Theater Commons and Donnelly Gardens Receives SITES Certification for Sustainable Landscapes
Theater Commons and Donnelly Gardens Receives SITES Certification for Sustainable Landscapes

March 5, 2013 – Theater Commons and Donnelly Gardens has been recognized by SITES, an interdisciplinary effort led by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and the United States Botanic Garden. SITES is a voluntary, national rating system for sustainable landscapes of all types, with or without buildings. 

“Gustafson Guthrie Nichol should be proud of this achievement. The firm’s dedication to the environment and supporting public/private partnerships will benefit our community far into the future,” states Seattle’s Mayor Mike McGinn. “GGN’s design approach helps support Seattle Center as a public destination for experiencing innovative, urban water stewardship and sustainable landscapes.”
 
Read the full press release here.

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Joanie WalbertSeattle, WA2013
Rodrigo Abela Lectures at The San Diego Museum of Art
Rodrigo Abela Lectures at The San Diego Museum of Art

March 1, 2013 - Presented in conjunction with the interactive exhibition Journey through the City, Rodrigo Abela delivers a First Friday Films lecture on the redesign of Union Square on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.  This space has historically been utilized to accommodate memorialization, civic celebrations, protest, and recreation. Rodrigo will focus his lecture on the challenges of designing a multi-functional space in one of the nation’s most visible and popular locations.

To encourage visitors to interact with "a vocabulary for a city" yet to be invented, artist Miquel Navarro's exhibit Journey through the City provides visitors with a thousand pieces of different building materials, including aluminum, zinc, and wood. For inspiration, representations of current, innovative architecture and urban planning practices are exhibited on the gallery walls, including the redesign of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol.

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Joanie WalbertSan Diego, CA2013
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) Selected as the International Designer of the Public Domain for the Barangaroo South project in Sydney Australia
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (GGN) Selected as the International Designer of the Public Domain for the Barangaroo South project in Sydney Australia

February, 22, 2013 - Lend Lease, in partnership with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, has assembled some of Australia’s and the world’s leading urban planners and landscape architects to undertake the next phase of master planning and public domain design at Barangaroo South, the 7.5 hectare (18.5 acres) southern section of a 22 hectare (54 acre) major redevelopment site on the international landmark of Sydney Harbor in Australia. GGN’s participation will be headed by founding partner Kathryn Gustafson and principal Grant Stewart.
 
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol has been appointed as International Public Domain Designer, with a principal role as the lead design landscape architect, entrusted with the design and delivery of a truly world class public domain solution. The site will be a true mixed-use precinct consisting of commercial office buildings, residential apartments, an international hotel, shops, cafes, restaurants, and cultural facilities
 
GGN will be working with  team that consists of: Lord Richard Rogers and Ivan Harbour from RSH+P, and Lend Lease Design as the overall concept master planners; Sydney architect Tony Caro, from Tony Caro Architects, as Urban Design Director; Craig Allchin, Adjunct Professor of Architecture at University of Technology Sydney and founding director of Six Degrees Architects in Melbourne, as Local Urban Design advisor; and Aspect|Oculus, led by Sacha Coles and Roger Jasprizza continuing in their role as Project Landscape Architects.

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Joanie WalbertSydney, Australia2013
Shannon Nichol on Jury for Re-Think Re-Use Competition
Shannon Nichol on Jury for Re-Think Re-Use Competition

September 20, 2012 - Shannon Nichol was on the jury for the design competition "Transforming Seattle's 520 Floating Bridge." More than 70 design plan were submitted from 18 countries, each with creative solutions for the re-use of the pontoons. The winners were announced by the jurors on September 21 as part of the Seattle Design Festival. The local paper and news channel featured the event. 

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Joanie WalbertSeattle, WA2012
New Office Space in Washington, DC
New Office Space in Washington, DC

September 1, 2012 - Gustafson Guthrie Nichol is pleased to announce the opening of our new Washington, DC office space. This brings GGN closer to our projects in the Eastern U.S., as well as current DC projects: CityCenterDC, the National Museum of African American History & Culture, and the recently won Union Square design. 

Rodrigo Abela, Principal, is based in DC and continues to work with a project-driven rotation of GGN's Seattle-based staff.

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Joanie WalbertWashington, DC2012
Bernie Alonzo to Present at AIA's Tour of Gates Foundation Campus
Bernie Alonzo to Present at AIA's Tour of Gates Foundation Campus

July 27, 2012 –  As part of AIA Seattle’s “COTE Case Study Tour: The Gates Foundation,” Bernie Alonzo will be presenting the sustainable systems of this LEED Platinum campus, along with presenters from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, NBBJ, and Arup. Tour will focus on sustainable systems including green roofs, rainwater collection, water gardens, smart lighting, and thermal energy storage, and will take place August 2, from 4 to 6 pm. 

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Joanie WalbertSeattle, WA2012
Landscape Forms Announces UrbanEdge Collection Designed by GGN
Landscape Forms Announces UrbanEdge Collection Designed by GGN

June 1, 2012 – Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, in collaboration with Landscape Forms, is pleased to announce the introduction of UrbanEdge, a collection of landscape framing and furniture elements for urban spaces. The collection is produced by Landscape Forms, the world’s largest manufacturer of high-design site and streetscape furniture collections and amenities.

UrbanEdge pairs GGN’s experience in designing urban spaces with Landscape Forms’ expertise in developing beautiful site furnishings that address issues in urban environments; built to perform and endure under conditions of high-usage. 

The UrbanEdge collection can now be viewed at Landscape Forms. 

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Joanie WalbertKalamazoo, MI2012
Rodrigo Abela Presents the Union Square Design at the National Building Museum
Rodrigo Abela Presents the Union Square Design at the National Building Museum

May 22, 2012 -  On May 31, 2012, as part of the National Building Museum's "A Conversation with the National Mall Design Competition Winners," Rodrigo Abela, together with Peter Cook, will represent the Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Davis Brody Bond team and share the team’s ideas and images for transforming Union Square. The program will feature the three winning designs and their designers, and will be moderated by John Beardsley, director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks.

Event is sponsored by the Trust for the National Mall and the National Capital Planning Commission. A video of the presentation is available online.

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Joanie WalbertWashington, DC2012
Rodrigo Abela Lectures at the University of Washington
Rodrigo Abela Lectures at the University of Washington

May 17, 2012 - Rodrigo Abela was the guest lecturer for Susan Olmsted’s course “Architecture in the Landscape” for the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Rodrigo discussed the investigation at shifting scales of design in relation to landscape, architecture and urban design for two of GGN’s Washington DC projects, including the recent winning design of Union Square for the National Mall Competition.

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Joanie WalbertSeattle, WA2012