Fred Bassetti
Encyclopedia
Fred Bassetti FAIA, is an award-winning Pacific Northwest
architect
, teacher, and a prime contributor to the regional approach to Modern architecture
during the 1940s-1990’s. Now retired, his architectural legacy includes some of the Seattle area's more recognizable buildings and spaces. The American Institute of Architects
(AIA) described his role as a regional architect and activist as having made significant contributions to “the shape of Seattle and the Northwest, and on the profession of architecture.”
he studied engineering for a year before switching to architecture, earning a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington in 1942. During World War II, he worked as a draftsman with the Federal Public Housing Authority and with Seattle architect Paul Thiry
. After the war he studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
under Walter Gropius
and Marcel Breuer
, was in the same class as I.M. Pei, and graduated with a Masters of Architecture in 1946.
Bassetti worked for Alvar Aalto
in Boston before returning to Seattle where he worked for Naramore Bain Brady Johanson (NBBJ
) 1946-1947. Within his first year there, a Bassetti-designed house won an award sponsored by The Seattle Times and the local AIA
office. In 1947 he established his first firm by renting space in the office of friend Jack Morse; together they established the architectural firm
s of Bassetti & Morse, Architects (1947–1962), with Wendell Lovett
as one early employee, and later Honolulu-based Bassetti, Morse and Tatom, Architects. In 1962 Bassetti and Morse separated, with Bassetti first practicing as Fred Bassetti & Company, Architects, later as Bassetti Norton Metler Architects with partners Skip Norton and Richard Metler, then also with Karlis Rekevics as Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekeviks Architects. In 1990 Lorne McConachie became a partner. By 1994 Bassetti and all other titled principals had retired. The firm has since operated as Bassetti Architects
under McConachie and new partners.
Bassetti's teaching career included positions as a guest critic at Columbia University
, lecturing at Columbia University, MIT, Rice University
, and the Universities of Washington
, Oregon
, Idaho
, and British Columbia
.
, Gene Zema, and Ralph Anderson. All were graduates of the University of Washington School of Architecture and were subjects of the 2010 documentary Modern Views - A Conversation on Northwest Modern Architecture. Key features of the Northwest School's work are the influence of the Pacific Northwest climate and landscape on modern design, materials selection, and a legacy of environmental responsibility. This approach to design became known as Critical Regionalism
.
Concrete and steel are hallmarks of modernism, but in the Pacific Northwest there was also a passion for natural materials. Wood shingles were used extensively in many of Bassetti’s early projects. An easily recognizable feature of many Bassetti designs is a softening of edges, from the chamfered corners of the Jackson Federal Building
, Key Tower (now Seattle Municipal Tower
), and dormitory buildings at Western Washington University and The University of Central Washington, to rounded corners that to Bassetti feel "good to the human hand."
When asked in 2009 which of his projects he takes greatest pride, Bassetti cited “the Forrest and Martin Residences, the Lisbon Embassy (“the building, on a great site, draws together Portuguese and American characteristics, using local materials”) and the award-winning East Pine Receiving Station (for Seattle City Light).
Major Projects (1947–1994):
Residential Projects (1947–1994):
, ABC started during the post-1962 Worlds Fair push for progress in response to the stagnation of Seattle's urban core.
“The question that Bassetti has been answering, in his own way, for these four decades: how does an architect serve his home town? ... They can look to their own circle for mutual support and guidance, with Bassetti as a lifetime example.“
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
, teacher, and a prime contributor to the regional approach to Modern architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
during the 1940s-1990’s. Now retired, his architectural legacy includes some of the Seattle area's more recognizable buildings and spaces. The American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
(AIA) described his role as a regional architect and activist as having made significant contributions to “the shape of Seattle and the Northwest, and on the profession of architecture.”
