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Chris Rogers holds degrees in art history and natural-resources policy and planning.

He spent eight years on the staff of a national land-conservation organization, then eight more with the Seattle Art Museum.

And now he’s a… developer?

Rogers smiles when asked when he first realized that’s what he had become. “I don’t think I’ve had that realization yet,” he says.

Yet his 4-year-old company, Point 32, is developing one of the region’s highest-profile projects: the Bullitt Center, billed as the greenest office building on the planet.

The Capitol Hill project, which broke ground last month, has been designed to produce its own water, treat its own waste, and each year generate as much power as it uses.

“It really could change the nature of green building, nationally and locally,” Rogers says.

He acknowledges his career path hasn’t been a conventional one. But his background in conservation and the arts prepared him well for what he’s doing now, he says.

That background is evident in Point 32′s portfolio.

There’s ultragreen Bullitt Center, for starters. Rogers and his business partners, Chris Faul and Matt Kellogg, have been working with the owner, the environment-focused Bullitt Foundation, almost from the start. They helped find the site, design the six-story building, obtain permits and arrange construction financing.

Point 32 also recently completed the first project in which it has an ownership stake: a high-end, boutique live-work loft complex in South Lake Union called Art Stable, targeted at artists and art collectors.

The award-winning building’s most distinctive feature: a crane on the roof and enormous, hinged windows through which oversized art pieces can be lowered.

So what’s the thread that ties together Rogers’ eclectic career?

“I think it’s an interest in place-making,” he says.

Creating something that’s aesthetically appealing is part of that, he says, but there’s more:

“We’re interested in helping create places where people can come together naturally of their own accord, places that improve the physical and social fabric of the city, places that provide a greater benefit than just the physical structures.”

He’s already played a major role in creating one highly acclaimed place: the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. As SAM’s project manager, Rogers oversaw all facets of the $85 million park’s development — permits, financing, design, construction.

Maggie Walker worked with Rogers on the sculpture park as a member of SAM’s board. Now, as the Bullitt Foundation’s board chair, she’s working with him again.

“Chris understands it’s not just how to do it in the cheapest possible way,” she says. “He understands there are multiple bottom lines.

“He immediately understood the concept of what the foundation was trying to do.”

Rogers understands nonprofits, Walker says. And he knows Seattle.

He’s a native, a product of Seattle Prep. Rogers grew up in a home filled with art — his mother was a docent at SAM.

After earning an art-history degree at Bowdoin College in Maine, he returned to Seattle for four years, working at an art gallery, a landscape-architecture firm and a nursery.

A budding interest in natural resources and urban ecology led him to Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. that led to an internship in Baltimore assessing that city’s open-space needs.

And that, in turn, led to a job with the Trust for Public Land (TPL), working to develop a 14-mile linear park along a forested stream that runs through some of Baltimore’s poorest, most crime-infested neighborhoods.

That’s where Jerry Tone, a longtime member of the trust’s board, met him. he says much of what Rogers did in Baltimore was community organizing.

“Chris had a broader vision — it’s not just about trees and hydrology,” says Tone, president of the Seattle Parks Foundation. “There’s a community involved, too.”

The Trust for Public Land is one of the environmental movement’s real-estate arms. It usually protects property by buying it, often in partnership with other nonprofits or government agencies that aren’t as nimble.

At TPL, Rogers says, he learned negotiation, real-estate law, public finance and, most important, how to work with both the public and private sectors.

“It definitely set me on the path that I am on today,” he says.

After five years with the trust in the Washington-Baltimore area, Rogers returned to Seattle in 1996 to head up the organization’s Alaska programs.

When the trust began talking with SAM about working together to develop a sculpture park, he became TPL’s point person on the project.

He moved over to SAM’s payroll when the museum acquired the park site, a onetime oil-tank farm on the Belltown waterfront.

Project a natural fit

The park’s emphasis on both art and nature made it a natural fit for Rogers, Tone says. What’s more, he adds, the project reinforced for Rogers how development, done right, “could put a real stamp on a community.”

