A Day in Seattle with Design Journalist and Educator Lauren Gallow
Lauren Gallow at home, captured by Brooke Fitts.
Lauren Gallow writes about art, architecture, and design, with bylines in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Dwell, Metropolis, Wallpaper*, Cultured, The Art Newspaper, Robb Report, The Architect’s Newspaper, Cereal, American Craft, and more. Her writing has earned numerous accolades, including first place in the Best of the West Journalism Contest.
Based in Seattle, she serves as an Editorial Advisor for the Pacific Northwest design platform ARCADE, a Seattle non-profit that has published writing on the designed environment since its founding in 1981. She is also a columnist for Dwell, where she pens the “One Last Thing” column, and for the Northwest edition of Luxe, where she writes the “Scene” column.
Outside of her editorial work, she enjoys helping artists and designers articulate their identities across platforms—a role she previously held for several years at the internationally renowned design firm Olson Kundig. She has taught architectural history and design writing at UC Santa Barbara and the University of Washington. She holds an MA in Art & Architectural History and has presented her research at conferences internationally.
6:00am: I roll out of bed, get dressed, and drag myself to a spinning class with my friend Edgar. During the pandemic, I learned that morning workouts were a salve for my mental health and have been sticking with the routine ever since. I love the energy jolt of a morning spin class, and there’s something about riding a bike to nowhere in a dark room while listening to loud music that always makes me chuckle.
8:30am: I split my time either working from my home office in Seattle’s Central District, or at a desk I use at an architecture firm downtown. Sometimes I need to be in my quiet “writer’s cave” at home, and other times I long for the passive social engagement of an office environment. I also prefer to do my interviews for writing assignments at home, as I get awkward and nervous when I think other people can hear me on calls.
Lauren about to lead panel discussion for Dwell x Seattle Art Fair curated by Fruitsuper. Photography by Chona Kasinger.
9:00am: I jump online from my home computer to tackle my inbox. Most of my editors are located elsewhere, and lots on the East coast, so I have to resist the panic of feeling behind when I log on at 9am and find my inbox already full. Today I’m working on a story for the New York Times, on a fiber artist we’re featuring next month.
10:00am: Morning is my prime writing time, so I go into focus mode and turn my phone to Do Not Disturb. Besides the Times feature, right now I’m also working on stories for Luxe Magazine, American Craft Magazine, NUVO, and Dwell, where I write the One Last Thing column. The column is the last page in every issue of Dwell and spotlights one item in a designer’s personal collection. Usually it’s something weird and wacky—recently we spotlighted a turf-wrapped Chia pet, a vintage pecan-picker-upper, and a 30-inch-diameter chrome-plated orb. It’s one of my favorite writing gigs, as it allows me to dig deeper with designers and learn what makes them tick, plus we usually end up discussing heartfelt topics like family, memory, and mortality that I don’t usually get to ask about in interviews.
Lauren at a studio review at the University of Washington, courtesy of Lauren.
11:30am: I switch into teaching-prep mode to finish up the lecture for my class later this week, which I teach at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. My class is called “Writing and Storytelling in the Built Environment,” and it’s essentially a writing class for architecture students. I love getting to connect with design students and see what they’re working on—they always pick the most interesting topics for their final papers, which can be on any design-related subject of their choosing. Last year, my students wrote on 3D printing in construction, a housing land trust in the nearby San Juan Islands, the beauty and craft of the building trades, and more—we published all the stories in our local design publication, ARCADE.
1:00pm: I hurry off to the International District to meet my friend Sallyann Corn for lunch at one of her favorite spots, a Filipino restaurant called Kilig. I love that this neighborhood is so close to my house—besides amazing food, there are also great design shops including KOBO and In the Comfort Of, a vintage furniture and home goods shop I recently wrote about for Luxe. Sallyann and I are planning an installation at the Seattle Art Fair, where we are curating the main stage with furniture by local makers for Dwell and leading a panel discussion. Sallyann is one half of a design studio called Fruitsuper and has amassed an amazing network of designers in the region—I love getting to work with my super talented friends on community projects like this!
2:00pm: I pop into a new coffee shop in my neighborhood for a matcha and to catch up on more work. This afternoon, I’m working on the manuscript for my first book project, which is a coffee table book on contemporary Seattle homes. I’m working with a publisher out of Vancouver called Figure 1, and we are spotlighting 35 homes designed by architects in Seattle and the surrounding areas. I selected the projects, interviewed all the architects, and am working my way through site visits. Earlier this year, I did a writing residency in Italy with Essere to kick off the writing. I’m really excited to shine a light on the amazing residential design happening in this region—there are so many talented designers in the Pacific Northwest, but they don’t always get the recognition they deserve because we’re far away from the design centers of L.A. and New York. The book comes out in Fall of 2026, which feels both extremely far away and very soon!
4:00pm: I walk a few blocks over to the Capitol Hill neighborhood to meet with an architecture firm called Schemata Workshop to learn more about their work and current projects, and to see if they’re interested in being a print sponsor of ARCADE. I’m always trying to stay up to date on what the designers in my community are doing, both to stay on top of current trends in the industry, and to see if they have completed projects I can pitch to national media.
Lauren on site visit to Henry Island with BCJ.
5:30pm: I meet my friends Laura and Michelle for an early dinner at my favorite local spot, Ba Bar. The three of us used to work together at Olson Kundig when I was on staff in the marketing department there. I made so many great friends at that firm, and it really was my first education (after my Master’s degree) in writing for architects. I love staying in touch with my friends there and seeing the firm evolve.
8:00pm: I head home to prep for tomorrow and hang out with my partner Josh. Tomorrow I’m heading out on a site visit to see one of the projects in my book. It’s on Henry Island, which is in the San Juans, and while it’s an hours-long journey by car and ferry, I’m excited to be taking a sea plane this time! I’ve only done this once before, but I remember it being such a beautiful way to see the coastline, as the planes fly pretty low so you can see all the different islands and archipelagos of the Salish Sea. Often, writing about the architecture in this region means writing about the landscape, and I feel extremely lucky to live in a place with such a strong connection to nature. Seattle designers have such a deep respect for the environment, which has trickled down to me over the years. Ours is a place where we can’t help but be impacted by the rhythms of nature, and all for the better.
This piece has been edited and condensed for clarity.