Early Life, Education, and Career
Born in Seattle to Norwegian and Italian immigrants, Bassetti grew up south of Seattle and spent several years with his paternal family in Turin, Italy. After graduating from Seattle’s Garfield High SchoolGarfield High School (Seattle, Washington)
James A. Garfield High School is a public high school in the Seattle Public Schools district of Seattle, Washington, USA.Located along 23rd Avenue between E. Alder and E. Jefferson Streets in Seattle's urban Central District, Garfield draws students from all over the city...
he studied engineering for a year before switching to architecture, earning a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington in 1942. During World War II, he worked as a draftsman with the Federal Public Housing Authority and with Seattle architect Paul Thiry
Paul Thiry
Paul Thiry is the name of:* Paul-Henri Thiry , a.k.a. Baron d'Holbach, German-French author, philosopher and encyclopedist* Paul Thiry , American architect, chief architect of the Century 21 Exposition...
. After the war he studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
under Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
and Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
, was in the same class as I.M. Pei, and graduated with a Masters of Architecture in 1946.
Bassetti worked for Alvar Aalto
Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware...
in Boston before returning to Seattle where he worked for Naramore Bain Brady Johanson (NBBJ
NBBJ
NBBJ is a global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Beijing, Boston, Columbus, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Shanghai....
) 1946-1947. Within his first year there, a Bassetti-designed house won an award sponsored by The Seattle Times and the local AIA
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
office. In 1947 he established his first firm by renting space in the office of friend Jack Morse; together they established the architectural firm
Architectural firm
An architectural firm is a company which employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture.- History :Architects have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep and Senemut . No writings exist to describe how these...
s of Bassetti & Morse, Architects (1947–1962), with Wendell Lovett
Wendell Lovett
Wendell Harper Lovett is a significant Pacific Northwest architect and teacher.Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Lovett entered the University of Washington program in architecture in 1940, but his college years were interrupted by wartime service. He graduated from the University of...
as one early employee, and later Honolulu-based Bassetti, Morse and Tatom, Architects. In 1962 Bassetti and Morse separated, with Bassetti first practicing as Fred Bassetti & Company, Architects, later as Bassetti Norton Metler Architects with partners Skip Norton and Richard Metler, then also with Karlis Rekevics as Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekeviks Architects. In 1990 Lorne McConachie became a partner. By 1994 Bassetti and all other titled principals had retired. The firm has since operated as Bassetti Architects
Bassetti Architects
Bassetti Architects is an architectural firm based in Seattle, Washington with a second office in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1947, the firm has designed several well-known Seattle landmarks and many schools in the greater Seattle-Tacoma area, including several buildings at the Pike Place...
under McConachie and new partners.
Bassetti's teaching career included positions as a guest critic at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, lecturing at Columbia University, MIT, Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, and the Universities of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
, Idaho
University of Idaho
The University of Idaho is the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest public university, located in the rural city of Moscow in Latah County in the northern portion of the state...
, and British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
.
Architectural Legacy
Fred Bassetti hails from the “Northwest School”, the collective drivers behind the new regional identity that began to emerge in the late 1940s, that included Arne Bystrom, Wendell LovettWendell Lovett
Wendell Harper Lovett is a significant Pacific Northwest architect and teacher.Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Lovett entered the University of Washington program in architecture in 1940, but his college years were interrupted by wartime service. He graduated from the University of...
, Gene Zema, and Ralph Anderson. All were graduates of the University of Washington School of Architecture and were subjects of the 2010 documentary Modern Views - A Conversation on Northwest Modern Architecture. Key features of the Northwest School's work are the influence of the Pacific Northwest climate and landscape on modern design, materials selection, and a legacy of environmental responsibility. This approach to design became known as Critical Regionalism
Critical regionalism
Critical Regionalism is an approach to architecture that strives to counter placelessness and lack of identity in Modern Architecture by utilizing the building's geographical context...
.
