Alleys of Seattle

AIA Seattle is pleased to award its 2010 Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship to Daniel Toole Assoc. AIA for his proposal to study the future of our downtown alleyways as new public spaces. His research will include the study of alleys in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia, where he will sketch, photograph, interview, blog, and record his impressions of vibrant alleyways that work. Daniel will receive $5,000 to complete his proposed travel and research and will present his research at an exhibition at AIA Seattle’s gallery in Spring 2011.

The AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship expands the experience and opportunities of young professionals, encourages cross-cultural dialogue in the profession, and shares knowledge from architecture practice around the globe with members in Puget Sound.

– www.aiaseattle.org

I am extremely excited to have won this years Emerging Professionals Scholarship and will use this blog to chart my progress in travels and local exploration of the alleys.  I plan to begin my travels in the latter part of the summer this year.  I will try to post at least once a week until then with various articles, sketches, research, and experiments that pertain to making our alleys the newest addition to Seattle’s urban public space network.

I would like to thank AIA Seattle and the Honors and Fellows Committee for their generous gift.  This scholarship will allow us to learn from other major global cities, as well as create a cultural link between the newly developed laneways of Melbourne and the historically rich alleys of Japan.

Please visit this site with thoughts and comments often.  This will be much more exciting with your interaction and opinions.  These are your alleys.

– Daniel Toole, Assoc. AIA