As a part of this year's Seattle Design Festival, framed spaces is an exhibit in both our storefront and office space that celebrates the power of creating community spaces, and how these spaces serve their communities at various scales. 

Please join us for our exhibit opening as we kick start this year's Seattle Design Festival! 

Friday, Sept. 8th
5:30 - 7:30pm

b9 architects
610 2nd Ave, 98104

Wine and cheese will be bountiful! Hope to see you there! 

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We will explore two unique examples of community space in Seattle: the Olympic Sculpture Park and the Beacon Food Forest through the lens of both aerial and ground perspectives, as a way of framing how design, nature, and communities are interconnected.

The exhibit compares an intentionally designed space created for the community, with a space the community actively created for itself. While the sizes of the Olympic Sculpture Park and Beacon Food Forest are significantly different, there is power in how each interact with the community. One provides a unique way to experience art outdoors and much needed green space in Downtown, while the other provides public access to organic produce and education on permaculture and stewardship.

We encourage you, as the viewer, to explore these aerial photos and search for similarities and differences at each scale. 

How are the spaces designed for the community? 
What can each learn from the other about empowering the community?

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JUNE 1ST : 
FIRST THURSDAY ART WALK WITH ORLANDO OROZCO

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Due to popular demand and the unfortunate weather conditions during our last First Thursday in May, we are having an encore show of "Landscape Obscura: Landscape Paintings by Orlando Orozco" as part of Pioneer Square's First Thursday Art Walk!

Join us for fantastic art that celebrates the PNW, light snacks and drinks, and good company June 1st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. All are welcome - friends, family, gallery hoppers and the like. We hope to see you there!

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Landscape Obscura features atmospheric landscape paintings by Orlando Orozco who obsesses over the tree-lines and mountain ridges of our coveted region, as they contrast with the constantly changing skies and inescapable darkness from shadow. Through the exploration of this darkness and ample nebulae, his pieces seek to appreciate these less than idyllic conditions that provide the necessary precipitation for our specific flora to thrive.

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Link to the Facebook event

Update**

Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion! The event was engaging, insightful, and relevant for both the public and the design community. A special thanks to David Neiman for moderating and our stellar panel - Josh Bower, David Cutler, Gabriel Grant, Cary Moon, and Nick Welch.

**All images courtesy of William Wright

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Is Seattle's current zoning code preventing or encouraging positive growth in Seattle?

What actions can developers, architects, planners, politicians, taxpayers do to create positive change in Seattle's growth - urbanistically, demographically, culturally, and spatially?

Where are there areas of potential innovative ways of growth and change, pertaining to housing and zoning?

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In participation of this year's Seattle Design Festival and Design in Public’s year’s theme of “Design Change,” b9 architects is excited to host a panel discussion on the relation between housing and zoning in terms of Seattle’s current growth.

Through both a moderated conversation with our esteemed panel and the opportunity for an open dialogue about Seattle's rapidly changing urban fabric, we will delve into issues of zoning, density, value, and change. We invite you to join the conversation about how to create positive change and growth in Seattle! 

Where: b9 architects
When: Friday, Sept. 16, 6-8 PM

Our panel:

David Neiman (moderator)
Neiman Taber Architects

Josh Brower
Veris Law Group

David Cutler
Principal, Office for the City

Gabriel Grant
Principal, Spectrum Development Solutions 

Cary Moon
Urban Planner/Activist

Nick Welch
Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development

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B9 is excited to have Arnulfo Ramirez Torres as our showcasing artist for this month ! We will have an opening show this Thursday as a part of Pioneer Square's First Thursday Art Walk as well as coinciding with Seattle's 2nd annual Art Fair.

Called "The Public Realm," Ramirez Torres' work aims to examine the relationship between Seattle's green public space and the rest of the city. Be sure to stop by our office this Thursday, August 4th from 5:30-8:30pm for some great art, free food and drinks, and good company !

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Thanks to everyone who came out for the artwalk ! It was great fun. Arnulfo's work will be showcased at b9 architects until mid-September.

While we've been a bit quiet here on the blogosphere, our team has been incredibly active in and out of the office!

This past May was Bike Everywhere Month - "a month-long celebration of pedal powered movement" - hosted by Cascade Bicycle Club, whose mission is to improve human lives and the environment through bicycling. 

As part of Bike Everywhere Month, our formidable b9 team, consisting of Brad, Brian, Manuel, Tom, Josh, and Lisa, participated in the Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge. We are proud to share that we recorded 836 miles, reduced our carbon footprint by 736 lbs, and ranked 299 out of 1739 teams!

As community-builders, we constantly strive to improve our environment with an awareness of the impact we make in both the field of design and construction and our personal lives, and bicycling (and public transportation for the rest of our team..!) is just one of the multiple ways we address that impact. The Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge was a wonderful way to engage with our community with a greater vision, and we can't wait to participate in the next challenge!