Concrete and steel are hallmarks of modernism, but in the Pacific Northwest there was also a passion for natural materials. Wood shingles were used extensively in many of Bassetti’s early projects. An easily recognizable feature of many Bassetti designs is a softening of edges, from the chamfered corners of the Jackson Federal Building
Henry M. Jackson Federal Building
The Henry M. Jackson Federal Building is a 37-story United States Federal Government skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. Located on the block bounded by Marion and Madison Streets and First and Second Avenues, the building was completed in 1974 and won the Honor Award of the American...
, Key Tower (now Seattle Municipal Tower
Seattle Municipal Tower
Seattle Municipal Tower is a 62-story skyscraper located at 700 5th Avenue at the corner of 5th Avenue and Columbia Street in downtown Seattle, Washington. Rising to , it is the fourth tallest high-rise building in Seattle...
), and dormitory buildings at Western Washington University and The University of Central Washington, to rounded corners that to Bassetti feel "good to the human hand."
When asked in 2009 which of his projects he takes greatest pride, Bassetti cited “the Forrest and Martin Residences, the Lisbon Embassy (“the building, on a great site, draws together Portuguese and American characteristics, using local materials”) and the award-winning East Pine Receiving Station (for Seattle City Light).
Selected Projects
(List of AIA award-winning projects and collaborating firms):Major Projects (1947–1994):
- Seattle AquariumSeattle AquariumThe Seattle Aquarium is a public aquarium opened in 1977 and located on Pier 59 on the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .-History:...
; *Henry M. Jackson Federal BuildingHenry M. Jackson Federal BuildingThe Henry M. Jackson Federal Building is a 37-story United States Federal Government skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. Located on the block bounded by Marion and Madison Streets and First and Second Avenues, the building was completed in 1974 and won the Honor Award of the American...
, Seattle; *Seattle Municipal TowerSeattle Municipal TowerSeattle Municipal Tower is a 62-story skyscraper located at 700 5th Avenue at the corner of 5th Avenue and Columbia Street in downtown Seattle, Washington. Rising to , it is the fourth tallest high-rise building in Seattle...
(formerly AT&T Gateway Tower, then Key Tower), Seattle; *U.S. Embassy, Lisbon, Portugal; *Inglemoor High SchoolInglemoor High SchoolInglemoor High School is a public high school located in Kenmore, Washington. It is one of the largest high schools in the state of Washington and has an average of 23.4 students per teacher. Inglemoor's feeder schools are Kenmore and Northshore Junior Highs and Arrowhead, Kenmore, Lockwood,...
, Kenmore, WA; *Children's Zoo at Woodland ParkWoodland Park ZooWoodland Park Zoo is a zoological garden around the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Occupying the western half of Woodland Park, the zoo began as a small menagerie on the estate of Guy C. Phinney, a Canadian-born lumber mill owner and real estate developer...
, Seattle; *Lakeside SchoolLakeside SchoolLakeside School is a private/independent school located in the Haller Lake neighborhood at the north city limits of Seattle, Washington, USA, for grades 5–12....
, Seattle; *University of Washington Engineering Library and Loew Hall, Seattle; *Ellensburg Dormitories ("the Bassetti Dorms") at Central Washington UniversityCentral Washington UniversityCentral Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
, Ellensburg, WA; *Central WA State CollegeCentral Washington UniversityCentral Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
Library; *Library, Ridgeway Dormitories and related buildings at Western Washington UniversityWestern Washington UniversityWestern Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
, Bellingham, WA; *WWU College of Education Student Union Building, Bellingham WA; *PACCAR Technical Facility, Mount Vernon, WA; *Franklin High SchoolFranklin High SchoolFranklin High School may refer to:* Benjamin Franklin High School * Benjamin Franklin High School * Benjamin Franklin High School * Felicity-Franklin High School...
renovation, Seattle, WA; *Seattle City Light East Pine Receiving Station, Seattle; *Benton County PUD Administration Bldg., Kennewick, WA; *East Shore Unitarian Church, Bellevue WA; *Island Park School, Mercer Island WA; *KIRO-TVKIRO-TVKIRO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS affiliate television station in Seattle, Washington. It broadcasts on digital channel 39. The station's offices and broadcasting center are located near Seattle Center in Belltown, and its transmitter is located on Queen Anne Hill...
