A Tale of Two Landmarks

First of all, I apologize for not posting in several days. I'm actually on vacation this week, visiting in-laws in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and friends in New York. So the story I'm about to tell isn't about Portland architecture at all, but I hope you'll all be okay with that.

On Saturday I went to the site of the former Bethlehem Steel mill. For generations the mill was the largest employer here. It also formed the town's identity and dominated the landscape. I can't stress enough what a massive structure this is. It stretches for hundreds of yards along the Lehigh River adjacent to downtown, and its massive smokestacks stretch about as high as the US Bancorp tower. And yet for more than a decade Bethlehem Steel has sat completely empty.

When a friend and I visited Bethlehem Steel, we felt as if we were visiting an ancient ruin like Pompeii. The rusted metal and weeds, and the memory of the thousands of livelihoods lost when the mill closed, give the place a spiritual, almost sacred feel. These are the ghosts of America's industrial past.

I was also reminded of something the legendary French architect Le Corbusier once said: that his favorite structures in the United States were not the skyscrapers or the houses, but the factories and silos. Standing before this stunning edifice, I just might have to agree.

A couple days later, now having moved on from Bethlehem to New York, my friend and I made the proverbial pilgrimage to the Empire State Building. (It was his first time in the city.) While I've always appreciated the architecture of the Empire State and its status as perhaps the most well-known and iconic skyscraper in America, the experience of going to the 86th floor observation deck was as disheartening as Bethlehem Steel was moving.

I've been to the Empire State several times before, so I was prepared to stand in line. But this was ridiculous. First we stood in line for a security checkpoint. Next we stood in line for tickets, then for the elevator to the 80th floor. All the while, employees were constantly yelling pitches to the audience to spend $40 going on an IMAX ride before visiting the observation deck. Next we were herded into a mandatory line to have our pictures taken. Then there was a line for the elevator from the 80th floor to the observation deck on the 86th. When we finally got to the top, it often took minutes to get a turn at the edge after the other tourists waddled out of the way.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not sure what point I'm making. Certainly it's not that abandoned old industrial sites make better or more compelling architecture than our most prized and legendary buildings. And of course I'm not saying Bethlehem, "Pretzelvania" (as some locals call it) is somehow a more worthy destination than New York, the cultural capitol of the world. And I know one can't expect the most popular tourist destinations to seem anything other than, well, touristy.

That said, when I get back to Portland, I'm not sure I can look at shiny office buildings and condos as the most interesting architecture. I'm tempted to go visit Portland's remaining shipyards, or drive out to our surrounding farmlands to check out the old grain elevators and silos. Certainly the sculptural aspect of architecture is tremendously important to what we think of any particular structure, but it's also about who occupies the architecture, and what constitutes a structure's past, present and future. In many cases, it's the patina and age that enhance a structure, not what detract from it. And sometimes a building can be the victim of its own popularity, an icon in our minds but a trap for our wallets.

Maybe the point is this: even as architecture endures over scores or even hundreds of years, what's sacred and what's empty are constantly changing, and it's our job not to let ourselves fall into worshiping the same idols when there remain other, more elusive and unlikely sites to discover and celebrate.

Comments

[Andrew Hayden]

To that effect, the Völklingen Ironworks in Germany are a UNESCO World Heratige site.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/687

[jc]

Great post, Brian. You might be interested [if you already don't know] about an organization called the Society for Industrial Architecture. http://www.sia-web.org/
It's stuffy/scholarly, but looks interesting.

[Justin]

This post touches on the reason why people want to preserve - for instance - the Centennial Mills along the Willamette river nearl the Pearl. It is the most iconic building left - certainly the largest for its age - from Portland's industrial past in the area (that people regularly see).

The question is... what should become of these places? In Germany, they recently converted one massive industrial complex into a park system... it was in arch record not too long ago.

[Brian Libby]

I think they should turn Centennial Mill into an arts center. I was just talking with someone this morning about how I sometimes daydream of founding a modest but quality contemporary art museum here. Or you could make it a mixed-use arts facility with offices for some of them and a gallery/performance space and some kind of cafe on the bottom.