Mithun is a multidisciplinary

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

firm headquartered in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The company provides

integrated design Integrated design is a comprehensive holistic approach to design which brings together specialisms usually considered separately. It attempts to take into consideration all the factors and modulations necessary to a decision making process. A few ...

services including

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, landscape architecture,

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordi ...

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...

and planning.

History

The firm was founded in 1949 by Omer Mithun, a professor of architecture at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

as a private practice in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as ...

. Mithun incorporated in 1953, and became Mithun Partners in 1988. The practice moved into the historic

Times Square Building The Times Square Building, formerly the Times Building, is a registered landmark building in Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 1916 and housed editorial operations of the '' Seattle Times'' newspaper, which was housed there until 1930. Loc ...

in 1990, after the firm outgrew the space they moved again in 2000, after renovating their present-day headquarters on Pier 56. Mithun is now led by a board of directors, presided by Bert Gregory, FAIA, who also serves as CEO. REI flagship seattle

Notable works

Buildings

* Epler Hall at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

- six-story, dormitory *

IslandWood IslandWood is a non-profit environmental education organization with programs on Bainbridge Island, Seattle, and Woodinville in Washington. History In 1997, over of land were being sold on the south end of Bainbridge Island. Local residents Debbi ...

(formerly the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center) (2002) - LEED-NC Gold rated. Nationally recognized project and environmental case study featuring low-impact construction, recycled materials, photovoltaics and a custom-designed LivingMachine to treat grey-water and black-water on site. * REI Flagship Store (1996) - "the apotheosis of the exposed-viscera school of architecture -- all the building's structural guts are on glorious exhibit, from the electric conduits to the I-beams and turnbuckles that hold everything together."

Research & Planning

* Blue Ring (1999) - Seattle's open space strategy for the Center City. The two report
Blue Ring, The Next Decade
an
Blue Ring, the Next 100 Years
were conceived as a companion to the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape architect Frederick Law O ...

' green ring of parks and parkways that encircle Seattle. * Center for Urban Agriculture(2007) - conceptual design of an off-grid 318-unit multi family building that is energy and water self-sufficient by utilizing on site greenhouses, rooftop gardens, a chicken farm, and areas for growing vegetables and grains. The design exercise won "Best of Show", lauded as "most visionary" in the Cascadia Region Green Building Council's Living Building Challenge. * '
Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan
'' (2004)- includes onsite and offsite strategies contribute to the capability of a 35-block ecosystem in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, emulating the natural systems of a pristine forest, even as the area's density increases fivefold. The plan received national recognition including the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

2006 Institute Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design, a 2005 AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects {{Cite news , last = Enlow , first = Clair , author-link = Clair Enlow , title = A Green Blueprint , newspaper = Metropolis Magazine , volume = 2005 , issue = August/September , date = July 2005 , url = http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1510 , url-status = dead , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080221231332/http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1510 , archivedate = 2008-02-21

External links

Mithun website

References

Architecture firms based in Washington (state) Design companies established in 1949 Companies based in Seattle 1949 establishments in Washington (state)