Fred Bassetti FAIA

AIA Seattle Medalist 1988: Fred Bassetti FAIA

Fred Bassetti FAIA (1917-2013), born in Seattle of Norwegian and Italian immigrant parents, earned the BArch at University of Washington (1942) and the MArch at Harvard University (1946).

Following a brief apprenticeship with Paul Thiry FAIA, Fred's Seattle practice began in October 1946, when Perry Johanson hired him to work at NBBJ.  Within a few months, he and his then-wife Mary (1922-2020) had won first prize in a house design competition sponsored by The Seattle Times, AIA Seattle, and the Seattle Master Builders.  On the strength of two clients who asked him to design houses for them based on the resulting publicity, Fred rented a drafting board in the office of Jack Morse FAIA in downtown Seattle.  By 1950, the firm of Bassetti & Morse had had its first successes, including Lakeview Elementary School on Mercer Island, recipient of national awards and publications.  Fred Bassetti recalled that Paul Kirk FAIA and Bob Durham FAIA worked down the hall, so that he could hear Paul singing at his drafting table.  In 1962, Bassetti and Morse divided into two firms, and Fred Bassetti & Company (later Bassetti Architects) came into existence.  Employees over the years included Wendell Lovett FAIA, Lee Copeland FAIA, Fred Koetter FAIA, and AIA Seattle Honorary Member Astra Zarina.  Among other notable employees:  Al Williams (later WA State Senator), Laurie Olin, Donald Frothingham, David Hancocks, Jim Hamilton, Philip 'Skip' Norton, Richard Metler, and Karlis Rekevics.

Notable projects of the firm, to the time of Fred's retirement in the mid-1990s, include the Children's Zoo at Woodland Park, dormitories and libraries at Central and Western Washington State Colleges, buildings at the University of Washington and Washington State University, the 37-story Seattle Federal Building, several buildings at Lakeside School, the US Embassy building in Lisbon (Portugal), the PACCAR Technical Facility at Mount Vernon, the Franklin High School addition-renovation, and the 62-story AT+T Gateway Tower (later Key Tower & Seattle Municipal Tower) & the adjacent Columbia House – to name projects most recognized by publication and awards.

Throughout the length of his career in architecture, Fred Bassetti worked with colleagues to advance urban themes for the profession and the community.  In one significant instance, his creation and leadership of Action: Better City in the late 1960s, with its enlivening consequences, continues into the present as new generations carry on the civic spirit of the original program.

Among many professional leadership activities, he served as AIA Seattle President in 1967.  Other community service includes Allied Arts of Seattle (President), the Seattle Landmarks Commission, and the Seattle Design Commission.

A world traveler (often by bicycle and in the company of his wife Gwen), Fred wrote and lectured extensively throughout the US, including stints at MIT, Columbia, Rice, and the Universities of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia.  In the 1950s, the US State Department hired him to manage a $4 million Marshall Plan investment in housing projects in Italy, and he spent a year in Rome as a housing officer.

In addition to the AIA Fellowship (1968) and the AIA Seattle Medal, Fred received recognition as an Academician of the National Institute of Design, and nomination (in 1989) for the Pritzker Prize. In 1988, the Seattle Weekly readers voted him "Best Local Architect."

In one of her many notable photographs, AIA Seattle Honorary Member Mary Randlett captured five of Seattle's most notable architects – Ralph Anderson, Fred Bassetti, Al Bumgardner (AIA Seattle Medallist 1987), Ibsen Nelsen (AIA Seattle Medallist 1989), and Victor Steinbrueck (AIA Seattle Medallist 1985) – in a typical moment of collegial friendship and remarkable combined influence.In concert with others and as his own man, Fred Bassetti has made a distinct mark as an architect on the shape of Seattle and the Northwest, and on the profession of architecture.

Reference/HistoryLink:  Fred Bassetti

"What is So Great About Seattle?"

Note:  Fred's wife Gwen Bassetti founded Seattle's Grand Central Bakery in Pioneer Square.