Demolition of Paul Thiry Office Building in progress, 2012. Photo: Eugenia Woo
It’s sad to see so many cultural resources throughout the northwest fall victim to the wrecking ball. Here’s Knute Berger’s Crosscut article featuring his annual list of Heritage Turkey Awards from 2012. In Seattle, northwest modernist architect Paul Thiry’s Office Building was demolished without any review for historic significance. MAin2 wrote about it here. Berger’s article includes the Thiry building on its list of turkeys. 2012 marked the the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair and Paul Thiry was the master planner/architect for the fair. The very building in which he created his designs was torn down the same year we celebrated a seminal event that put Seattle on the map–one that Thiry greatly influenced. We’ve been losing a Thiry-designed building once a year in recent years. Let’s hope 2013 is different.
Thanks for publicizing these fiascos! Especially for the story of Parkers in Shoreline. What an incredible waste. When will we ever learn that these places have value for our communities as part of our heritage?