What Makes Good Design?

Watch this YouTube video of an interview with Curtis Gelotte of Gelotte Hommas by Denese Bottrell of Inside the Exterior to hear his thoughts on design. In the clip, Gelotte discusses the importance of scale and proportion in architecture as well as the forgotten art of sketching. Find out to what Gelotte attributes his more than 35 years of success as an architect in the Seattle area.

This interview is one in a series by Inside the Exterior on veteran architects. Inside the Exterior is an inspirational blog for aspiring architects that “hopes to encourage designers, architects, and the creative genius in all of us to recognize opportunity, to be courageous and move the ideas from Moleskine to Main Street.”

We are excited about the energy Denese and Inside the Exterior is bringing to the design industry. Here’s to the power of artistic design!

National Design Award Winners

What does great design look like? Find out from this year’s National Design Award winners, announced last week by the Smithsonian Institute’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

The winner in Architecture Design was Kieran Timberlake, whose entries demonstrate “excellence, innovation, and enhancement of the quality of life,” according to the judging panel. Two other firms also received architectural accolades.

Winner: Kieran Timberlake Loblolly House, Taylors Island, MD, 2006. Photo: Peter Aaron/ESTO

Finalist: Design CorpsGulf Coast raised-house typology, Biloxi, MS, 2007. Rendering: James Sweeney/Design Corps

Finalist: Lake Flato ArchitectsAgudas Achim Synagogue, Austin, TX, 2001. Photo: Paul Rocheleau

National Design Award winners will be recognized at a dinner gala in New York City in October during National Design Week. For more details about the winners, check out this article we found on Archinect.

…and the Living is Easy

It’s that time of year again—summertime with warm temperatures, barbecues and swimming.  Well, almost if you live in the Seattle region.

When we design homes, one of the foremost areas to consider is outdoor living spaces.  The simple joys of these spaces can range from a deck to watch whales in Puget Sound to an intimate, relaxing garden off the master bath.   We create these areas to be as inviting and comfortable as possible, while always carefully considering the climate.  For northwesterners, this usually includes a cover and heating unit to keep the damp conditions at bay. 

Each space is as unique as our client’s needs and dreams.  To inspire you, we have put together a collection of some of these outdoor “rooms” and posted them in the photo section of our Facebook page.

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