Fred Bassetti

Fred Bassetti FAIA, (January 31, 1917 in Seattle – December 5, 2013 in Oregon) was a Pacific Northwest architect, teacher and a prime contributor to the regional approach to Modern architecture during the 1940s-1990’s. His architectural legacy includes some of the Seattle area's more recognizable buildings and spaces. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) described his role as a regional architect and activist as having made significant contributions to “the shape of Seattle and the Northwest, and on the profession of architecture.”

Born in Seattle to Norwegian and Italian immigrants, Bassetti grew up south of Seattle and spent several years with his paternal family in Turin, Italy. After graduating from Seattle’s Garfield High School he studied engineering for a year before switching to architecture, earning a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Washington in 1942. During World War II, he worked as a draftsman with the Federal Public Housing Authority and with Seattle architect Paul Thiry. After the war he studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design under Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, was in the same class as I.M. Pei, and graduated with a Masters of Architecture in 1946.

Bassetti worked for Alvar Aalto in Boston before returning to Seattle where he worked for Naramore Bain Brady Johanson (NBBJ) 1946-1947. Within his first year there, a Bassetti-designed house won an award sponsored by The Seattle Times and the local AIA office. In 1947 he established his first firm by renting space in the office of friend Jack Morse; together they established the architectural firms of Bassetti & Morse, Architects (1947–1962), with Wendell Lovett as one early employee, and later Honolulu-based Bassetti, Morse and Tatom, Architects. In 1962 Bassetti and Morse separated, with Bassetti first practicing as Fred Bassetti & Company, Architects, later as Bassetti Norton Metler Architects with partners Skip Norton and Richard Metler, then also with Karlis Rekevics as Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekeviks Architects. In 1990 Lorne McConachie became a partner. By 1994 Bassetti and all other titled principals had retired. The firm has since operated as Bassetti Architects under McConachie and new partners.

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