The Seattle Design Festival is a platform for bold design conversations. We believe that design is for everyone and that inclusive co-design practices are essential to shaping an equitable Seattle. We are multidisciplinary, socially engaged and civic minded.
- October 3, 2025
- News and Announcements
Design in Community: Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett, an architectural and spatial designer, began his career as the defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks. After retiring from the NFL, Bennett founded Studio Kër, his own design studio for which he creates bespoke furniture, installations, and interiors.
In 2023 Bennett Partnered with Seattle Design Festival to design the Mainstage, and this year Bennett has crafted a new unique installation, on-view at the Northwest African American Museum.
This new installation, titled Night Chapel, is a “traveling sacred structure” made entirely of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT).
“Night Chapel places mental health, community healing, and spacial justice at its very center…[it’s] more than a structure. It is a call to gather. It is an offering of care. It is a space where community and belonging can flourish.” — Northwest African American Museum
Help us celebrate design in our community by visiting the installation or reading about his work in a recent article by Cascade PBS.
Photos courtesy of the Northwest African American Museum
Seattle Design Festival 2023: Curiosity
Michael Bennett joined SDF in 2023, designing the stage for the Block Party made of cross-laminated timber, with a mobile panel in the middle that could become a backdrop or a window into the space; this installation was a study of geometry and form. On the Saturday of Block Party weekend, Bennett joined on the stage for a panel discussion with fellow architects and designers.