At the same time as a toddler, L. Jane Hastings, who died March 25 on the age of 96, designed a lifetime of function.
Rising up in West Seattle, she wasted no time setting objectives and getting down to obtain them, smashing boundaries and expectations of the eras alongside the way in which: At age 9, in 1937, she knew — knew — she would change into an architect.
From there, her well-designed milestones fell like well-aligned dominoes: By 1952, Hastings had achieved Aim Quantity One: She graduated with an structure diploma from the College of Washington (working concurrently to pay her tuition), the place she was the one girl in her class. She checked off Aim Quantity Two in 1953, changing into solely the eighth licensed girl architect in Washington. Aim Quantity Three (go to Europe) took a short detour when an official rejected her plan to function an architect for the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers as a result of he was involved about her working with males. (Hastings’ comeback, which she may or may not have stated out loud: “Fella, what do you assume I’ve been doing?”) So she tailored her route (however not her elementary aim) and have become a recreation director for American troops abroad.
Again in Seattle, via a long time of willpower, resilience and expertise, Hastings constructed her personal structure agency, The Hastings Group; an award-winning portfolio of greater than 500 tasks, most in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest; a part-time educating profession at what was then Seattle Group Faculty; a loving marriage with UW Structure professor Norman Johnston; and a worldwide community of colleagues and affect.
She was a pacesetter with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), domestically, nationally and internationally, in each sense of the phrase: the primary girl president of the Seattle chapter, the primary girl Chancellor of the Faculty of Fellows, the primary individual awarded the Northwest and Pacific Area Medal of Honor. In November 2023, she wrote her first guide, “The Lady within the Room: A Memoir.” Native writer occasions offered out, with waitlists virtually so long as a listing of Hastings’ accomplishments.
Kate Krafft, who labored for Hastings and finally co-edited that memoir, considers herself lucky for assembly Hastings at SCC almost 50 years in the past, as Krafft was contemplating her personal profession in structure. “Her assist, enthusiasm and fundamental kindness actually propelled me each professionally and personally,” Krafft says. “She was an incredible function mannequin — as an architect, a faithful volunteer, a world traveler and adventurer, and as a real pal. Plus, she was simply a number of enjoyable!”
Hastings handed away after a short hospitalization, with members of the family from Seattle and Alaska at her aspect, and everybody who knew her as “Jane” at a loss.
“Jane was constructing issues her complete life: modern homes, an unbelievable profession — and particularly connections amongst folks,” stated Denise Clifton, a former Seattle Occasions employees member and the co-editor of Hastings’ memoir. “For these of us lucky to be a part of her circle, she had an incredible influence and will probably be deeply missed.”
Hastings’ architectural influence extends to UW’s Cunningham Corridor, which she transformed within the early Nineteen Eighties (and, although she didn’t design it, the Norman Johnston and L. Jane Hastings Gallery on the UW Faculty of Constructed Environments is known as within the couple’s honor); a Fifties-era hangar and manufacturing facility at Boeing Discipline; the award-winning 1991 Flaming Geyser Bridge, which she labored on with sculptor George Tsutakawa and others; and a towering assortment of archived Seattle Occasions/AIA Dwelling of the Month tales that includes distinctive residences she designed in celebration of all issues Northwest. (Just some: Her Karrow Home acquired a Nationwide AIA Honor Award in 1971; the Laurelhurst house she shared with Johnston, notable partially for its emphasis on vitality effectivity, earned an AIA Seattle Honor Award in 1977; and the Quam Home was the Seattle Occasions/AIA Dwelling of the Yr in 1968.)
“Jane … adopted her dream of changing into an architect and by no means hesitated to assist others coming into the career,” Krafft says. “Early on in her personal profession, she hosted gatherings of younger ladies architects — simply as architect Elizabeth Ayer had accomplished when Jane was a pupil at UW. So her legacy is a string of expert ladies architects, together with all the stunning properties she so thoughtfully designed.”
In her memoir, Hastings recalled assorted obstacles — and her nimble navigation over them — on her purposeful path to constructing an admirably well-designed life: “At occasions, I averted telling folks what I did as a result of they didn’t imagine me or would assume I used to be concerned with some kind of an arts and crafts venture,” she wrote. ”Within the Fifties and ’60s, ladies simply didn’t design and construct properties. However I did.”