Broadview Community Council Meeting
At last week’s Broadview Community Council Meeting, multidisciplinary design specialist Vicki Scuri presented her imaginative infrastructure work to an enthusiastic gathering of Broadview neighbors. From a 30-year career with work scattered all over the US, she showed examples of several recent projects that ranged from a solar & wind-powered illuminated gateway for El Paso, Texas to a riverside greenway for Sand Point, Idaho. She describes her practice as ‘infrastructure as public place, because infrastructure, best symbolized as the backbone of urban design, is the system upon which society builds its core values, creating meaning, mobility and connectivity.’
With an array of impressive examples, Ms. Scuri demonstrated how an experienced, creative designer could lift ordinary infrastructure to the level of art while providing environmentally-friendly and cost-saving design solutions. Woven into the presentation were numerous ideas about stormwater drainage that could be incorporated into Broadview’s upcoming infrastructure improvements. These include beautiful weirs and plantings in cascade design, meandering bioswales, pervious paving, rain-harvesting cisterns and green streets that are pedestrian and bike-friendly.
At the conclusion of the presentation, a lively question-and-answer session followed, with many queries and excitement about how her work could relate to our Broadview setting. Before the meeting adjourned the Broadview Community Council membership developed and approved this statement to be presented to SPU at their upcoming community presentation:
‘Resolved that Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) elevate the drainage projects by including one or more professionals with experience integrating art and creative vision, landscape, sustainability, and other design elements into infrastructure projects in Broadview.’
More information about Vicki Scuri’s work may be found at:: https://vickiscuri.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/broadview-presentation-green-streets-for-communities/
