10 Years of SW Oregon Architect

I just realized it’s been ten years since I started blogging. Time flies, but those ten years have been full in part because of what has become a satisfying personal hobby. I’ve reliably published pieces at a rate averaging just more than one per week. All told, I’ve committed more than 540,000 words to online bits and bytes across 674 posts.(1) My Blogger stats tell me SW Oregon Architect has received 494,000 unique pageviews since February 2008—approximately 4,100 per month. Not spectacular, but a lot more than I ever imagined would be the case when I began. 

I had no idea being a blogger would become such a large part of my identity. In some ways, SW Oregon Architect is a personal journal; in other respects, it is more like a newsfeed for readers interested in local goings-on in the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon architecture and building community. I do find writing on topics of interest to me enjoyable and satisfying. It’s fun. It’s also gratifying when people comment on a post or say something nice about what I’ve written. 

Bloggers tend to be a self-absorbed bunch, but then the inherent nature of many blogs is to be narcissistic to a degree. “Look at me,” they all say. On the other hand, bloggers also risk getting it wrong or embarrassing themselves. Vulnerability is the toll paid when you put yourself out there, online. I always tend toward being circumspect and guarded in the way I express myself, so I chose the following ten posts—one marking each of SW Oregon Architect’s ten years—precisely because they reveal something about who I am and how I see the world. I invite you to read them if you didn’t have an opportunity to do so when they first appeared: 

2017 – The Fine Grain of Cultural Diversity 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2017/05/the-fine-grain-of-cultural-diversity.html

2016 – Architecture is Awesome #11: Sense of Place
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2016/03/architecture-is-awesome-11-sense-of.html

2015 – The Future of Architectural Craft 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-future-of-architectural-craft.html

2014 – The Perils of Building Cheaply 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-perils-of-building-cheaply.html

2013 – The Oregon Experiment 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-oregon-experiment.html

2012 – Awe, Wonder, and Curiosity 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2012/08/awe-wonder-and-curiosity.html

2011 – Challenging the Cult of Speed 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2011/01/challenging-cult-of-speed.html

2010 – Influences: Christopher Alexander & Peter Eisenman 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2010/05/influences-christopher-alexander-peter.html

2009 – Influences: Frank Lloyd Wright 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2009/03/influences-frank-lloyd-wright.html

2008 – Eugene, Genius Loci, and the Butterfly Effect 
http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2008/05/eugene-genius-loci-and-butterfly-effect.html 

Looking back, I’m sometimes surprised by how much my writing style and views have remained consistent. I like to think I can evolve and improve. The cool thing about blogging is that it’s something I can look forward to doing for many, many years to come. I don’t imagine I’ll ever lose my enthusiasm for maintaining SW Oregon Architect. 

Ten years from now, I expect the world will be much different. It’ll be interesting to see if my blog and I are different too. 


(1)   By way of comparison, the King James Version of the Bible has a word count of 783,137 words; the entire Harry Potter book series contains 1,084,170 words. It’s crazy to think I’ve written so much.

Better Housing Together: The Community Forum

The Better Housing Together Forum, Wednesday, February 21, at the EMU Ballroom, University of Oregon (photo by Jenna Fribley, AIA)

I joined 250 of my Eugene-Springfield neighbors this past Wednesday evening in a packed EMU Ballroom on the University of Oregon Campus for the inaugural Better Housing Together Forum. As promised by the members of the Better Housing Together steering committee, the event was filled with inspiring conversations, an enlightening and respectful panel discussion, and brainstorming around what to do about a housing crisis that impacts all of us, whether our own needs are met or not. Importantly, a broad spectrum of interests was in the room, each one bringing its perspective to the challenge of solving one of our community’s most intractable problems. How will we expand and diversify our housing options to create more local affordability?

Project lead and event host, Kaarin Knudson, AIA, set an appropriate tone by quoting Ronald Heifetz, founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. As Heifetz noted “Attention is the currency of leadership.” It’s incumbent upon leaders to get people to pay attention to the tough problems everyone would often rather avoid facing. Our housing crisis is one of these tough problems. Here in Lane County, 42% of local households struggle to simply meet basic needs, and this struggle is compounded by the high cost of available accommodations.

