The architecture of Seattle, Washington, the largest city in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

region of the U.S., features elements that predate the arrival of the area's first settlers of European ancestry in the mid-19th century, and has reflected and influenced numerous architectural styles over time. As of the early 21st century, a major construction boom continues to redefine the city's downtown area as well as neighborhoods such as

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

, Ballard and, perhaps most dramatically,

South Lake Union South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union. The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Denny ...

Native and native-influenced architecture

Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

area, the largest building in the

Salish Sea , image = PNW-straits.jpg , alt = , caption = The Salish Sea, showing the open Pacific Ocean at lower left, and from there, heading inland: the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the narrow Puget Sound at lower ri ...

region was

Old Man House Old Man House was the largest "bighouse" (a type of longhouse) in what is now the U.S. state of Washington, and once stood on the shore of Puget Sound. Lying at the center of the Suquamish winter village on Agate Pass, just south of the present-d ...

, a

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

roughly northwest of Downtown Seattle near the present-day town of Suquamish. Measuring roughly in length, it was the largest longhouse ever known and remained the largest building in the region until it was burned by the United States government in 1870. While there were no native structures of this scale within the city limits of present-day Seattle, the Duwamish tribe had at least 13 villages in that area. Of these, the largest and most important was ''dzee-dzee-LAH-letch'' or ''sdZéédZul7aleecH'' ("little crossing-over place") near present-day

Pioneer Square Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

, with an estimated 200 people in 1800, before Old World diseases caused massive death in the region. It consisted of eight longhouses, each roughly , and an even larger

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...

house. Although no significant architectural structures from the era before European settlement survive as anything more than archaeological sites, several present-day Seattle buildings deliberately evoke traditional regional Native American architecture. Examples of this include

Daybreak Star Cultural Center The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on 2 ...

in Discovery Park, owned by the

United Indians of All Tribes United Indians of All Tribes (also known as the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, or UIATF) is a non-profit foundation that provides social and educational services to Native Americans in the Seattle metropolitan area and aims to promot ...

; the Duwamish Longhouse, owned by the Duwamish tribe, just west of the

Duwamish River File:Seattle - Arctic Building - walrus 03.jpg, Terracotta detail, Arctic Building. The walrus's current tusks are plastic, as an earthquake safety precaution. File:Seattle Coliseum Theater 09.jpg, Terracotta detail, Coliseum Theater. File:Seattle Eagles Auditorium terracotta 02.jpg, Terracotta detail,

Eagles Auditorium Building The Eagles Auditorium Building is a seven-story historic theatre and apartment building in Seattle, Washington. Located at 1416 Seventh Avenue, at the corner of Seventh and Union Street, the Eagles Auditorium building has been the home to ACT Thea ...

. File:Seattle - Union Livery Stables detail 06.jpg, Terracotta detail, Union Stables File:Seattle - 7th Church of Christ Scientist stonework detail 01.jpg, Stonework detail, 7th Church of Christ Scientist, Queen Anne Hill File:Seattle Times Building detail 01.jpg, Ornamental grating, ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington st ...

'' building, 1120 John Street (South Lake Union) File:Seattle - Securities Building lobby 03.jpg, Elevator bank, Securities Building File:Seattle First Methodist 07.jpg, Interior, First United Methodist Church (photographed 2007; now Daniels Recital Hall) File:Temple De Hirsch Sinai - Moses with the Tablets (stained glass) 01.jpg, Stained glass of "Moses with the Tablets", a surviving piece of the old

Temple De Hirsch Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, USA. It was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch (Seattle, founded 1899) and Temple Sinai (Bellevue, founded 1 ...

