Two Portland Firms Vying For Japanese Stadium

Portland and Nagoya-based Architecture W, along with Portland’s Ziba Design and international engineering firm Arup are teaming together on a proposal for a new baseball stadium in Hiroshima.

According to Brian White of Architecture W, the proposal came together because his partner, Michel Weenick, “…has a good friend at Credit Suisse First Boston in Tokyo and he asked Michel if he new anybody who could do a baseball stadium as he had some clients that wanted to invest in the Hiroshima stadium. So Michel and I were talking about who to recommend and eventually we just decided to tell him we could do it. We thought about who were the best people we could get for this job.  I wanted to somehow use the design power in PDX as a base.”

Not only was Ziba tapped to help round the architectural design proposal with a complete branding campaign for the stadium’s occupant, the Carps baseball team, but White also sought out German landscape designer Herbert Dreiseitl, who designed Portland’s Tanner Springs Park.

“Dreiseitl landscaping plan is quite beautiful,” White says, “and includes his green thinking on water as the idea behind our design is that the Hiroshima Carp should incorporate a modern version of a Koi pond that also serves as a water reclamation/filtration system for this particular part of the city.”

“Hiroshima has this wonderful peace festival that reminds people of the destruction that took place there where they float basically all sorts of brown bags with candles down the river,” he continues. “It is quite a beautiful event and our scheme was to create a lantern that symbolizes Hiroshima’s unique place in history and also serves as a symbol for the city as the stadium sits along the Shinkansen line right before the main train station.”

“We were a little nervous as we were obviously the small fish in the sea of consultants but we were the client's ears so we held our own. Like I said, a lot of the Japanese associates were a little skeptical of the team but after they saw our first pass, the client and everybody was on board with our direction.”

The proposal, which is competing with four or five others for the contract, was submitted last week, and White expects they’ll receive word in about a month.

Meanwhile, just the fact that a tiny firm like Architecture W has become a finalist for a giant baseball stadium I think speaks to the fact that local clients can turn to them for bigger commissions than the single-family homes that they’ve been doing here.

Comments

[Dennis]

Very nice... If they don't accept the proposal in Japan bring it back to Portland and float the plans for a new baseball stadium for PDX!

[Michel Weenick]

Brian
You quote my partner Mr. White at his very modest best.

In reality, our client came to us because he appreciated the fact that we were uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between the realities of Japan and the emotional appeal of the "American baseball experience" - watching a ballgame being played on real grass open to the real sky.

Although we did have the trust of the client, his "ear", the appeal of the design itself and the way we were able to efficiently manage the design process - 6 design offices on 2 continents and 2 islands working together on a 180 million dollar project- had more impact on our ability to drive the project.

And finally, while our presence in Portland can be described as "tiny", as is so eloquently pointed out, I would like to mention that our Japanese office with a staff of 8 and a variety of buildings both on the boards and under construction is anything but.

Cheers,

Michel Weenick
partner
architecturew

[david]

Michel,

There is an art to accepting a compliment.

[david]

With that being said, I do compliment you on an impressive portfolio and I am happy to have
your studio within our community- even if tiny.

[michel weenick]

David,
Thanks for the kind words.

My previous comments were mere clarifications, and we do certainly appreciate the support that Portland Architecture has given our firm.

Michel Weenick

[Ray Whitford]

Hopefully, Portland will grow up and ask for bids and designs for a local MLB stadium. I hope the Marlins or other team owners recognize the abilities of architecturew.

Nice renderings!

Portlands' stadium should remind people of our lodges in the mountains (stone, wood, metal, and trees). My personal wish only.

www.oregonstadiumcampaign.com

Ray Whitford