Better Housing Together intends to provide leadership through public education and advocacy. It is a community-led effort built to address a community problem. Every community grows in the direction of the questions it answers, and the question of housing affordability is perhaps the biggest one those of us living in Lane County must confront today. As a prominent community leader, University of Oregon president Michael Schill emphasized this to the audience by stressing that now is the “right time,” and that the housing crisis is the “right issue” for the “right people” to address. During his academic career, Michael’s prominent work has focused on a wide range of matters related to housing law and policy, so his endorsement of the Better Housing Together platform is significant. He welcomed the prospect of shining a light on the problem and encouraged all of us to do what we can to work toward solutions.

Moderated by Noreen Dunnells, president and CEO of United Way of Lane County, the forum’s panel discussion, entitled Perspectives + Solutions, featured four experts whose backgrounds made them eminently suited as panelists:

Jim Long, Affordable Housing Manger, City of Bend (retired January 2018):
Jim cited the success of the City of Bend’s implementation of a construction excise tax (CET) in 2006 to help leverage the development of affordable housing (more on CETs in just a moment). In Jim’s words, we need to change the discourse to a “both/and” conversation. We need housing abundance and diversity.

Shane Johnson, Regional Director, Hayden Homes:
Shane firmly believes private builders must be part of the solution. That said, municipalities can prime the pump by instituting incentives in the form of density bonuses (to increase the diversity of housing types) and exemptions from a portion of systems development charges for projects involving affordable units. There is no one solution, but tools like these are available. The key, according to Shane, is to use those tools that are at hand. Trying something is better than doing nothing.

Emily Reiman, Executive Director, Neighborhood Economic Development Corp. (NEDCO):
Emily emphasized there is a cost to inaction. Every moment we wait compounds the problem. She cautioned any group whose goal it is to help ameliorate the crisis to not fall into the trap of becoming an “echo chamber.” It’s important that opposing views are in the room to build real consensus toward the identification of solutions everyone can rally behind.

Dylan Lamar, Architect, Cultivate Design-Development:
Dylan imagines every neighborhood as a unique ecosystem. Neighborhoods that are exclusively comprised of single-family residences are monocultures lacking in healthy diversity. Dylan favors inclusionary zoning, and ordinances that work to create affordable housing units in market-rate developments. Inclusionary zoning fosters diverse neighborhood ecosystems. As with biology, diversity contributes to the greater vitality, health, and resilience of a community.

The Perspectives & Solutions discussion panel; from left to right: moderator Noreen Dunnells (at the podium), Dylan Lamar, Jim Long, Shane Johnson, and Emily Reiman (my photo)

The subject of a construction excise tax was a common thread during the panel discussion. A CET can be a powerful tool to help local jurisdictions address their communities’ housing needs and ensure everyone has a safe, stable place to call home. It’s not clear to me why, but the State of Oregon Legislature banned CETs in 2007. The city of Bend had adopted the state’s first CET the year before, so it was grandfathered in. Bend’s CET has generated millions in revenue since its inception, which it has leveraged to obtain an additional $77.6 million in state and federal affordable housing development funds, and $28.4 million in private investments. Bend kept opposition to its CET to a minimum by involving representatives of the construction and real estate communities in crafting the tax and giving them seats on the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, which decides how the revenues will be invested.

In 2016, the Oregon State Legislature passed SB 1533, which permits local jurisdictions to implement a construction excise tax for affordable housing and allows inclusionary zoning. Seven jurisdictions (Portland, Corvallis, Tillamook County, Cannon Beach, Hood River County, Hood River City, and Newport) have passed local construction excise taxes to date, and many others (including Eugene) are considering adopting this important tool. A recent Register Guard editorial explained how a 1-percent CET in Eugene would raise an estimated $3 million a year during periods when construction activity is strong, as is currently the case. If Bend’s experience is a reliable guide, that amount could be expected to leverage 7.5 times that much in public and private investment, or about $25 million a year.

