Latest Designs on Portland discussion: Memorial Coliseum - past, present and future

Have you followed the controversy over Memorial Coliseum in the last few weeks and wondered, "What's the hubbub?"

Memorial Coliseum is unique to Portland architecture in more ways than one. It's one of the most prestigious and acclaimed designs ever created here, yet most people - even those who have visited the arena numerous times - haven't been able to see the building's best features. It's the older, smaller, less-well-kept stepsister of the bigger, newer Rose Garden next door. And why would we need two arenas? But here's the thing: the Coliseum is your grandma's diamond necklace and the Rose Garden is the big hunk of cubic zirconium. If you uncover this arena from the curtain almost permanently shrouding it, Memorial Coliseum becomes an interior space that can feel like the outdoors.

To share and celebrate the Coliseum and its greatness (however covered in dust), we've made it the topic of this week's Designs on Portland talk.

Every two months Designs on Portland, which I host at Design Within Reach in the Pearl District's landmark Wieden + Kennedy headquarters (1200 NW Everett), brings a new guest to discuss the city we share and how the best designs bring it alive. In the past we've talked with architects like Thomas Hacker, Jeff Kovel, Carrie Schilling and Bill Neburka. We've talked with urban designers like Arun Jain, magazine editors like Randy Gragg, even the occasional roboticist like Daniel Wilson.

The latest talk, scheduled for this Thursday (May 21) at 6:15PM, will look at Memorial Coliseum, the aging arena that quickly went from neglected to hotly debated this year when the city announced a plan to demolish the building in favor of a minor-league baseball stadium.

Memorial Coliseum's future has been looked at in political, financial and programmatic contexts since its future was put in doubt by the baseball proposal. A mayor under heavy scandal-induced fire saw the Rose Quarter plan as a way to jump-start an under-performing area of town. The building has been compared and contrasted with its newer, larger neighbor next door, the Rose Garden arena, and subjected to discussions about how having two arenas could be economically viable. Will an entertainment district be the solution, or something else?

But this discussion will seek to look at the design itself: what makes Memorial Coliseum unique among the world's arenas and concert halls, why its design represents the very best of Portland and post-World War II modern architecture, how it and other modernism represents the unofficial birth of sustainability, and what the building needs to be restored to its former glory.

Skeptics have said things like, "Memorial Coliseum isn't the Taj Mahal." It's not designed by Mies Van Der Rohe, Le Corbusier, or other of 20th century modernism's superstars, they say. But Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is as prestigious and historic a 20th Century American Architecture firm as they come. And regardless of the name attached to the design, Memorial Coliseum's formal purity -- the teacup inside the glass box -- gives it enduring value: the kind of architecture that transcends function with poetic form, even as it functions beautifully. After all, the building's transparency also makes it easy to navigate.

As always, I will be moderating the discussion, and joining me will be some of the designers and preservationists who have worked to save the Coliseum, such as Stuart Emmons of Emmons Architects, Rick Potestio, and Randy Higgins of Vizwerks. We also hope to have a special guest or two from the original Memorial Coliseum design team drop by.

We also would love to hear at the talk from those of you with Coliseum memories of your own. My mom saw The Beatles in the arena in 1965. My beloved Trail Blazers became world champions there in 1977. I saw Clyde Drexler dunk on most of the NBA's best players numerous times there throughout the 1980s. I also saw several cheesy concerts there like Rush, Van Halen, (gulp) Bryan Adams, Billy Joel, and Sting. (Hey, I grew up in a small town. I have better taste now!) But more importantly, what are your Coliseum memories? Were you there for the Dalai Lama or Barack Obama? (Hey, that rhymes!) Led Zeppelin or Luciano Pavarotti? Come be part of remembering the past, living for the present, and securing the future of this Rose City and modernist landmark.

Thanks also to Design Within Reach (a Portland Architecture sponsor) and studio proprietor Kathleen Nash, as well as the DWR staff, for their help making this talk and the broader Designs on Portland series a reality.

The event is free and refreshments will be served. Design Within Reach is located at 1200 NW Everett. Doors open at 6PM and the talk will begin shortly after 6:15PM.

Comments

[Chuck Fulton]

I just saw your article on the Memorial Coliseum and some of the entertainment that performed there. I saw The Supremes perform at the Memorial Coliseum. They were travelling with the 1964 Auto Show. I still have my program from that night. It was a very exciting evening for this teenage Motown fan.