Broadcast House, Seattle; *Architect's Office, 2027 Fifth Avenue, Seattle; *Seattle Mental Health Institute; *Sanitary Public Market Building, Seattle;
Residential Projects (1947–1994):
- G. J. Armbruster Residence (Lake Stevens), *Gamma Rho Apartments (North 44th & Fremont, Seattle), *Marshall Forrest Residence (Chuckanut Drive, Bellingham), *Walter F. Isaacs Residence (Hilltop Community, Bellevue), *Gerald Martin Residence (Seattle), *John O'Brien Residence (Seattle), *Gerald Martin Residence, *Theo. Caldwell Residence (Bellevue), Schlosser Residence (Star Route #1, Union), *Georgia-Pacific Idea House (Seattle).
Seattle Legacy
As a leader in the architectural community and as an activist, Bassetti made major contributions towards many of Seattle's most recognizable buildings and people places:- Gasworks Park (activist)
- Woodland Park Zoo (developed the master plan)
- Pike Place Market area (restoration of several buildings, including Sanitary Public Market)
- Westlake Center (early conceptualization)
- Seattle Commons (unrealized downtown park on South Lake Union)
- Seattle Aquarium (architect)
- Henry M. Jackson Federal Building (architect)
- Seattle Municipal Tower (formerly AT&T Gateway Tower) (architect)
Professional Leadership
- AIA Seattle, President 1967
- Allied Arts Seattle, President
- Seattle Landmarks Commission
- Seattle Design Commission
- Action: Better City
Awards
Prior to his retirement, Fred Bassetti and his firms received nearly 100 awards, including: AIA Fellowship (1968); AIA Seattle Medallist (1988); Academician of the National Institute of Design; "Best Local Architect" by readers of Seattle Weekly (1988); Pritzker Prize nominee (1989); Inductee, University of Washington, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Roll of Honor, (2007), and 27 Awards of Merit or Honor Awards from AIA Seattle.Activism - Action: Better City
Fred Bassetti has over the last 50 years earned credentials as an activist architect. Throughout his architectural career, he worked with colleagues to advance urban themes for the community and the profession, notably his creation and leadership of Action: Better City (ABC). A design discussion initiative Bassetti started during his tenure as chairman of the Seattle chapter of the American Institute of ArchitectsAmerican Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
, ABC started during the post-1962 Worlds Fair push for progress in response to the stagnation of Seattle's urban core.
“The question that Bassetti has been answering, in his own way, for these four decades: how does an architect serve his home town? ... They can look to their own circle for mutual support and guidance, with Bassetti as a lifetime example.“
External Links & Bibliography
- AIA Seattle honors awards 1988
- AIA Seattle honors awards 1950 to present
- AIA Seattle memories - Bassetti, 10/18/1993
- Architecture Week
- Bassetti Architects corporate webpage
- Bizjournals.com 11/01/1999 column
- Sam Bennett, Daily Journal of Commerce, Snapshot - Lorne McConachie, July 21, 1999
- Docomomo WEWA, Mid-Century Modern Neighborhoods - Hilltop Community
- Modern Views - A Conversation on Northwest Modern Architecture, a film by Studio 216; presented by the U. of Washington Dept. of Architecture; directed by Boaz Ashkenazy and Amy Enser; produced by David Miller, David Fleming, Charlie Choo, Boaz Ashkenazy; written by Grant Hildebrand, David Miller, Boaz Ashkenazy; released May, 2010.
- Drawing a New Strategy, Joe Nabbefeld in Design Intelligence, October 20, 1999.
- Pacific Coast Architecture Database
- Pacific Northwest Architecture
- Seattle Community College Television - Artwork, Billy King interview with Fred Bassetti, 2004
- Architects at home | On the bay, openness makes room to breathe, Dean Stahl in Seattle Times, April 13, 2008
- WWU oral histories - Fred Bassetti