Click image to enlarge

The steering committee carefully populated each table with as varied a group as possible. The table activity portion of the program consisted of each person engaging in a group discussion, and also recording his or her own responses to a predetermined set of questions from the forum organizers. For example, I answered the question about what I would personally do to help solve the housing crisis by saying I would advocate for increasing the range of available housing types through implementation of updates to local development codes, property tax exemptions, and other incentives. Ultimately, Better Housing Together will compile the results of the table activity and make them available for anyone to review.

My one reservation about the forum is one I expressed during our table discussion. While it was easy for me to attend, the same is certainly not true for the many who comprise the very constituency at the center of the housing crisis in Lane County. They are families and individuals who simply could not afford to attend the forum and be heard. They may have been burdened by an inability to pay for temporary childcare or transportation. They may have lacked the time to attend because by necessity they work two or more jobs. They may not be fluent English-speakers and so may have felt unwelcome or uncomfortable. They simply may have been unaware of the forum. The bottom line is—if they were underrepresented—we missed their voices.

Regardless, I’m guessing Kaarin and the other members of the Better Housing Together steering committee were thrilled with how the forum played out. I’ve no doubt their primary goal was not to find a silver bullet—a simple, seemingly magical solution to the housing crisis—because that unicorn doesn’t exist (sorry for mixing metaphors). Instead, they achieved something else, something potentially game-changing, which was to bring together motivated community members and leaders with the hope of galvanizing the will to finally take positive steps toward a broadly supported set of strategies for addressing the challenge. If Better Housing Together bottled the energy I witnessed as I left the forum, I’m confident they will channel it with great effectiveness.

Equity in Architecture Survey

I received an invitation this past week to participate in the 2018 Equity in Architecture survey. This is the third edition of the survey, which is a product of AIA San Francisco and its Equity by Design committee. The previous surveys (conducted in 2014 and 2016) have contributed to the shaping of a broad movement whose aim is to promote sustainable and satisfying careers in architecture for all practitioners. The surveys generated a comprehensive national dataset detailing current positions and career experiences of architecture school graduates. The 2018 enquiry will extend the examination into differences in the experiences of architectural professionals based on gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. I dutifully responded and look forward to the results of the survey analysis when they become available. 

Rosa Sheng, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

Although initiated as a committee of AIA San Francisco, Equity by Design has taken on a national profile in no small part due to the efforts of its founding chair, Rosa Sheng, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. Currently the president of AIA San Francisco and a principal with SmithGroup JJR, Rosa largely formulated Equity by Design’s call to action, which is to realize the goal of equitable practice for everyone, advance the profession, and communicate the value of architecture to society. The group’s mission is to understand the pinch points of career progression and promote the strategic execution of best practices in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of the architectural profession’s best talent at every level of practice. 

Despite most architects self-identifying as social progressives, the fact remains there is a persistent and striking inequity of representation in architectural practice. For example, women presently comprise only 12–18 percent of AIA members, licensed architects, and senior firm leadership. Women and people of color continue to lag white men in terms of concrete measures of career success (such as annual salary and likelihood of leaving a firm). With minority groups set to occupy a majority of the U.S. population by 2044, there is and will be an increasing need to provide access to opportunities, not only in the architecture profession but also to all the constituencies architects serve. Equity is for everyone, and equity does matter to the design of our built environment. 

“Equity” and “equality” have long been used interchangeably, but the terms are often confused with each other. While the focus of equality is framed with sameness being the end goal, equity may be defined as a state in which all people, regardless of their socioeconomic, racial, or ethnic grouping, have fair and just access to the resources and opportunities necessary to thrive. Beyond equity’s newer association with pluralism, it has long been connected to financial capital, as well as to collective ownership, vested interest, and a sense of value or self-worth. One size does not fit all. 

