Architecture is not for selected few but EVERYONE.
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Author: architectureforeveryone

Ko Wibowo received his Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree from Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia in 1994. He was amazed by the capability of Western and Japanese architects in design but limited in his countrymen or other Asian nations. He had learned the technical side of architecture and was a practicing architect in Indonesia but felt the lack of understanding on how to produce great design in architecture. He then continued his architectural education at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas to pursue his Master of Architecture in search of design understanding and, equally important, learning the progress and history of architecture. It was a challenging process to go through design education where pragmatism and technical considerations were often overlooked in American schools. Going through two very different approaches of education in East and West equipped him with capabilities in both technical and design aspects of architecture, traditional eastern and classical western architecture understanding, eastern and western urban planning, as well as cultural impact on architecture that rarely possessed by any architects. Being able to bring the best of two worlds has become his strength and provided wisdom in architectural design. Understanding all sides of issues and balancing the delicate and differing design strategies become his approach to great architecture throughout his career.

Siebert Remodel (Tacoma, Washington State, USA)

The Sieberts moved into Stevens Addition in early 2022 after purchasing it in late 2021. To accommodate their family of four with two teenagers, they needed to remodel the original house built in 1973 designed by Jane Hastings, FAIA to accommodate an additional bedroom and a bathroom for their daughter. They decided to remodel the […]

Highline College Campus Wayfinding Concept Study (Des Moines, Washington State, USA)

Highline College campus is a horizontal campus with low buildings mostly hidden behind trees and a sea of parking surfaces making it impossible to know where to enter the campus. In addition, inadequate directional signs and building signs within campus further exacerbate the problem for new students and visitors finding the building(s) they are going […]

Bryant Montessori School (Tacoma, Washington State, USA)

Architecture for Everyone teamed up with Skanska/TCF Architecture as an architecture consultant to the TCF Architecture design team. Architecture for Everyone contributes to the overall design quality of the project from site design, the conception of the idea, massing study, development of design, and construction documentation, including quality assurance and quality control. The project has […]

WWU Salish Sea Studio (Bellingham, Washington State, USA)

This project is at Western Washington University in their Fairhaven College Academic Building. The recording studio is located within the first-floor lobby of an existing 1970s concrete building, a brutalist building of the time. The recording studio consists of the main studio, voice recording room, control room, and lounge totaling approximately 1,000 square feet. The […]

Lara DADU (Tacoma, Washington State, USA)

The goals of the project as set by the owners are unifying the existing house and detached garage, not replicating the existing house due to cost, having a storage loft, a patio, and additional off-street parking for the Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU). To respond to these goals, a simple concept is deployed. The existing […]

Gibson House (Moses Lake, Washington State, USA)

The site is a long and narrow site on a bluff overlooking Moses Lake. There is an existing gable roof garage/storage structure. The neighboring houses are surrounding the site fairly closely (7.5’ setbacks). The proposed design uses the simple gable of the existing garage/storage structure as the basic form for the garage of the house […]

Jeon Remodel (Seattle, Washington State, USA)

Jeon Remodel is a remodel project for a house originally owned and designed by Jane Hastings, FAIA. The house, known as Johnston-Hastings house, was built in 1974 and won a Seattle AIA Honor Award in 1977. The new owners are happy with the house in accommodating their young family of four, but they want to […]

Tree House Module (Ruins in Rural France)

NESTLING|Nature reclaims man-made ruins Vibrac, Mothe Chandeniers, and Ebaupinay are the site of abandoned man-made structures in which nature has reclaimed its place over time.  The ruins are overtaken by three distinct types of plants: the freestanding trees, the hanging vines, and the attaching epiphyte. The nest-inspired tree houses are nestling within the ruins and […]

Post COVID-19 Multipurpose Building and Space Studies (Anywhere in USA)

Architecture for Everyone was asked by a contractor to do a series of quick design studies to anticipate future projects after COVID-19 pandemic. It started as a pre-manufactured steel building but then it quickly morphed into redefining surplus of existing commercial space. COVID-19 devastates the world in so many ways but it also allows us […]

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News

Architecture for Everyone is part of BCRA Design and Korsmo Construction Design-Build team to deliver the Lowell Elementary School replacement for Tacoma Public Schools.

Ko Wibowo presented Texture Materials for Children at Design for Early Learning Conference in Tacoma, Washington State on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Architecture for Everyone and Johnston Architects began designing the Sumner Library for the Pierce County Library System.

Architecture for Everyone was selected as one of the on-call architects for Seattle Colleges.

Architecture for Everyone was selected as one of four architects for the Child Care Capacity Initiative in Pierce County, Washington State.

Sibert Remodel is currently under construction and nearing completion.

Architecture for Everyone is part of TCF Architecture and Skanska Design-Build team to deliver Bryant Montessori School replacement for Tacoma Public Schools. Ground breaking ceremony was May 10, 2023.

Western Washington University Salish Sea Studio at Fairhaven College is now substantially completed. WWU will install acoustical treatments with the projected opening in May 2024.

Thoughts

Architecture is not for selected few but EVERYONE.  The upper 1% can buy with their wealth, the bottom 5% are taken care of by the government.  The challenge for each architect is to also serve the middle from the bottom 5% to the upper 1%.  That is social justice in architecture.
If Disneyland is to Apple Macintosh in its integrated design, Las Vegas is to IBM PC in its open-source method.  But both employ Robert Venturi’s “ugly and ordinary” design approach.
Creativity is to solve design problems, not to creatively force the realization of a heroic design ideal.
We expect our buildings to be flexible and adaptable but fail to recognize that we, humans, are the most adaptable creature. Architecture is heavy and static and, therefore, shall not be expected to be able to be changed too much without significant intervention.
London is historic, Paris is grand, and Basel is organized.
Recent protests on issues of race and inequalities were staged in public spaces: our streets, parks, plazas, bordered by our buildings. While tolerance is built by understanding each other through listening to others, done as individual human beings, the result is a democracy that takes place in public spaces.  Our behavior in these spaces defines how successful democracy will be.  Thus, the design and quality of these spaces, undoubtedly, influence our behavior.  We learned about listening from Slim’s Table by Mitchell Duneier.  We learned how we instinctively behave on the street when faced with a perceived danger in Street Etiquette and Street Wisdom by Elijah Anderson. We learned how buildings can contribute negatively to our streets in Fortress L.A. by Mike Davis. We learned how we can collectively contribute to segregation in Community Becomes Uncivilized by Richard Sennett. We learned how we prepare and deal with potential negative experiences on our streets in The Uses of Sidewalk by Jane Jacobs. Now it is time we care about our public spaces and apply what we have learned to design these spaces so democracy can flourish and spread out.
Between three east Asian traditional architecture of China, Korea, and Japan, the most ornate and decorative is Chinese, followed by Korea and Japan being the least. That is why Japanese architecture can accept and adopt the idea of modernism well, especially minimalism.
The greatest gift architects can give our clients is the added value of their design while they live in and the increased property value when they sell. The increased property value would be much more than the assessed value and beyond the fee they paid for. This could be one of the ways to close the wealth gap.

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