Otak Blog

For the last six weeks, I spent two hours a week with students teaching them basic landscape architecture principles. This year’s assignment was to design a courtyard that included two constraints – one, a door that entered into the space from a house, and two, a window looking out into the courtyard. Students were asked to design a space that included a patio table with chairs, a bench, and a small fountain. They received templates for each element and were required to create multiple rough drafts of their design. On the forth week, I sat down with each student and conducted individual review sessions and guided them to draw and render their final plan. The final outcome was displayed at the AIA Portland office for the Pearl District’s First Thursday Art Walk earlier this month and will remain on display throughout the rest of May.

Submitted by Kaitlin Beatty, Landscape Architectural Professional

This spring, Seattle Otakians had much to purge before the consolidation with the Kirkland office. ‘Reuse’ comes before ‘Recycle’. Vendor binders and extraneous office supplies were donated to Goodwill, and old vendor samples (carpet, tile, paint chips, glass, etc) were picked up by Second Use, a local salvage construction company in South Seattle (www.SecondUse.com). Other materials were donated to ArtCorps (http://www.artscorps.org/enlist/donate.html), a nonprofit arts educator non-profit working with schools and neighborhoods.   

Some old plotter prints were used for gift wrapping. 

Moving boxes were returned to the moving company.

We sent Second Use away with a truckload of old vendor samples.

On Saturday morning, April 18th, nearly 20 Otakians and friends met in Northwest Portland for the third annual “Spring 10k Run/Walk/Bike Challenge.” Co-workers gathered to conquer a fitness goal, and to drink after-run beers. There were dogs, kids, babies, joggers with strollers, power walkers, fast runners, slow runners, and exclusive beer drinkers.

The 10k (6.2-mile) route started at the corner of NW Savier and 23rd Avenue, took you east to Natio Parkway, through the 2.6-mile loop around the Eastside Esplanade, and back to Northwest’s McMenamins. The group populated nearly all of the outdoor tables and enjoyed lunch and beverages on the beautiful, sunny afternoon.

The event is open to all Otakians and friends. It is in no way an official race; no results are posted. The race organizer tried to get as much participation as possible without bombarding the entire company with e-mail solicitations, so if you would like to participate next time please e-mail Sheryl Walsh at sheryl.walsh@otak.com and she’ll put you on the contact list. In the meantime, keep moving!