The lack of equity in architectural practice has made it prone to losing talent to other seemingly more lucrative career paths. This is due to multiple factors that challenge retention: long hours, low pay, lack of transparency for promotion, and work that is misaligned with professional goals. As a consequence, the profession as a whole may inadequately represent to the public the importance of design to inform equitable, just, and sustainable public and private spaces. 

The 2016 survey (which incorporated the feedback of 8,664 respondents, hailing from all fifty states and several countries outside the U.S.) and the EQxD Hackathon Workshops sparked much needed dialogue, inspiring the organization of five sold-out symposia, wide spread media coverage, and requests for EQxD presentations nationally and beyond. The survey structured issues across two different frameworks: 1) career dynamics (the underlying tensions and factors driving career perceptions); and 2) career pinch points (professional and personal milestones). The findings were enlightening and included the following:

• Men tend to have more positive opinions of their careers but gender wasn’t the top predictor
• Men are more likely to feel like they have a seat at the table
• Men and women reported different career aspirations at different points in their careers
• Wage gap: Males made more money at average in every single project role (the biggest difference being reported among design principals)
• The top predictors for burnout/lack of engagement include not having friendships at work, not knowing performance evaluation criteria, and an absence of feedback
• Men with only a bachelor’s degree earned more on average than women with a master’s degree
• Mothers much more likely than fathers to leave a job because of work-life challenges
• The glass ceiling persists: firms continue to be mostly led by men
• Interestingly, non-white men are less likely to be a principal than white men, white women, and women-of-color (which means I’ve managed to buck the odds) 

The findings are open source and free as a resource to everyone. 

While the results of the survey analyses are thought-provoking, what are we to make of them? How do we get to equity by applying design thinking? How do we eliminate the barriers to success for everyone? 

In Rosa’s words, we are all part of the problem if we are not part of the solution. The survey results may be eye-opening for some, and should be a call to action for everyone. They do provide us with tools for change: support for additional research, sharing of findings, and the means to measure progress and make changes. Periodically repeating the survey process will facilitate reassessment. 

Equity should be an ethos underlying all our work. Equity speaks to collective ownership, vested interest, and knowledge of our worth. Equitable practice promotes the recruitment and retention of the most diverse talent while building stronger, successful, sustainable practices. If, like me, you received an invitation to complete the 2018 survey, do make a point to complete it. You will contribute to a value proposition that will strengthen our profession, its relevance, and societal influence. If you choose to participate, only do so once. Equity by Design’s goal is to collect more than 10,000 unique responses. 

To preserve statistical integrity, Equity by Design is not providing a link to the 2018 survey on social media; I likewise will not provide the link. There are several factors for this, including self-selection bias and other forms of tampering. For example: More women may be interested in the issues of equity than men and therefore are more aware of the survey. In 2014, more women took the survey than men because of this interest. Since there are more men in the profession than women, this would influence the analysis and skew the results of the survey. Accordingly, the available options for taking the survey are limited to the following: 

• You receive an email (as I did) with the survey link from one of EQxD’s distribution partners (AIA National, AIA state or local chapters, NCARB, ACSA, or NOMA.) 
• You receive an email with survey link from your employer 
• You receive an email with survey link from the architecture school(s) where you earned your degree
• You are a firm owner/leader who signed on to participate with EQxD to distribute the email with survey link to ALL staff. 

The survey is open for a total of five weeks, which started this past week and ends on March 16. On average, the online survey should take 20-25 minutes to complete. EQxD will keep all responses entirely confidential. The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) serves as EQxD’s research partner for the project. The organizations will reveal the survey findings at the 2018 Equity by Design Symposium in San Francisco this November. The results will also be available online, and in a full report in the spring of 2019.  

For more information about the survey, visit www.eqxdesign.com.  

Builders Exchanges

Many young people entering the design and construction industries may have little or no idea about what a builders exchange does and what its primary function is. Others who are somewhat familiar with the role of a builders exchange may first think of it as an anachronism in a digital age when access to seemingly unlimited amounts of information is readily available online. They may not be aware of the broader benefits such an organization can offer. The fact is a modern builders exchange serves as a cornerstone in the delivery process for many construction projects. If you don’t fully understand what a builders exchange is, you should.