, landmarked but nonetheless demolished. File:Georgetown PowerPlant interior pano-resized.jpg, Interior, Georgetown PowerPlant Museum File:Seattle - Maryland Apts 04.jpg, Entrance, Maryland Apartments (Capitol Hill) File:Seattle P-I Globe 2 (2014).jpg, The "P-I Globe," symbol of the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', landmarked in its own right

Façadism

Façadism Facadism, façadism, or façadomy is the architectural and construction practice where the facade of a building is designed or constructed separately from the rest of a building, or when only the facade of a building is preserved with new buil ...

is the practice where a building is almost entirely replaced, with only its original or reconstructed façade (or part of that) preserved. In some cases (such as the Auto Row buildings in the Pike-Pine corridor) new buildings have received height bonuses for preserving a façade. Knute Berger wrote in 2015, "Façadism is not a new phenomenon, but it's booming in Seattle these days." Eugenia Woo, director of preservation for Historic Seattle has remarked that "Façadism is NOT preservation. ... The result ... is often a strange hybrid building that does not meld the new and the old in a coherent manner. ... get the illusion of preservation with the pastiche of the old unsuccessfully jumbled with the new. While not demolition, façadism is less preservation and more a begrudging compromise between the past and the future." The

Allen Institute for Brain Science The Allen Institute for Brain Science is a division of the Allen Institute, based in Seattle, Washington, that focuses on bioscience research. Founded in 2003, it is dedicated to accelerating the understanding of how the human brain works. Wit ...

Building in South Lake Union is an intermediate case between preservation and reconstruction of a façade. It incorporates elements of the Ford McKay Building (Warren H. Milner, 1922) and Pacific McKay Building (Harlan Thomas and Clyde Grainger, 1925). These buildings with Seattle Landmark status were completely torn down in 2009; 2,760 pieces of terracotta and other elements were saved for reuse in an otherwise completely new building on the same site, and were incorporated in a new structure, with modern structural walls and modern doors and windows designed to resemble the originals. The new building also largely reproduces the interior of the auto showroom on the corner of Westlake and Mercer. File:Seattle - former Phil Smart Mercedes 02.jpg, Preserving part of the façade of the former Phil Smart Mercedes in the Pike-Pine corridor on Capitol Hill File:Allen Institute for Brain Science Building detail 03.jpg, The

Building in South Lake Union incorporates elements of the Ford McKay Building and Pacific McKay Building. File:Seattle - Maslow's - former Boren Investment Company Warehouse incorporated into Troy Building 03.jpg, The façade of the old Boren Investment Company Warehouse incorporated into the Troy Block

Maritime and industrial architecture

* The two historic Rainier breweries * Boeing * Shipyards * Piers * Port of Seattle buildings, including Pier 66 and Fishermen's Terminal File:Seattle - Hemrich Bro's Brewing Co - 1900.jpg, The Hemrich Bros. brewery in South Lake Union, shown here in 1900, demolished in the 1920s File:Seattle Georgetown 03.jpg, The old (pre- Prohibition) Rainier brewery in Georgetown File:Former Rainier Brewery.jpg, The "Bayview" Rainier brewery in Sodo, active until 1999 File:Seattle waterfront - Royal Argosy.jpg, Although renovated and repurposed, the Central Waterfront piers and pier sheds, such as Pier 56 (shown here), have retained the same structure since the days of the Klondike Gold Rush. File:Seattle - Harbor Island - Todd Shipyard 04.jpg, Todd Shipyard on

Harbor Island Harbor Island is an artificial island in the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington, US, where it empties into Elliott Bay. Built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, it was completed in 1909 and was then the largest art ...

File:Boeing Building No. 105.jpg, Boeing Building No. 105, "The Red Barn," now moved from its original location at the former Boeing Plant 1 on the left bank of the Duwamish to the Museum of Flight on the other side of the river File:Ash Grove Cement from West Seattle Bridge 01.jpg,

Ash Grove Cement Company Ash Grove Cement Company is a cement manufacturer based in Overland Park, Kansas. It is the sixth largest cement manufacturer in North America, and was the largest US-owned cement company until it was acquired in 2018 by CRH plc, a global build ...

on the right bank of the Duwamish

Power and water infrastructure

File:Seattle - Post Steam Plant 06.jpg, Post Station in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, steam plant built by Stone and Webster, now owned by

Seattle Steam Company CenTrio, formerly known as the Seattle Steam Company, is a district heating public utility that provides steam (generated by burning natural gas, diesel oil, and recycled wood) to over 175 businesses in downtown Seattle and on First and Capitol ...

. The lower Old Post Station at right was built circa 1890; the tall portion, New Post Station, in 1902. File:Georgetown PowerPlant Museum exterior 01.jpg, The Georgetown Steam Plant, now Georgetown PowerPlant Museum, built by Stone and Webster in 1906. One of the first

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

structures on the U.S. West Coast, it provided electricity for rail and residential use.

