GreenWorks Hosts Independence Riverfront Programming Open House

GreenWorks is currently developing an advanced conceptual plan for IWP east of the existing amphitheater. The concept design will include proposed connections to Independence Landing Waterfront Park to the south and integrate with Riverview Park to the West. As part of this effort, the GreenWorks team hosted a series of Open Houses on the topic of potential programming opportunities for Riverview Park. The events, which were hosted at Independence Public Library and St. Patrick Catholic Church, drew around 160 participants and gave the design team an opportunity to connect with community members and leaders, and to kickoff exciting conversations about the future of Riverview Park.

Westmoreland Featured at Design Museum Mornings

GreenWorks is excited to partner with Design Museum Portland to host "Nature Play in the City" this Friday, March 2 from 8:30-10:00am at the Center for Architecture. The event will include a brief networking session with free breakfast, followed by a short presentation by GreenWorks' Associate Landscape Architect Ben Johnson on the Westmoreland Nature-Based Play Area. Exploring how natural playscapes are designed and created in an urban environment, Ben will discuss Westmoreland's features including structures that exercise sustainable practices and double as play objects, from salvaged concrete re-purposed for water play elements and many salvaged logs for climbing features and custom benches.

Westmoreland Nature-Based Play Area opened in 2014 and has been embraced by children and adults alike, earning the ASLA Oregon Honor Award and a feature in Design & Play!

Interested in attending the upcoming Design Museum Morning with GreenWorks? We'd love to see you there. Learn more and reserve your tickets today!

A Day In The Life Of A Landscape Architect

On Friday, February 2nd GreenWorks hosted three students for the University of Oregon’s Landscape Architecture Department for their Shadow Mentor Day. This annual program invites students to visit firms and agencies throughout Oregon and Washington to experience what a day in the life of a professional landscape architect looks like.

The day kicked off with a tour around the GreenWorks office and an introduction to the team, followed by presentations about current work on the boards. There was an opportunity for the students to share their portfolios, ask questions, and even get messy with a mini design charrette for a current waterfront project.

The students were invited to meetings, as well as accompanied GreenWorks staff on site visits to nearby Spring Park and Westmoreland.

Later, as the students wound down at a hosted happy hour, they shared stories from their experiences on the job and networked with professionals in the local industry.

GreenWorks welcomes (back) Sean Stroup

We are pleased to announce the return of Sean Stroup to GreenWorks! Sean comes to GreenWorks with a skill set enhanced by his time as a construction foreman where his hands-on experience translated to an understanding of constructability and strong technical deftness. His experience includes project management, natural resource planning, sustainable stormwater management, green infrastructure design, recreational/interpretation design and environmental restoration. Welcome back, Sean!

City of Hermiston Breaks Ground on New Festival Street

The City of Hermiston celebrated the groundbreaking of their new festival street this week! Serving as a central gateway into downtown Hermiston, and a cornerstone for the city, the NE 2nd plaza will help stimulate economic development as well as enhance community engagement by providing a space for public programming such as farmer's markets and art festivals. GreenWorks worked with Anderson Perry & Associates and a committee of local business owners to provide preliminary design concepts for the street. Construction on phase one of the project should be complete by Memorial Day.

Graphic rendering by Michael Corrente.

The Not-So-Lost Art of Drawing

Flora, a senior project manager at GreenWorks, took the opportunity this week to present to us the importance drawing has on the design process. An article written by renowned architect, Michael Graves, inspired the presentation. He argues that computer-aided design software, such as AutoCAD and SketchUp, has replaced hand-drawing along multiple phases of the design process. His ultimate message is that drawing should never divorce itself from design, because it stimulates the imagination and expresses the interaction of mind, body, and hand more so than technology is able to. Flora shares these beliefs with Graves, and often utilizes hand-drawing over computer-aided design software in her designs. This process is directly reflected in her work for Mt. Hood Community College where, after site analysis and setting goals with the clients, Flora began with study sketches of the space. Through refinement, she transformed the sketches into design layouts. The concept plans and axonometric sketches were presented to the students and faculty at an open house at the school earlier this week. Thank you for sharing your design process with us Flora!

To read the article in its entirety please follow the link: Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing