Portland Architecture

An Architects Without Borders Fundraiser and...Indian House Music?

As mentioned in previous posts, a team of Portland-area architects, designers, and engineers from Architects Without Borders-Oregon is providing pro bono design for a master plan of the Wollega Academy, a 40-acre site in Dongoro, Ethiopia, as well as design for several new school and housing buildings.

“Currently rural folks, kids and adults, work all day - back breaking work,” says AWB’s Abbey Dacey, “then come to this campus to study with sixty or seventy others, in a classroom big enough for thirty. It is hot, it is dark and it is ten o’clock in the evening, and they are here because education is everything and this is what is available. A lot of things are needed; Architects Without Borders can at least help out with a school.”

The Wollega Academy expansion in Ethiopia will make it one of the only schools in the region providing full educational curriculum for grades 9-12.  AWB-Oregon has joined with local contractor Mike Philips to begin work on a new campus, which features large, day lit, naturally ventilated classrooms, dormitories, and a new library. The new campus will give students of Wollega the opportunity to engage learning in a safe, comfortable setting, virtually unknown in Ethiopia.

The AWB-Oregon chapter is having a fundraiser this Thursday evening at Holocene (1001 SE Morrison St) at 8pm to raise money and drafting supplies (to be shipped to the school's technical drawing teacher) for AWB-Oregon's efforts. Entertainment will be provided by Adrian Orange’s blend of electronic, pop, folk and Brazilian jazz, as well as DJ Anjali’s mix of Indian and other south Asian house music, while a slideshow photos from the Dongoro site plays overhead.

Or, if you’re like me and not a frequent follower of Indian house music (I'm sure it's very nice), you can always just make a donation to AWB-Oregon. And of course if you’re an architect, how about a little design work to save the world?

Actually, now that I think about it, we've got an Ethiopia fundraiser, and a group of musicians: Hey, why not a rendition of "We Are The World" for old time's sake? Or at least "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Maybe if people don't start giving to AWB-OR within a prescribed amount of time, I can start hollering like Ray Charles: "Come on, now, let me hear ya!" Or grunt like Springsteen passing kidney stones: "There's a choice we're makin', and we're savin' our own lives." Indeed.

The Right Kind of Gentrification

Joseph Gallivan has an excellent feature in today's Portland Tribune about the Falcon Art Community that developer Brian Wannamaker has made out of a 1911 apartment building along North Albina Avenue.

When Wannamaker  bought the building 10 years ago, he had to hire "a live-in security guard to shoo out the hookers and the people who slept in the halls." Today, however, it's a hub of musicians and artists, but also includes many of the low-income residents who were there when Wannamaker originally purchased the building. He's allowed their rents to stay below market value.

Meanwhile, the developer has created a strong sense of community. One artist was hired to paint portraits of longtime residents, which hang in the hallway. Wannamaker also built 24 work-only studios in the basement for artists, musicians and writers. He's also in the process of putting in an in-house bar. Naturally, the residents seem to love it -- even guitarist Johnny Marr of legendary 80s Manchester band The Smiths (a personal fave), who stayed here last year while producing an album for local act Modest Mouse. Gavin Shettler, owner of the Portland Art Center, also lived at the Falcon until recently.

If Gallivan's article is accurate, this is a guy who has eschewed the notion of maximizing profits in order to build something more valuable: a place where neighbors old and new, black and white, young artists and elderly retirees, are co-habitating. This is a place people want to be, and in the end I'll bet that will be lucrative for Wannamaker. There aren't hard feelings about longtime residents and members of one Portland's traditionally African American neighborhoods being driven away. Isn't that worth more than a few hundred bucks more collected in rent?

Halfway There, Morningstar Church Still Living on a Prayer

As reported in today's Oregonian by Erin Hoover Barnett, Morningstar Missionary Baptist Church is still about $1.8 million short in its efforts to build a new church after fire destroyed their existing facility earlier this year. They'll need about $2.6 million to create a new facility, and insurance only kicked in about $500,000. It's up to us, as Portlanders, to help Morningstar make up the difference.

Besides the need for funds, one quote in Barnett's article piqued my interest. "They favor a contemporary design," Barnett wrote, "yet one that would honor the history of the Gothic and revivalist church, built in 1919."

For all I know, maybe Morningstar already has an architect in mind. Maybe several have already volunteered. But if not, wouldn't this be an ideal opportunity for a Portland architect or firm to offer its services pro bono? After all, ecclesiastic design used to be the ultimate commission for architects. You've got a client here that's open to contemporary design. Who's going to run with this?

As far as brick-and-mortar rebuilding issues, so far the plumbers and steamfitters Local Union 290 is helping the church; you can reach them at 503-691-1997 to help. Or for regular contributions, donate to the Morningstar Catastrophe Relief Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank branch at 503-284-0200. Beside the union (who deserve a round of applause), I'd also like to see some other member organizations get involved: how about the Associated General Contractors, the Portland Business Alliance, the American Institute of Architects?

I also wondered: what if the church were to partner with a small developer or other partner (like an architecture firm) to create more of a mixed-use project? You could have a church on the first couple floors, and then some small apartments or condos above. Ideally, the units could be low-income, but if money remained tight, the strategy could be to sell condos as part of a funding package for the church. In other words, the 'air rights' could help pay for the new building. Why not let the forces of gentrification and land appreciation work for the neighborhood and the congregation?

