October AIA-SWO Chapter Meeting Recap

Richard Shugar presents 2fORM Architecture’s Timberidge project at the October 18, 2017 AIA-SWO chapter meeting (my photo).

The October 2017 AIA-SWO chapter meeting last Wednesday featured fast-paced, PechaKucha-style presentations of this year’s submissions for the People’s Choice/Colleague’s Choice awards. Notwithstanding the gremlins that conspired to delay the show (big props to Jenna Fribley for fighting the good fight and coming through in the clutch!), the well-attended event was great fun. The venue for the evening was the DEN in the recently renovated Wayward Lamb bar in downtown Eugene.

The PechaKucha format is ideal for the quick sharing of images and ideas. In the case of last Wednesday’s event, this meant no more than six slides per project at 20 seconds apiece. Consequently, each presenter was limited to introducing only the key concepts that shaped their designs, essential given the time constraint but also a brilliant means to distill their essence.

Jenna Fribley (seated) works assiduously to get the presentations up and running while Frank Visconti, Katie Hall, and Stan Honn offer moral support (photo by Katie).

If my count is correct, there are a total of 53 entrants in this year’s People’s Choice/Colleague’s Choice program, which must be a record. Granted, thirteen of these are the submissions to the Parklet Competition earlier this year; regardless, both the number and quality of the projects are impressive. I have my favorites (I won’t divulge which ones they are!) but all the submissions reflect a thoughtfulness and uniformly high level of design that are increasingly characteristic of AIA-SWO member firms.

The People’s Choice boards on display at the Broadway Commerce Center.

Voting continues through the end of October. If you haven’t already, visit the display at the Broadway Commerce Center at 44 W. Broadway in Eugene or click on the link below to see the projects and vote for your favorite submissions:

https://aiaswo-pcavote2017.weebly.com/

Look for the winners of both the People’s Choice and Colleague’s Choice balloting to be announced in the forthcoming 2017 Design Annual appearing next month as an insert in The Register-Guard.