Architecture is not for selected few but EVERYONE.

Air Force Village Chapel (San Antonio, Texas, USA, Competition, Finalist)

The overall concept of the Air Force Village Spiritual Center is love. This word was chosen because it is the essence of religions around the globe. It is defined perhaps a million different ways yet posses a singular thread – you know it when you feel it. Our goal for this project was not only that it be a signature building as requested in the brief, but also for it to emanate love to those passing by and those within. To achieve this we defined love as embracing, including, reverence, friendship, and new life.

The project embraces all by formally reaching out from the heart of the site, stretching its arms out as a welcome gesture to members of all faiths. It reaches to the sidewalk and beyond accepting your interest and welcoming you into its arms.

It is inclusive through the transparent glazing which allows those both inside and outside the building to see the activities being conducted, sharing their customs and faith.

It displays reverence towards a higher power and humanity through the light filtering through the glazing, the points of light which adorn the ceiling in the sanctuary, and the opportunities for intimate and group spaces. Yet it strives to remind worshipers that the minister is also a mere human being by lowering the sanctuary volume to a human scale.

It addresses friendship by creating opportunities for all to share worship areas and to observe each others’ customs through overlapping spaces rather than segregating them, inspiring each person to consider the customs of others.

Finally, it brings new life by providing opportunities to develop love towards others through interactions and individual spiritual growth.

Siebert Remodel (Tacoma, Washington State, USA)

Highline College Campus Wayfinding Concept Study (Des Moines, Washington State, USA)

Bryant Montessori School (Tacoma, Washington State, USA)

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News

Architecture for Everyone is part of BCRA Design and Korsmo Construction Design-Build team to deliver the Lowell Elementary School replacement for Tacoma Public Schools.

Ko Wibowo presented Texture Materials for Children at Design for Early Learning Conference in Tacoma, Washington State on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Architecture for Everyone and Johnston Architects began designing the Sumner Library for the Pierce County Library System.

Architecture for Everyone was selected as one of the on-call architects for Seattle Colleges.

Architecture for Everyone was selected as one of four architects for the Child Care Capacity Initiative in Pierce County, Washington State.

Sibert Remodel is currently under construction and nearing completion.

Architecture for Everyone is part of TCF Architecture and Skanska Design-Build team to deliver Bryant Montessori School replacement for Tacoma Public Schools. Ground breaking ceremony was May 10, 2023.

Western Washington University Salish Sea Studio at Fairhaven College is now substantially completed. WWU will install acoustical treatments with the projected opening in May 2024.

Thoughts

Architecture is not for selected few but EVERYONE. The upper 1% can buy with their wealth, the bottom 5% are taken care of by the government. The challenge for each architect is to also serve the middle from the bottom 5% to the upper 1%. That is social justice in architecture.

If Disneyland is to Apple Macintosh in its integrated design, Las Vegas is to IBM PC in its open-source method. But both employ Robert Venturi’s “ugly and ordinary” design approach.

Creativity is to solve design problems, not to creatively force the realization of a heroic design ideal.

We expect our buildings to be flexible and adaptable but fail to recognize that we, humans, are the most adaptable creature. Architecture is heavy and static and, therefore, shall not be expected to be able to be changed too much without significant intervention.

London is historic, Paris is grand, and Basel is organized.

Recent protests on issues of race and inequalities were staged in public spaces: our streets, parks, plazas, bordered by our buildings. While tolerance is built by understanding each other through listening to others, done as individual human beings, the result is a democracy that takes place in public spaces. Our behavior in these spaces defines how successful democracy will be. Thus, the design and quality of these spaces, undoubtedly, influence our behavior. We learned about listening from Slim’s Table by Mitchell Duneier. We learned how we instinctively behave on the street when faced with a perceived danger in Street Etiquette and Street Wisdom by Elijah Anderson. We learned how buildings can contribute negatively to our streets in Fortress L.A. by Mike Davis. We learned how we can collectively contribute to segregation in Community Becomes Uncivilized by Richard Sennett. We learned how we prepare and deal with potential negative experiences on our streets in The Uses of Sidewalk by Jane Jacobs. Now it is time we care about our public spaces and apply what we have learned to design these spaces so democracy can flourish and spread out.

Between three east Asian traditional architecture of China, Korea, and Japan, the most ornate and decorative is Chinese, followed by Korea and Japan being the least. That is why Japanese architecture can accept and adopt the idea of modernism well, especially minimalism.

The greatest gift architects can give our clients is the added value of their design while they live in and the increased property value when they sell. The increased property value would be much more than the assessed value and beyond the fee they paid for. This could be one of the ways to close the wealth gap.