So, what exactly is a builders exchange? In short, it is a member-driven central clearinghouse for information pertaining to construction projects during the bidding stage. Historically, the primary role of an exchange was literally to be a “plan room” where subcontractors and suppliers gained access to sets of documents for projects in the bidding stage. This access was limited to members of the exchange, who paid dues for this privilege. Owners, architects, and general contractors furnished the bidding documents free of charge, the quid pro quo being the promise of greater competition and thus lower bid prices. In the old days, it was not uncommon to see dozens of estimators scrambling to assemble their bids in cigarette-smoke-filled plan rooms, quietly poring over large sets of blueprints that reeked of ammonia.

The exchange would notify members of bidding opportunities, when bids were due, and which general contractors were looking for numbers. It would also keep its membership informed by distributing addenda and announcing who the apparent low bidders were for each project. The builders exchange was a critical component of the competitive bidding process, and indispensable before the advent of the Internet.

Today, builders exchanges do compete with a multitude of subscription-based, online construction plan services. Unsurprisingly, some mistakenly believe the old plan room era has passed and exchanges have gone the way of the dinosaur. By necessity, exchanges have adopted the latest, cutting-edge technologies in addition to maintaining physical plan rooms. Bidders can login to sophisticated software and download what they need when they need it. They’re notified of project changes automatically by email, and search filters make the process of finding projects quick and easy. Notwithstanding these technological improvements, the greatest asset of builders exchanges is one they have always leaned upon and one a virtual competitor cannot replicate: their people.

As with any organization comprised of many individuals, a builders exchange is dependent upon the relationships it nurtures. At its core, a builders exchange is a service provider. People are the main commodity of every exchange, as they’re who provide the services the members value. The staff of each exchange are dialed into the local design and construction community. They talk with local building owners and design professionals, often establishing strong personal relationships with real people. The priceless benefit of these relationships is greater assurance the flow of project information is steady, accurate, and reliable. Each of the nation’s approximately 200 exchanges is unique, focusing exclusively upon the needs of the members it serves.

The Eugene Builders Exchange is no exception. Founded nearly 70 years ago, the EBE is open for membership to local subcontractors, suppliers, manufacturer’s representatives, bonding and insurance companies, general contractors, construction consultants, and other service-oriented firms. It provides access to plans for public and private commercial projects it receives from architects, engineers, general contractors, and a broad spectrum of public agencies ranging from school districts to municipalities, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Army Corps of Engineers, the Government Services Administration, and others. These projects are typically proposed for construction throughout Oregon, with an emphasis upon opportunities of interest to the EBE members.

EBE operates as a non-profit corporation, with an elected board of directors. Jeremy Moritz is the exchange’s present manager, having held the position since 2013. Under Jeremy’s leadership, the EBE has constantly updated its facilities and expanded the suite of benefits members have access to. These include website access (from which members can download project documents), a full-service reprographics service, education programs, and a weekly newsletter (listing the projects it has, planholder lists, bid results, descriptions of new projects, and recently issued local building permits). Additionally, the Exchange offers affordable health insurance plans as part of a large group purchasing collective (providing access to multiple carriers, compliance documentation, and complete electronic benefits administration for CCB licensed contractors), as well as EBE vacation travel discounts through its partnership with TravelPerks.

The cost of EBE membership is surprisingly reasonable, ranging from $200 annually for Associate membership (weekly newsletter, but no access to projects online or at EBE) up to $650 per year for Premium membership (which includes full access to the plan center and website, advertising in the newsletter, eligibility for the Exchange’s health insurance program, TravelPerks, and more).

The current membership of the Exchange numbers around 350, down from its highwater mark of 530 members before the 2008-2011 economic recession. Jeremy hopes to grow the membership and EBE’s market area, while also establishing strategic partnerships with related industry organizations, such as the Homebuilders Association of Lane County and the Construction Specifications Institute – Willamette Valley Chapter. With respect to the latter, CSI-WVC has enjoyed a mutually beneficial arrangement with EBE by renting its fully equipped classroom facility for the chapter’s CSI Certification Classes.