Asian influences

File:Seattle Hip Wah Hing 01.jpg, Just north of S. King Street on 8th Avenue is one of several early 20th-century buildings in the Chinatown - International District grafting Chinese decoration onto Western architecture. File:Seattle - 627 13th E.jpg, Asian influence can be seen in the roofline of this Craftsman bungalow at 627 13th E. on Capitol Hill. File:Seattle Buddhist Church 02.jpg, The Seattle Buddhist Church, a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple, built 1940–1941, designed by

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

Kichio Allen Arai Kichio Allen Arai ( – 1966) was a Japanese American architect known for designing Buddhist temples in the Pacific Northwest. He was the first Asian American in Seattle to design buildings under his own name. Biography He was born to Japane ...

, although the architect of record was Pierce A. Horrocks, because Arai lacked an architectural license File:Seattle - Chinatown gate 11.jpg, The Historic Chinatown Gate, a modern Paifang archway built in 2007 File:Seattle Center - Kobe Bell 02A.jpg, Kobe Bell on the grounds of Seattle Center, a designated city landmark

Scandinavian influences

Despite a large historic Scandinavian presence in Seattle, especially in Ballard, there is a relative lack of obvious Scandinavian architectural influence in the city. Nearby

Poulsbo Poulsbo ( ) is a city on Liberty Bay in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is the smallest of the four cities in Kitsap County. The population was 9,200 at the 2010 census and an estimated 10,927 in 2018. The area was historically in ...

is nicknamed "Little Norway" for the blatant Scandinavian influence in its downtown; Seattle has almost nothing of the sort. The sandstone First Covenant Church on Pike and Bellevue in Downtown Seattle, formerly named the Swedish Tabernacle, is an example of Scandinavian-influenced churchbuilding. File:Seattle - Old Norway Hall 03.jpg, The former Norway Hall, 2015 Boren Avenue, designed by Sonke Englehart Sonnichsen and built in 1915, now Raisbeck Performance Hall,

Cornish College Cornish College is an independent coeducational school in Melbourne, Australia. Located in Bangholme, the school caters for students in all year levels from three-year-olds, in the Early Learning Centre, to Year 12. Location Cornish College is l ...

File:Seattle - Swedish Club 01.jpg, Swedish Club / Swedish Cultural Center, 1920 Dexter Avenue, designed by Einar V. Anderson, Arden Croco Steinhart, and Robert Dennis Theriault Sr., and built 1959–1961. Prior to that they were located in a 1902 building on Eight Avenue by contractors Otto Roseleaf, August S. Peterson, and Otto Rudolf Roseleaf. File:Seattle - First Covenant Church 02.jpg, First Covenant Church

The rise of "green buildings"

File:Seattle - Dexter Horton Building pano 01.jpg, The

Dexter Horton Building The Dexter Horton Building (710 2nd Avenue) is a 15-story office building in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Cherry Street in Downtown Seattle and was the headquarters of the Seattle First Na ...

, built 1924, renovated in 2002 and 2013, received LEED Gold certification in 2015. File:Seattle Olive-8 01.jpg, Olive 8, a hotel/condo building designed by

Gluckman Mayner Architects Gluckman Tang Architects, (previously Gluckman Mayner Architects), is a New York City based architecture firm providing services in architecture, planning, and interior design. Established by Richard Gluckman in 1977, the firm is known for mini ...

and completed in 2009, is a LEED Silver building with a green roof. File:Seattle - Bullitt Center 01.jpg, The Bullitt Center, designed by Miller Hull and completed 2013. Certified as a " Living Building".Nelson, Bryn.
The Self-Sufficient Office Building
''The New York Times''. October 4, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.

References

External links

* John Caldbick
Housing through the years: From the Denny Party to the Great Depression in King and Snohomish Counties: A Slideshow
HistoryLink.org Essay 9833, September 10, 2011. * Frank Chesley
Housebuilding in Seattle: A History
HistoryLink.org Essay 9116, August 19, 2009. {{Architecture in the United States Seattle Culture of Seattle