Shaun Selberg is an American architect and Senior Associate at Skylab Architecture, a Portland-based practice focused on material innovation, sustainable strategies, and spatial narratives. Selberg’s work explores the relationship between infrastructure, landscape, and the built environment, integrating technical precision with contextual awareness.
Selberg’s architectural trajectory was shaped by early exposure to construction and engineering, leading to a research-driven approach that challenges spatial conventions and expands the dialogue between function and form.
Since joining Skylab in 2019, Shaun Selberg has contributed to civic, cultural, and infrastructural projects. Selberg played a key role in the Sandpoint Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization proposal in Idaho, reconfiguring urban and waterfront connections through layered public spaces.
Selberg’s work focuses on material expression and site-driven design, reinforcing the interaction between built environments, natural systems, and urban form.
What inspires you?
I draw inspiration from the elegance and ingenuity of the flora and fauna that envelop us. Nature’s colors, textures, and patterns serve as a constant source of creativity. There is a deep emotional tranquility in being immersed in the natural world, whether tending to my garden or wandering through the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest.
What inspired you to become an architect?
Several influences shaped my journey toward architecture, the most significant being my father, a civil engineer and project manager. His fascination with the built environment left a lasting impression on me. As children, my brothers and I often accompanied him to job sites—bridges, hospitals, office buildings, and power plants—where we absorbed the scale and intricacy of construction. Even on family vacations, we would count the cranes dotting city skylines and tour dams across the United States, further deepening my connection to design and engineering.
Alongside this, I always loved games and drawing. A pivotal moment came in middle school when a shop class required us to design, draft, and build a wooden board game. That experience aligned all my interests. From that point on, I sought out every drawing and architecture course I could find. At the time, I had little understanding of what architecture truly entailed—I was simply captivated by the process of imagining and creating something from nothing.
How would you describe your design philosophy?
My design philosophy is rooted in curiosity about people, places, and materials—the ways they interact and shape one another. Architecture should be dynamic and engaging, inviting connection, igniting curiosity, and inspiring wonder.
I am drawn to the potential of design to break from convention and create the unexpected. Each project is an exploration, questioning the ordinary, seeking what is both practical and emotionally resonant. Design should respond to its cultural and environmental context while pushing the boundaries of what is possible through new technologies and innovative materials.
For me, architecture is about experience—telling a story, forging meaningful connections, and crafting spaces that feel both inspiring and purposeful.
What is your favorite project?
One of my favorite Skylab projects is the Columbia Building in Portland, OR. Completed in 2013, this 11,490-square-foot structure houses the engineering department of the wastewater treatment facility while serving as an immersive educational experience on sustainable infrastructure and green building policy.
A LEED Gold-certified project, the single-story building aligns with the sun’s trajectory. Its seven folded, cast-in-place concrete roof forms direct stormwater sustainably through a planted eco-roof. Water runoff is guided along berms into a visible stormwater collection system before returning to the Columbia River.
The site redesign shifted circulation, creating a pedestrian-focused central green space for educational plant tours and communal gatherings. The project improved security, optimized vehicular flow, and replaced an axial road with a landscaped commons.
The northern façade, with its serrated curtain wall, follows the curve of the central green space. Stainless steel solar shades and clerestory windows provide balanced natural light, while a fully glazed operable north wall seamlessly connects interior spaces to the outdoors.
Innovative sustainability features include a heat pump system that uses process water for heating and cooling, a photovoltaic system, and an onsite co-generation plant, ensuring energy efficiency and resilience.
What is your favorite architectural detail?
The Columbia Building has many distinctive details, from the radial folding green roofs to the stainless-steel solar shades. One of my favorites is the serrated curtain wall tracing the commons’ circular path. These fly-by window walls depart from conventional infrastructural architecture, evoking the industrial form of turbines with their radial arrangement of overlapping blades. Within the commons, the walls dissolve the building’s edges, creating a dynamic interplay of light and shadow that animates the space.
Do you have a favorite material?
While I frequently work with wood, my true favorite material is flora. Much of my design work explores the relationship between humans and the natural world. Whether integrating structures with their surroundings, as in the Columbia Building, or framing nature as part of the experience, my goal is to create a seamless dialogue between built and organic environments.
What is your process for starting a new project?
I approach each project through three phases: research, analysis, and design.
Research gathers both factual and experiential information. Factual elements include site conditions, historical and cultural context, ecology, economy, zoning, and programmatic needs. The experiential layer is more abstract—poetry, art, music, or daily rituals that shape perception and space.
Analysis distills the project’s essence, defining its core principles. This phase balances clarity with abstraction, often expressed through evocative text and imagery. We search for contrasts within the research—opposites like precise/rough, light/dark, or barn/space-station—revealing unexpected design opportunities.
Design begins with diagrams that communicate ideas and relationships. An iterative process explores the interplay of program, site, and architecture, allowing the project to evolve in a way that is both thoughtful and responsive.
How do you balance function and creativity in your designs?
Balancing function and creativity means recognizing that one cannot exist without the other. Function provides structure and purpose, grounding the design. Creativity brings meaning, emotion, and innovation. This is not a tension but a dialogue.
I challenge conventional expectations of what a building should be and how it should function. I ask questions like: How can a space fulfill its purpose while rethinking how we typically use it? How can architecture create unexpected experiences while maintaining usability? The most compelling solutions emerge from this negotiation between necessity and possibility.
A creative idea should not be imposed onto a functional need, nor should functionality limit creativity. The goal is not novelty for its own sake, but integration—where form, use, and experience align to create spaces that feel both essential and transformative.
How do you collaborate with clients to achieve their vision?
Building strong client relationships is essential to every project. Trust allows for open dialogue, where clients feel comfortable expressing desires, dreams, and concerns. We cultivate this trust not only in formal meetings but also through informal team-building activities, whether skiing, karaoke, or a casual happy hour.
Understanding how clients process decisions is key. Some need time for reflection, while others thrive in fast-paced collaboration. For residential projects, we often use questionnaires and dedicate time to truly listen. Presenting bold ideas requires sensitivity, and when trust is established, even difficult conversations can unfold with honesty and confidence.
What inspired the Columbia Building?
The Columbia Building draws inspiration from the native landscape and the region’s industrial heritage. The design merges landforms, indigenous planting, formal geometry, and robust construction systems to serve both staff and public engagement. Radial forms shape the plan, referencing patterns found in nature and industry—from the spiraling structures of jet engines and gears to the segmented growth of the native horsetail plant. The Columbia Building’s stainless-steel sunshades echo industrial metal grating, creating a direct material connection to the site’s context.
What advice would you give to young architects?
Keep showing up, keep creating, and keep challenging the status quo. It’s easy to become disheartened in this profession, but meaning can be found in the process. Every project presents new challenges, and growth happens through learning and adaptation.
Architecture is never a solitary pursuit—it is shaped by teams with diverse skills and perspectives. Lead with curiosity—for your colleagues, for yourself, and for the world.
