The nation has decided what its public buildings should look like again. Executive Order 14344 made classical and traditional architecture the federal standard. The material standard sets out what Seattle's buildings should be made of, and Building the Supply shows how to make those materials here. Century Gate is the missing piece: what the buildings should actually look like.
It is a design standard written for Seattle, durable materials, classical and traditional proportion, ornament that lasts, and a streetscape that reads as a single city rather than a collection of one-off glass boxes. It is meant to do for Seattle what the federal order does for Washington: set a clear, defensible standard for civic and publicly supported buildings, and give the design review process something to actually hold a building to.
The full design standard is being written. Sign up to follow it, and tell us if you want to help, whether you are an architect, a builder, a planner, or a resident who wants Seattle to be beautiful again.
Athens to America - the federal order that made classical architecture the national standard.
The Standard Seattle Forgot - the materials and the rule behind a Seattle standard.
Building the Supply - how to manufacture the materials a revival needs.