The sculpture park opened in 2007. Rogers left the museum and formed Point 32 that summer.

In addition to the Bullitt Center, the firm also is renovating the 80-year-old BelRoy Apartments on Capitol Hill and adding two complementary apartment buildings next door.

The BelRoy is a historic landmark, an Art Deco building noted for its zigzag facade. Rogers lived there in the 1980s. Now he owns a piece of it.

Five deteriorating houses were demolished this month to make way for the new apartments. They spent their last weeks serving as outsized canvasses for artists’ creations, a collaboration between Point 32 and MadArt Seattle.

Point 32 also is overseeing development of a new headquarters in White Center for the nonprofit Technology Access Foundation, which works to prepare students of color for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Construction is scheduled to start next month.

What’s next for Rogers and his company? More work with nonprofits, he says. Probably more housing in the central city.

Any projects Point 32 takes on will satisfy three priorities, Rogers says:

“We want to work with great partners. We want to work with great sites. And we want to help create high-quality buildings that can play a role in shaping the character of their neighborhoods …

His work in the arts and conservation taught him the importance of context and vision, Rogers says: “It’s not just about getting buildings up.”

Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or epryne@seattletimes.com

Using visual communication to make a success of your business

Commercial art has proven itself worthy within the business sector. Whereas traditional art or ‘The Arts’ such as fine art for example, is often considered an expensive hobby instead of a stable career path. Commercial art differs considerably. gone are the days when teachers would encourage their pupils to only pursue a career in Mathematics or Science. there is a future in the visual communications industry too. since the demand for creative skills are so great within the business sector, it has become very apparent that commercial art plays a huge role in the success of many lucrative industries and businesses. Nonetheless, how can graphic design enable your business to enjoy continual growth and success? What valuable skills can a graphic designer offer your business?

Perhaps it’s best to establish what Graphic design entails. Graphic design is the art of combining text and graphics to communicate an effective message using logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signage and any other type of visual communication.

oGraphic Designers find employment within advertising agencies, design studios, the public sector, reproduction houses, video and film labs, printers, newspaper, periodical, book and directory publishers. Designers can also be found working in engineering service industries or management, scientific and technical consulting firms.

oThese skilled creatives are able to produce computer graphics for computer systems, design firms or motion picture production firms.

oBasic responsibilities include; developing the overall layout and production design of magazines, newspapers, journals, corporate reports and other publications
oAs well as producing promotional displays and marketing brochures for products and services, designing distinctive logos for products and businesses and developing signs and signage systems or environmental graphics for business and government.

oGraphic Designers are also able to develop material for web pages, computer interfaces and multimedia projects, as well as producing credits that appear before and after TV programs and movies.
This proves that whatever your business or expertise, you’ll most likely require the services of a Graphic Designer at some point.

How do Graphic Designers contribute to the world of business?

To develop a new graphic design the needs of the client need to be determined. the message the design should portray and its appeal to customers or users for example. Graphic Designers consider cognitive, cultural, physical and social factors in planning and executing designs for the target audience.

Does a logo have an effect on your business?

A well designed logo also facilitates the process of professionally designed stationery, signage, web sites, television, brochures, etc. if you present a poorly designed logo or you don’t even have a logo, human nature tells people that you may not be doing so well and therefore not worth doing business with. important factors to keep in mind; Ensure that you can fax the logo to someone and still read it; practice on a dummy letterhead. Consider what the logo may be applied to, paper, clothing, signage, vehicles, etc. this can affect the way the logo is designed and whether it should be a simple block color or complicated with small type which may not transfer to t-shirts well.

What impact does package design have on a product?

Product packaging can be the most important aspect of your consumer product. Packaging design conveys to the consumer the most important features of your product and ensures that your product makes a great impression and is more visible amongst a myriad of bland counterparts.
How can a professionally designed brochure add to the image of your business?
Brochures are a great way to package a lot of information about yourself, your business and expertise into a format that is easily mailed or handed out at a business meeting or given to current clients to pass on to possible referrals. using a Graphic Designer can free you from having to make all decisions about your brochure by yourself. a Graphic Designer will see the brochure from concept through to successful completion.

