Seattle attracts many visitors due to its beautiful geography (from sea and lakes to rivers and mountains) and also because it is home to some of America’s largest corporations: Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Nordstrom amongst others. At the same time, the city has kept an independent spirit that can be experienced in quirky neighborhoods such as Fremont a.k.a the “Center of the Known Universe“.

The Space Needle built in 1962 for the World Exhibition remains the most distinctive landmark in Seattle’s skyline alongside Mount Rainier which is one of the highest mountain peaks in the United States.

One of the most controversial architectural addition to the downtown area is the Seatlle Central Library designed by Rem Koolhaas. Opened since 2004, the library has triggered both positive and negative reactions from critics and the public. We personally loved it: its glass structure softly diffuses natural light throughout the open-plan interiors while the integration of high technology in the building offers new ways to experience books, reading and research.

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The Future of Flight Aviation Center was opened to the public in December 2005 and offers tours of the Boeing Everett Factory (pictured above) where the company’s largest commercial airliners are built. At 472 million cubic feet, the factory is the largest building in the world by volume, employs nearly 30,000 people and is opened 24 hours a day. The building was originally conceived and designed to assemble the 747 jumbo jet. Today, it also produces the 767, 777 and more recently the 787 Dreamliner which is mostly built with light composite material that makes it more fuel-efficient. During the tour, visitors are first taken through a long underground tunnel, then on to an elevator that takes them to elevated decks that offer bird’s eye views of the factory. Wings, cockpits, and fuselages can be seen as separate pieces in some areas, while in others, fully assembled aircraft bodies are waiting to be painted. The factory’s open space reveals the collaborative aspect of airplane building: very few enclosed spaces, desks and computers organized besides an assembly area, coffee meetings happening alongside drilling and welding sessions.

The Future of Flight Aviation Center is an educational NPO that shares the history and legacy of William E. Boeing, founder of the corporation, and displays the engineering, design, and technology behind Boeing’s aircraft (below).

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Pilchuck Glass School is located in a remote area outside of Seattle and hidden behind hundreds of trees on a mountainside. This secluded artist-in-residence programme is unique: gathering glass artists and other creatives such as fashion designers, musicians, or graphic designers, in order to let them collaborate and push the boundaries of glass. During the summer programme, residents have the possibilities to experiment in different ways. The “hot shop” (pictured above) is an intensive collaborative facility where glass is heated, melted, shaped and assembled to deliver unexpected results.

Other facilities include a “cold shop” where glass objects are blasted and perfected in running water, a plaster studio with casting kilns and a rare vitreography print shop where glass plates are engraved to produce unique monotypes and prints on paper.

Results from the “Monsters and Aliens” workshop (pictured above) are concrete examples of collaborative projects happening between experienced and emerging artists. Glass is a very technical craft that requires years of experience to master and can easily fulfill a lifetime of learning.

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Cities x Design receives a quick introduction and demonstration of vitreography at the Pilchuck Glass School just outside of Seattle.

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Ruth King, Artistic Director, Pilchuck Glass School talks with Cities x Design about the role of design, craftsmanship, and artistic expression involved in contemporary glass art.

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Keywords – Computer, Aircraft, Coffee, Underground, Outdoors

Population: 3,263,497
Incorporated: 1869
Nicknames: The Emerald City, Seatown, Rain City, Jet City, Gateway to Alaska, Gateway to The Pacific

Tourism / Place branding / Historic Landmarks

• Space Needle

New Arch / Urban developments

• Seattle Library

Design businesses

• Methodologie (->Boeing)
• The Heads of State
• Push Design
• Ames Bros
• Modern Dog Design

Creative initiatives

• Culture of Future

Local businesses

• Boeing
• http://www.futureofflight.org/
• Nordstrom
• Top Pot Doughnuts
• Zeitgeist Cafe
• Starbucks

Institutions / Organizations

• AIGA Seattle
• Seattle Art Museum

Art and Design Schools

• Pilchuck Glass School
• Cornish College of the Arts

Articles / Blogs / Other

• Worldchanging

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