Choya's Art Deco Entry.

As you may or may not know, I’m in Seattle on a mission: hunting for the perfect Art Deco building. So far, I’ve wandered past the Exchange Building, admired the restrained elegance of the Roosevelt Hotel, and marveled at the soaring Seattle Tower. All three are impressive in their own right, but I’m looking for something that will really make Team Sandy sit up and take notice.

After hours of walking, notebook full of sketches and observations, I think I’ve finally found it. The one that captures everything—height, presence, and that unmistakable Deco flair. It’s bold but balanced, detailed but not overdone, and utterly unique.

I linger in front of it, letting the city hum around me, imagining how it will look in Sandy’s contest. The angles, the curves, the story embedded in every stone—it all feels just right. At last, the hunt feels worth it. This is the building that might just steal the show.

Next up on my Seattle Art Deco hunt, I think I’ve finally stumbled upon something extraordinary: the Federal Office Building. Standing at 909 First Avenue in Pioneer Square, it’s impossible to miss—tall, striking, and uniquely commanding. From the moment I saw its stepped façade rising into the sky, I felt like I was in the presence of a building that truly tells a story.

My picture.

Professional picture: 

Completed between 1931 and 1933, this was one of Seattle’s earliest federal buildings in the Art Deco style, designed under James A. Wetmore. It was built during a time when the city was still recovering from the Great Depression, yet it stands with quiet confidence, a testament to ambition and resilience.

Its exterior is a study in thoughtful detail. The central tower rises eleven stories, crowned by a ziggurat top and a flagpole, while the outer portions step up from six to nine stories. The materials are striking—smooth terracotta at the base, light red brick above, and aluminum spandrel panels between the windows, one of the earliest uses of aluminum on a West Coast building. Stylized geometric motifs decorate the façade, from ram and lion heads to a stately eagle above the entrance. It’s Art Deco without being ostentatious, bold but disciplined.

The site itself is steeped in history: it’s said to be where Seattle’s founders first landed after surveying the Puget Sound in 1851. It’s also the block that sparked the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which leveled the commercial district. And yet, out of that history, the Federal Office Building rose—a symbol of permanence and progress.

Standing in front of it now, notebook open, I can feel why this might be the one for Team Sandy. Tall, circular in corners, unique, and unapologetically Deco, it has both gravitas and grace. After wandering Seattle for days—peering at the Exchange, the Roosevelt Hotel, and the Seattle Tower—I can finally say it: this building feels like the perfect choice.