Various disciplines within design (To mention but a few)

Advertising Design is essential. your advert has to be good enough to both catch your target audience’s attention immediately and ‘sell’ your product or service to them.
Direct Mail Design is often thought of as the ‘spam of the post’. However, it provides a snippet of information about your company to a vast audience. Even though the return on mailers is often small, if you do a mail drop of 10 000 and get a return of 5% then that means you have a response from a potential 500 new clients. the design of your direct mail has a substantial impact on its success. if your design does not immediately capture your recipient’s interest and imagination, your direct mail will most likely be overlooked.

Packaging Design can change the perception that your target market has of your product for the better. whatever the product, the packaging needs to work within the client’s corporate style and marketplace. if your product is vying for shelf space in the retail market, you need to ensure that your clients see your product before your competitors captures their interest.
Visuals can help your target market to connect with your product or service. Visuals can speak to your audience because they make an impact. one thing’s for sure though, visuals and design has something valuable to communicate. your business can benefit greatly from these lucrative creative skills. Perhaps, you should leave it up to the professionals.

Hungry for more insight into restaurant service? these true-life tales of the front of the house will give you plenty to think about the next time you’re eating out:

“Setting the Table: the Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business,”by Danny Meyer (Harper, 2006, $14.99).

Mr. Meyer describes the career path and choices that led to his creation of one of new York’s most acclaimed restaurant groups. while Mr. Meyer offers some personal details, he focuses on his professional relationships and the development of “Enlightened Hospitality,” a philosophy that guides both day-to-day interactions at his restaurants and the overall company management of his company. the book should be required reading for everyone in the restaurant business, but diners, especially those who have visited any of Mr. Meyer’s restaurants, will likely enjoy the pithy stories of heroic maitre d’s who strive to turn every mistake into a dining legend.

“Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” by Phoebe Damrosch (William Morrow, 2007, $13.99).

Ms. Damrosch offers an unusual window into one of the most acclaimed restaurants in America: Thomas Keller’s Per Se in new York City. Ms. Damrosch worked for the restaurant in its first year, starting as a backwaiter and rising to captain. while some would hope for more dirt (this is no “Kitchen Confidential”), there are plenty of fascinating details about what goes into the highest level of restaurant service, and a highly entertaining chapter on Ms. Damrosch’s craziest interactions with guests. Real restaurant groupies who have read Frank Bruni’s review of Per Se for the new York Times will especially enjoy hearing the restaurant’s side of the story (or at least Ms. Damrosch’s version of it).

“Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip — Confessions of a Cynical Waiter,” by Steve Dublanica (Ecco, 2008, $14.99).

This blog-turned-book is a funny and insightful look into the life of an accidental career waiter. Mr. Dublanica has much to say about every aspect of the restaurant business, and he’s amassed an impressive number of eye-raising anecdotes. Whether or not you’ve put in time waiting tables, you’ll find yourself cheering, laughing and groaning along.

First published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 am

I am going into 11th grade. I can't decide what I want to do with my life. I like to make meals for my family and I enjoy time in the kitchen. I know that you cannot go into cooking school and come out a chef. I've read loads of books on cooking. Kitchen Confidential is really what it's like I guess. it sounds fun to me. The only problem I have is I keep second guessing myself. I know I would have fun cooking, but it consumes your social life. you breathe, live and eat cooking. I'm having trouble deciding if it is really the career path I want to follow. on the other hand, I don't know what I would like to be. I would probably go to college without knowing what I would like to do. The pay sucks, the hours suck, the work sucks, but for some reason i'm drawn to that. Yeah I like to hang out with my family and have a life, but cooking makes me smile. When I see people eat what I've created it is like a reward. so how do I know if I should do this. I'm currently in the process of getting a job at a restaurant. Probably being a dishwasher, but I want to see if this is really for me. Suggestions? Thanks!!

