopefully be a North Central Region Diversity task plan that takes our St. Louis hope to a larger realm with Diversity Training, Commitment to Mentoring, making diversity part of the HOK DNA.  With all of this will come the opportunity to support other initiatives like Wellness and HOK Impact all working towards a more common goal.

I know other HOK offices as well as non HOK companies are out there are doing similar things, we’d love to hear about them!  Please share how you promote diversity!

A Sampling of Other Diversity Posts:
Diversity in Action – HOK Supports 2011 NOMA Conference Atlanta
DC Diversity Task Force
Women Across HOK | Jaki Jefferson
Women Across HOK | Penny Malina
HOK-STL KIDZ in Action!

And a quick shout out to the St. Louis Diversity Task Force: Co Chairs Donovan Olliff, and Teresa Bridges; Members: Ben W., Heather L., Jacquie W., Julie D., Kaven S., Sebrina B., Kelly H., Mike J., Rebecca N., David C., Penny ., Jaki J., Maddy R., Dianne B., Sherita B., Stephanie S., Peter M., Jeff Y., and thanks to Michelle O. for the map! And for Kyle B. making sure I don’t say too much with too little.

StopWaste.org won the Top Ten Award for green building policy

The US Green Building Council’s California Council spent yesterday in Sacramento unveiling our Top 10 List of State and Local Green Building Policies as part of the yearlong “Road to Greenbuild.” I’m a longtime green building nerd and live in one of the greenest cities in the country, and yet even I am impressed with the wide array of inspiring and visionary policies and ideas. The USGBC page also lists some of the top LEED buildings in California, including One Bush Street, aka, the Crown-Zellerbach Building, home to HOK’s San Francisco office and LEED EBOM Platinum.

• The “Most Visionary” local award goes to Los Angeles for adopting one of the first big green building ordinances, helping to kick off a city-wide green building movement.
• The “Most Collaborative” local award goes to the city of Palm Desert’s Energy Independence Program for reducing building energy use by 30 percent. Palm Desert has an extremely high level of “community involvement and pragmatic, local invention, encompassing everything form cool roofs and pavings to water-efficient golf courses with bamboo tees.”
• The “Most Creative” state award goes to Assembly Bill (AB) 811 for establishing creative financing to promote renewable energy generation – city officials and willing property owners can “enter into contractual assessments to finance the installation, generation and distribution of renewable energy sources.”

There’s a special place in my head for the “Most Market Transforming” local award, given to StopWaste.org for their green building program. I worked as a green building consultant for Kema back when I first moved to California in 2002-2003, and we were contracted to help implement StopWaste.org’s green building program. At least at that time, much of the program was funded by landfill tipping fees – the idea was that if we significantly raised the cost to dump waste into landfills then there would be more incentive to stop doing so, and during this market transition we would also raise much needed funds for green building grants. My favorite part of the story is that StopWaste.org used to be the Alameda County Waste Management Authority, and the joke was that they were not part of the Alameda County government, they weren’t involved with waste management, and they had no authority. You can imagine why they changed their name to StopWaste.org! StopWaste.org continues to put out great resources – my personal favorites are the publicly available LEED documentation for the LEED CI Platinum certification of the StopWaste.org office building and the rebates of up to $5,000 that projects can receive for specifying green materials.

Congrats to all of the California policy trailblazers, and to the advocacy programs in the eight USGBC California chapters for helping to get us here!

1. We have Jonathan Quick! Everyone knows the playoffs can revolve around goaltending, and not only is our goalie a top Vezina Trophy candidate, his name is QUICK! I mean a goalie couldn’t have a more fitting name if his parents had named him, Jonathan “Brick Wall Between the Pipes”. Who do the Blues have in goal? Good question, cause he was riding the pine a few games ago.
2. Dustin Brown is going to crush Elliott, with a LEGAL hit. With all the crappy fights and horrible penalties of the first round, Dustin Brown has easily 2 or 3 of the most impressive clean hits in the playoffs so far. He almost Killed “The other Sedin” after all with a totally clean hit!
3. The Kings are going to shut down that power play the same way we did to the Canucks! If the Blues think they are going to get all those power play goals that they got against the weak, Sharks they’ve got another thing coming!!!
4. Our Really old Coach is better than your Really old Coach! Well not really but at least Sutter played in the league!
5. And finally the Kings are going to win because our California Sun, Sand and Surf trump that Arch you guys have any day!

Best of luck St. Louis! You are going to need it!

GO KINGS GO!!!!!!

what will replace them?

a competition for airport seating due 16 may 2012

http://www.passengerterminaltoday.com/viewnews.php?NewsID=38276

“This is the highest honor the IIDA chapter bestows on an individual and represents Debi’s commitment to the profession and her focus on sustainability,” said Kim Hogan, Director of Interiors in Dallas.

Thank you Debi for all of your hard work!

Click here to learn more about the IIDA Leaders Breakfast.