Far from being holdovers of a bygone age, successful, vital builders exchanges have capitalized upon their value proposition, which is to aggregate specific, local bidding opportunities for use by their members, and deliver focused education, benefits, and fellowship their impersonal online competitors cannot. In a world that is ever more indiscriminate about how it manages information, the true worth of builders exchanges is increasingly evident.

Better Housing Together

One of the ironies for those who work tirelessly to expand prosperity, increase livability, and generally enhance the desirability of their communities is a concomitant loss of affordable housing. The affordability issue is enormously complex and stubbornly resistant to easy solutions. Nevertheless, it is an issue we ignore at our peril.

The southern Willamette Valley boasts the dubious distinction of being one of the tightest housing markets in the United States, second only to Seattle.(1) Nearly half of our residents are housing “cost-burdened,” stretching their incomes just to pay for housing and other basic necessities.(2) The crisis affects young people unable to break into the local housing market, working families struggling to make ends meet, and seniors looking to downsize with few options available. It impacts every homeowner, renter, neighborhood, business sector, and organization in our community.

Many have attempted to crack the housing affordability nut with little success. Despite the intractability of the problem, an exciting new Eugene-Springfield metro area group is stepping up to assume the mantle, having fully dedicated itself to the development of effective strategies to meet the challenge.

Better Housing Together is a coalition of community leaders working to address the local affordability crisis. Including key representatives from Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST), the Eugene Association of REALTORS, AARP Oregon, University of Oregon researchers, AIA-Southwestern Oregon, and an impressive list of other organizations, these leaders want to better understand the problem and identify practical solutions. The members of Better Housing Together are committed to identifying policies and strategies that support local affordability and more quality, walkable, age-friendly housing.

To help meet achieve its goals, the coalition has organized what promises to be an outstanding event. The Better Housing Together Forum, which will take place on February 21 at the University of Oregon’s Erb Memorial Union Ballroom, will include a facilitated community-wide discussion, as well as an exhibit of work about housing in our community by University of Oregon researchers. Additionally, there will be a short video featuring personal stories underscoring the magnitude of the crisis. Members of community focus groups will share their diverse perspectives. Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis, Springfield Mayor Christine Lundberg, Lane County Commissioner Pat Farr, and other elected officials will actively participate and learn more about how they can help advance community desires.

Despite the immensity of the challenge, the outlines of a solution exist. As Better Housing Together steering committee member Kaarin Knudson, AIA, noted in her piece for the 2017 Register Guard Design Annual, there is a direct connection between housing affordability and the wellbeing of all of a community’s residents. By adding supply to the market, affordability increases. By locating housing in areas where infrastructure and transit access already exist, we increase our tax base without increasing our acreage of liability. By supporting more walkable and efficient housing types, we also advance many of our climate and equity goals.

Better Housing Together wants everyone to join the discussion and learn more about how we can increase housing choice and affordability. Make plans to attend the February 21 forum. Registration is necessary to guarantee a seat. The organizers expect this free event to be at capacity. Registration opens on February 5, 2018.

The housing crisis isn’t just coming: it’s here. Better Housing Together knows we can all do more to help, which is why the group has organized the coming forum event. I hope to see all of you there.

What:  Better Housing Together Forum

When:  Wednesday, February 21, 2018, 5:00–7:00 PM

Where:  Erb Memorial Union Ballroom University of Oregon, Eugene

Cost:  Free

To Register:  https://www.betterhousingtogether.org/forum/ 

To Learn More: Visit www.BetterHousingTogether.org

(1)   "Sold Out: These 10 U.S. Cities Have the Biggest Housing Shortages" www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-10-housing-markets-constrained-by-tight-inventory

(2)   ALICE Report, www.unitedwaylane.org/what-we-do/annual-reports/alice