Let me say firstly, starting out as a dishwasher at a restaurant is right on the bottom rung of the ladder. if you want to make it to the top, you'll really have to work hard, and watch everything that goes on around you. as time goes by, the chef or sous chef might ask you to start doing prep work, which also can be very boring. Have you ever thought about becoming a personal chef. a chef that doesn't work in restaurants, but who cooks in people's homes, or having a catering business. not all good chefs work in restaurants. Who knows you could be the Next Food Network Star!….good luck, and follow your dreams

If it's something you're truly passionate about, I would say go for it. but I would still go to college and major in something you can fall back on if you ever tire of the restaurant business.

My dad worked as a chef and a restaurant manager for years and years and that's how he met my mom (she was a hostess at one of the restaurants). I guess the schedule worked for him when he was single but once he settled down and had kids he eventually switched out to a job that wasn't so time-consuming.

So really, I would pursue the cooking but have another major or field of expertise that you can use if you ever decide that you need to make a career change. you don't want to be stuck with no options!

go ahead and be a chef and open up your own business i know you like seasoning your own food to your taste and if you out you can tell if the food not season right or they did not cut the steaks right or vegetables is over cook

She's right. you can be a chef without working in a busy high-strung restaurant. The benefits of working in a smaller place (such as a bed and breakfast, bakery, or personal chef) is that you can change the menu often and do crazy things so that you (and your customers) never get bored. by the way, you sound just like me the way you love cooking and watching people enjoy your food. I was going to go to culinary school, too, but some things changed. right now, though, I'm the head cook in a small summer resort – we usually have between 20-50 people per meal, so it's not too crazy. And like I said, I get to cook whatever I want. I suggest you explore your options and definitely find someway to test drive this career. but you can always change your mind – goodness knows I've done that enough! haha good luck!

It sounds like you already know what you want to do. I feel the same way about cooking. When I am in the kitchen I am happy and never feel awkward or out of place. I always feel like I know what I'm doing and that is the best feeling. I also love the look on people's faces when they try my "creations" and love it!!
"Do what makes you happy and never work another day in your life" Someone wise said that

But also remember that you should not be afraid to make mistakes in your life. for some people it just takes a little longer to know what they want to do. you are still young and still learning about yourself so don't stress about it and it will eventually "come" to you. good luck!!

I debated whether or not to become a chef last year (I'm going into 12th grade), so I was in your shoes not too long ago. I did fear the "all-consuming" aspect of being a chef and the fact that you are working when people are out, having fun with their friends and family. it really bothered me to think that I would be the one in the kitchen and not the one sitting at the table, enjoying an evening with those that I love. if you can't tell already, I decided not to become a chef. Cooking is still my greatest passion and hobbie, but I can tell you now that it will not be my career. I had to ask myself, what it is that I want for my life. I wrote it out and thought it out endlessly, and it came down to the fact that I want to have a family some day and I want to have a good QUALITY of life, ya know, relaxed, as stress-free as possible. it all comes down to what YOU want for YOUR life. what do you want your life to be like? I encourage you to pursue your dream and become a chef, but I advise you to keep in mind the fact that you'll work nights and holidays, and weekends, and in a very stressful environment. I had a job in a restaurant last summer and it really showed me that I wasn't meant to have my greatest hobbie as a job. it made it not so much fun anymore when I had chefs yelling at me to make things perfect. it sucked the enjoyment out of cooking. Listen to YOUR heart.

You are on the right path by getting a job in a restaurant. if you are in or near a large city, where there are lots of kitchens you can apply for a job in a restaurant or a hotel kitchen as a "prep cook" which means that YOU do the chopping and cutting of the raw ingredients that the chefs will use later in the cooking of the meal. you don't need a lot of experience to do that, but you do need the ability to listen to orders, be willing to learn and to work without a lot of supervision. if you are lucky, and what happened with me, one or two of the more friendly chefs showed me how to do things and started to encourage my interest in cooking. Everybody likes to think they are a good teacher, so you'll probably find someone who will take you "under their wing".

