Orcas Stage on the Green

Firm:

David Kau and Fred Klein

Project Credits

Project Owner:

San Juan County Parks Department

Design Team credits:

(in alphabetical order) Jim Biddick, bookkeeper Libby Blackwell, activist Marta Branch, teacher Phil Branch, industrial designer Kaj Enderlein, sawyer Tim Forbes, craftsman Chuck Greening, artist Jorgen Harle, blacksmith David Kau, architect Robert Kikuchi-Yngoji, storyteller Fred Klein, architect Matthew Maher, timber framer Bruce Myers, sculptor Mark Padbury, teacher and cabinetmaker Gulliver Rankin, contractor River Rorabaugh, wood carver Dave Russillo, structural engineer Leslie Seaman, events producer Errol Speed, craftsman Bill Trogdon, architect Nancy Wang, dancer Craig Wier, activist Tim White, craftsman

Consultant credits:

Eric Youngren, Solar Consultant Hadj Design, Greenroof Consultant Orcas Open Arts

Contractor credits:

The list of community members who contributed to the construction of this project is extensive and perhaps too numerous to mention here. It includes four different excavating companies, concrete artisans, building materials suppliers, sawyers, carpentry from from four different contractors, roofers working with roofing suppliers, skylight manufacturers and installers, metal workers, stone workers, painters, and electricians. Volunteer assistance came from a wide range of sources as well, from teachers to students, from longtime residents to visiting camp counselors.

Photographer credits:

Fred Klein David Kau

Our Stage is the product of a yearlong collaboration -- among architects, artists, engineers, builders, school teachers, dancers, and craftspeople -- to design and build a public performance stage for our village green. Our design was conceived as pre-emptive challenge to the County Parks Department, which was on the verge of purchasing a pre-fab gluelam pavilion, found on the internet and about to be trucked and barged from Illinois. We proposed a locally inspired counterpoint -- to be designed locally, and constructed from materials sourced locally. An ambitious grassroots plan hatched by activists committed to a process of consensus.

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American Institute of Architects Seattle

Orcas Stage on the Green