Publication

  • Art Moves, Cities Follow
    Alan Maskin and Kirsten Murry
    Editors
    ARCADE
  • GRANTEE
    Northwest Architectural League
    GRANT YEAR
    2012

ARCADE, 31.1, December 2012, Art Moves, Cities Follow, feature editors: Alan Maskin and Kirsten Murray.

As we search for ways to create sustainable, walkable, complete cities, we should look to regenerative urban patterns, and use our observations to predict and plan for better urban infrastructure. Consider the pattern created by artists who identify affordable, underutilized districts and infuse them with activity, which in turn leads to revitalization that enables broader development. How have cities responded successfully to this pattern of development? How can this pattern enrich cities, rather than deplete the qualities that made them meaningful in the first place (avoid pitfalls of gentrification)? What does history tell us about the long-term effects of this sort of urban migration? How can we leverage this phenomenon to make our cities more vital, meaningful, and sustainable? This project will engage cross-disciplinary thinkers, academics, developers, artists and other allied professionals.

Project editor/curator Alan Maskin's talent and passion for art and design drives his work at Olson Kundig Architects; he joined the firm in 1992, became an associate in 1995, and an owner in 2008. His award-winning work includes the design of museums, exhibits, residences, and stage and set designs; he was lead designer for the Noah's Ark at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Maskin and co-project editor Kirsten Murray were instrumental in creating Olson Kundig Architects' internship program, expanding it to include a pool of international students and a speaker series. Maskin's project work has been published widely, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Architectural Record, Metropolis, Met Home, the Wall Street Journal, CBS News, and Voice of America.

Project editor/curator Kirsten Murray's passion for Seattle's urban fabric manifests itself in a wide-range of projects for Olson Kundig Architects; she joined the firm in 1989, and became an owner in 2008. She has particular interest and experience in community, arts, workplace, and residential projects. Like her collaborator Tom Kundig, Murray is deeply engaged with issues of context—how a building relates and responds to its surroundings. Her projects emerge from the design aesthetic of the Pacific Northwest, in which the built and natural have a strong dialogue, and where the sense of craft is evident in the architecture. Murray brings this sense to many of the firm's urban projects, exploring how environmental factors interact with concepts of urban design to create flexible environments that promote healthy living and community. Her award-winning work has been published widely, including the New York Times, Interior Design, Architectural Record, and Architecture.

Kelly Rodriguez is the executive director and editor of ARCADE; she has served as executive director since summer 2011 and editor since 2000. Before moving to Seattle, she worked alongside William Stout when he launched William Stout Publishers in San Francisco. In addition to providing administrative assistance, she was the direct liaison between authors and publisher, and provided design assistance on several books, including David Gebhard's Schindler, William Morrish's Civilizing Terrains, and Constructed Reality: Tanner Leddy Maytum Stacy. She holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in architecture, with an emphasis on urban design and cultural/urban geography.

Founded in 1982, the mission of ARCADE is to incite dialogue about design and the built environment; our goal is to inspire designers, creative professionals and design enthusiasts to reconsider how design impacts the world around us, and in turn, instigate positive change.  ARCADE fulfills its mission through its award-winning magazine, events, educational lectures, panel discussions, tours, and its web presence, which includes a weekly e-newsletter of Northwest design- happenings, an evolving website, and growing social media community