Lots of attention and help often come right after disasters, but it often dies down as the months go by. There is no longer the inherent spectacle and drama of the fire to capture our imagination anymore, just a bunch of churchgoers meeting in an Emmanuel Hospital conference room every Sunday. Portland may not be the richest city around, but there's plenty of money, labor and expertise available from developers, contractors, designers and other building industry professionals that could be helping Morningstar out. Let's make sure they have more than than just prayers to rely on; or, to put it another way, let's make sure those prayers come true.

I'm not a churchgoer myself, but I found these words from Morning Star pastor Albert Wayne Johnson powerful:

"To the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church family, inner-city Portland - especially the surrounding community of morning star Baptist church - words cannot express the pain of this moment for all of us. This catastrophe is larger, broader, than the current membership attending week after week. The community is suffering because a city, state and nationally registered, historic landmark has been destroyed. But, our HOPE is not destroyed. We stand in ruins - we shall recover. Our foundation has been shaken - our faith is solid. Psalm 11 says, 'If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?' We shall heal our church, heal our community, and restore to this community a ministry that serves with open arms. Help us."

A 90-Minute Tour (or, Portland Architecture 101)

Next week I will be meeting with a group of summer-school students from Catlin Gabel school in Southwest Portland to tour downtown's significant architecture. The teacher, Peter Schulman, has asked that we survey some different historical periods to give them a sense of the city's design diversity. I obviously have some ideas of what to show them, but also wanted to open this up to suggestions.

Here's what is tentatively planned so far:

The group and I will be meeting at Pioneer Courthouse Square. I'll talk about the old Multnomah Hotel that used to be there, point out the recently remodeled Pioneer Courthouse, discuss the square itself and Will Martin's design for 'Portland's living room', and point out some of the turn-of-the-20th-Century terra cotta buildings by A.E. Doyle and others such as the Meier & Frank building and the Jackson Tower.

I also plan to show the group Pietro Belluschi's Equitable Building (now the Commonwealth) at Sixth and Stark, not only because it's Belluschi, but also because the Equitable was the world's so-called 'first modern office building' with a seamless facade of aluminum cladding and glass. Nearby the Equitable building is also Doyle's US National Bank and the Benson Hotel.

Speaking of Belluschi, I'd also plan to show the kids the Portland Art Museum and talk about Frank Lloyd Wright's letter of support on that project, and point out the new Mark Building with its combination of admirable historic preservation and mixed-bag renovation.

In downtown's Yamhill historic district near the river, there are probably some nice old buildings I could show, as well as in Old Town. Anybody recommend some specific ones?

The students will be coming from City Hall, so I don't need to show them that, but I think it's imperative to show them the Portland Building, not just in spite of its criticism but in part because of it. And since we'd be nearby, I'd also love to point out the Standard Plaza by SOM, which may be my favorite Portland building.

I'd also like to try and really point out MAX, even though it's not architecture. Rail transit is really our built icon as much as anything, right?

Some might find it funny if I don't show them any of downtown's tallest buildings, such as the Wells Fargo tower, the US Bancorp tower ('Big Pink'), or the KOIN tower. But Big Pink is the only one I like.

Time permitting, I could also show the group some Pearl District sights, such as the Wieden + Kennedy building, the Armory, Ecotrust and the Brewery Blocks.

Does anyone else have any additional suggestions?

PDX For Africa: Architects Without Borders Chapter Designing Ethiopian School

At 7PM on Monday night at AIA/Portland, the local chapter of Architects Without Borders will be presenting its design for a master plan and expansion of the Wollega Adventist Academy in Dongoro, Ethiopia.

Each architect, designer, and engineer is providing pro bono labor to design for a master plan of the school's 40-acre site, as well as design and documentation for several new school buildings. To be implemented in several phases, the expansion will include two new classroom buildings, two new lab buildings, a new library building, two new student dorm buildings, a dining facility, a new gymnasium, and an apartment building and single-family residences for faculty. Site infrastructure improvements are also included in the master plan.

Renovations of the existing buildings and construction of new facilities will be led by Mike Philips, a retired construction executive from Sladen Construction. Philips is coordinating American contractors to provide building expertise, supplies, and heavy machinery to local Ethiopian contractors and craftsmen, who will complete the work. Dongoro is a small rural community near the town of Gimbie that is approximately 285 miles west of the capital Addis Ababa. The Wollega Adventist Academy, originally built in the 1960s, is one of a handful of schools in region that supplements government-sponsored K-8 schools with secondary education. Administered by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, the school currently provides education for grades 9, 10 and 11. With this expansion, the school will provide twelfth grade and college-level classes and grow from approximately 150 students to 300 students.

AWB Oregon chapter's first project was the design and construction of a grade school in Bata Atha, Sri Lanka. Subsequent pro bono initiatives include providing hurricane damage assessment training for volunteers traveling to Mississippi, performing damage assessments for homeowners in the Biloxi/Gulfport region affected by Hurricane Katrina, and submitting a Global Green Design Competition Entry. AWB-Oregon also collaborates with the University of Oregon and Portland State University architecture programs to encourage participation in humanitarian-based work through the academic design studio process and in the field, as well as with local and international non governmental organizations and related professional organizations. AWB-Oregon is led by a 5-person board of directors: Angelo Radich, President; Rod Merrick, Vice-President; John Blumthal, Secretary and Treasurer; Abby Dacey; and Shuki Einstein.

After the catastrophic weather events in Indonesia and the American Gulf Coast over the last couple of years, there’s been a lot of talk about architects doing more for under-privileged communities. Now, much of that initial fanfare to help out has died down. But here is our AWB chapter, going stronger than ever to devote design talent and sweat equity towards those who desperately need it. Bravo, people!