I started out in the culinary field by working with the head cook in a nursing home as a "prep person" and eventually became his assistant cook and was able to fill in for him when health problems came up. I hadn't gone to culinary school but I do come from a family of good cooks and back in those days I had a lot more energy (LOL). From there I went on to cooking in restaurants and a bakery.

It is very rough work; LONG hours, 120 degree days "behind the line", and there never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete what needs to be done. And there is a lot of tedious work to do; endless chopping, dicing, mincing, washing of vegetables, on and on and on…
and ALL those dirty pots, pans, dishes…

On the positive side, after all that work, you do find the satisfaction of creating something delicious and beautiful for people to enjoy. And sometimes, if you are very lucky, you find a great group of people who are fun to work with.

Cooking professionally does consume a lot of time and, as you have already figured out, you live, breathe, sleep FOOD 24/7 which can be a drag if you suspect there are other things in life. I met some great people but since I didn't share their dedication to the culinary arts I finally figured out that it wasn't the way for me to make my living. I will always value the lessons I learned but it is a very draining way to make a living and I'm now glad to be out of it, although I do still love to cook for my family and friends. it got so cooking professionally actually ruined the enjoyment of cooking for me and I had to take a break from it for a while.

But you are young and strong and this won't happen to you, I predict!

Hope this helps.

Good luck!

Even if you decide not to go into the culinary field, the experience you gain from that background will serve you all the rest of your life. it NEVER hurts to know how to cook!

You sound exactly like me a few years ago. I'm in culinary school…only after trying to do what I thought was a more logical approach to a career: being at a university for 3 years attempting to earn a p.h.d. in history. Finally, I decided that if I wanted to be truly happy, I had to follow my heart. AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! Being in the culinary industry has opened so many doors for me. I worked as an apprentice at a ski resort for a while. I love being able to express my creativity through my food. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work and some days you work for 15 hours. but for some reason, I'm still excited to get up and do it again the next day. It's just something about doing what you love that keeps you motivated and excited. Oh, and the pay isn't all that bad either. you just have to find a good location. When I worked at the resort, I often did chef stations at parties for $100 an HOUR! so whatever you decide, just follow your heart. it is so worth it in the end. good Luck

P.S. I still have very much of a social life. you just have to make time for it with whatever you do. And PLEASE don't let working at a chain restaurant as a dishwasher be your deciding factor!

Actually, you can go to cooking school and come out a chef. as long asyou go to a real cooking school, not just some 8-month course at some "college" that merely is designed to charge larges amts of $$ so you can get student loans. consider Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Johnson & Wales, Cordon Bleu in Paris, even…. real cooking schools.

You can always go to culinary schoola fter college. you will get more pay that way, and more management opportunities. you can also major in subjects that will get you near the foodservice industry w/o having to actually cook the food. you could be a Registered Dietitian, a home economist, a Foodservice Manager, in Marketing and Sales for food wholesalers or specialty food purveyors, or a writer or editor specializing in cookbooks. you coudl be a county healht inspector. even fast food chains and cafeterias need people to keep their books, to tell them if they are profitable, graphic designer for food labels and signage, financial analysts, insurance risk analysts, and attorneys. so whatever your skills and interests are, they can be woven into the food industry. Being a chef is not the only thing.

If you have the grades/brains to be college bound, definitely do that first. You'll always have a college degree to fall back on.

And ask your high school guidance counselor about taking an aptitude test, to tell you what you're good at adn how to turn that into a career. you can do them online, too, but they may not be as reliable as if a trained career couselor administers and evaluates it. but the 'net would be a good place to start.

You've still got time. take those college-prep courses, continue to cook for your family and learn all you can about cooking. just spend 10 min. here on Y!a and you'll see the Q's posted by pathetic souls who can't heat up a can of soup. At least,you'll never starve.

If cooking is what you like to do, then you shouldn't second guess yourself. try to make it to the big time. The average payment for head chef is around $50 p/h.