Four spots in Seattle for your art and architectural fix

Just below the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass is home to massive installations by local glass artist Dale Chihuly. Visitors will be awed by the brightly coloured, sea-life-inspired pieces suspended overhead. The exhibits are especially striking when dramatically lit up at night.

305 Harrison St

The epicentre of the city’s visual arts, this sprawling museum complex has art from Africa, Asia, Europe and Native America. With over 25,000 pieces in the collection, it’s impossible to take it all in on one visit, so be sure to pick up a map in the lobby to choose a route to match your interests.

1300 1st Ave

Free to enter, the waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park features a collection of large-scale, outdoor, contemporary sculptures. A 670m, Z-shaped walkway connects downtown Seattle to the waterfront strip, providing a physical transition from the city to the art. As a bonus, the park also offers great views of the distant Olympic Mountains, the Space Needle and the Puget Sound.

2901 Western Ave

Seattle’s icon was built for the 1962 World’s Fair and now draws 1.3 million annual visitors. The structure’s elevators whisk visitors to an observation deck 152m above the city, which, thanks to a major renovation, now includes the world’s first rotating glass floor.

400 Broad St

Q&A with Alan Maskin, design principal for the Century Project for the Space Needle

What’s your favourite part of the Space Needle renovation?

We added 196% more glass, transforming the Space Needle into one of the most interactive pieces of architecture. People use their entire bodies to engage with it – touching everything, lying down, leaning against the glass. There are few places that inspire that level of engagement. We designed an environment where you’re completely safe, but the transparency to the city gives you the sense that you’re taking a risk.

What’s the city’s place in the world of architecture and design?

There’s a strong Pacific Rim and Asian design influence here. You see this most clearly in the way Northwestern design integrates architecture with the landscape, putting an emphasis on the craft of building and materiality. We like texture and detail over grand sculptural gestures – architecture that’s quieter, less flamboyant.

Singapore Airlines now flies direct to Seattle thrice weekly. For more info and to book a flight, visit singaporeairlines.com.

SEE ALSO: 5 places to soak in Seattle’s culture and heritage

This article was originally published in the September 2019 issue of SilverKris magazine