Cameron MacAllister Group 2023 Design Colloquium | Design Excellence
Cameron MacAllister Group 2023 Design Colloquium | Design Excellence
April 19-21, 2023
The Design Colloquium for Design-First Firms is a unique forum where leaders of exceptional firms in architecture, engineering, and related design disciplines gather in an intimate, candid setting to exchange ideas and experiences with their peers.
Panel Discussion during 2023 Design Colloquium including Hacker Equitable Design Strategist, Derrick McDonald
The topic of the 2023 Design Colloquium was Design Excellence. Derrick McDonald, Hacker’s Equitable Design Strategist, served a panel that discussed how to achieve design excellence with Jennifer Devlin-Herbert of EHDD, Brad Nile of Andersen Construction, and Gregg Novicoff of LMSA. The panel was moderated by Amy Donahue of Bora Architects. To describe how to achieve design excellence, Derrick composed the following definition that they felt was broad enough to represent diverse perspectives on the topic, but specific enough to guide useful action: Design Excellence can be defined as thoughtfully responding to a challenge without compromising the integrity of the existing conditions of place. To that end, they identified three areas of our work that we can focus our efforts: policy, practice, and process.
Architects should look for opportunities to improve inclusivity in the legal documents that dictate the profession. They advised an examination of the AIA Document B101 could be a valuable place to ensure that community perspectives are represented.
Recognizing that NCARB states the average time required to become an architect in the United States is 11 years, the profession may consider more transdisciplinary practices, where professionals on social and cultural issues can be included in the work and advise on representation in the process and diversity of ideas.
Finally, the profession must cultivate systematic approaches to designing with diverse communities. By shifting away from paternalistic habits in architecture and design, we can better understand and represent the diverse perspectives in the communities with which we design.
Hacker Associate Principal, Jake Freauff, co-leads a tour of the Portland Japanese Garden Expansion
The Portland Japanese Garden’s Cultural Crossing Expansion seeks to create a serene, pilgrimage-like journey from the city to the forest, drawing each visitor into a fully immersive experience of the traditional arts and culture of Japan. A design collaboration between Kengo Kuma and Associates, Hacker, and Walker Macy among others, the 14,675-square-foot expansion includes four modest, human-scaled new buildings designed to merge into the dramatic slopes of the Washington Park terrain in combination with the tall vertical lines of Pacific Northwest conifers. Hacker Project Architect and Designer, Jake Freauff co-led a tour with Walker Macy on Friday, April 21st after the Colloquium.
