Signal Radio

Mark Johnson, Principal at Signal Architecture + Research sat down with two dear clients for whom we designed the Forest Pavilion home, built in collaboration with Dovetail. Our clients share their experience designing their first custom home, and how it has felt since they begun living there.

How do we define a successful park? What do people remember? How ​do the landscape and building​s work together to ​define a space that creates belonging? What role does art play in ​the process of creating local meaning?​ How do we adjust to climate change?  Mark Johnson speaks with Michael Shiosaki, the Director of Parks & Community Services at the City of Bellevue, exploring his wide and deep experience with placemaking in this region.

The memory that landscape can reveal is a handhold for design. Listening to it – in the form of people, time, texture – enables us to interpret something into being that feels familiar, rooted here. Mark Johnson chats with David Malda of GGN about continuity, discontinuity, and the pursuit of work that is uniquely suited to its place and people.

Urban planning shifts our architectural perspective from the scale of a lifetime, to the scale of a city — an intervention we know will outlive us. This shifts the perspective away from us and today, to the community and tomorrow. We know that a participatory community builds resilience of place. How do we balance this with budget, speed, and trust? Mark chats with Ben Rankin, a Community Development Partner at Watershed Community Development, which is overseeing the creation of The Bend, a 7-block live/work district in Georgetown that offers affordable housing and space for art, making, and community resources.

An enduring museum doesn't only observe its place and community, but is a part of it— it finds a home at the top of the community's toolbox as one of its most helpful places. This work is about access, visibility, and meeting the need. We dive into our work at The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center with Marriah Thornock, the Executive Director leading the Museum's future.

How do we amplify urban planning through public art? We dive into questions around art and architecture with Tamar Benzikry, who has supported our work on a 7-block live-work district in Georgetown, The Bend, as an artist-forward, purpose-driven consultant.

How are landmarks saved? We dive into Sam's work at Seattle's Georgetown Steam Plant, offering revival and community function to the nearly 120 year old, triple-landmarked industrial behemoth in Seattle. See more of this project here: https://signalarch.com/project/georgetown-steam-plant/