Portland Architecture

Tokyo and Kyoto: More ThanJust 17 Hours Ahead

First of all, my apologies for not writing a blog entry for a week. As I alluded in my last post, I was in Japan for 10 days and meant to post more from there. But an exceptionally hectic schedule made that tougher than expected.

The first few days of my trip were spent in Kyoto at the 2nd International Conference for Universal Design. At this point you’re probably asking, what the hell is universal design? According to Wikipedia, it’s “an approach to the design of products, services and environments to be as usable as possible by as many people as possible regardless of age, ability or situation. It links directly to the political concept of an inclusive society and its importance has been recognized by goverments, business and industry.” The conference center itself was also really interesting: a kind of 1970s modern interpretation of classical Japanese architecture.

One thing I was reminded of in Kyoto is that throughout the world, be it rich industrialized nations like the US and Japan or developing countries in Africa or Asia, the world’s population is aging very rapidly. Whether it’s can openers or urban mass transit systems, we have to design and build a society where they and the disabled can operate easily. It’s easy to be dismissive of this notion—a few more curb cuts and we’re all set, right? But there’s an underlying nobility to universal design: the idea that if it doesn’t work for the largest number of people, it isn’t good design.

Kyoto is also fascinating to visit because it’s the one major Japanese city that wasn’t completely leveled during World War II. Thus, you can find authentically ancient architecture that only exists in replica-form in other parts of Japan. One afternoon I ducked out of the conference with my photographer colleague and we visited the Heian Shrine, with its massive scale, exquisite detail and spiritual resonance fostering an unforgettable experience. There’s nothing in Portland to compare it to, but it reinforced in my mind the importance of preserving our most significant historic architecture. Nearly 5,000 miles away from Portland, I thought once again of the ill-fated Rosefriend Apartments set to be demolished to make way for the Ladd Tower. And then I suddenly craved a Sopporo beer.

Of course Japan also has a superlative system of trains, from the speeding Shinkanzen bullet train to local subways. I thought of MAX and the streetcar and Portland and thought, ‘Great—now let’s quintuple it!’ Oh, and while it’s admittedly a pipe dream, I’d sure love it if Amtrak could be transformed to provide high speed rail transportation. It’s so much more civilized than flying.

After the conference we headed to Tokyo, where I met with two Portland companies: Wieden + Kennedy advertising and Ziba Design. (Many thanks to W+K's John C. Jay and everyone in the Tokyo office, as well as Ziba's Jeremy Kaye and Abby Margolis.) Both companies are examples of the ever-burgeoning ties between Portland and its neighbors in Asia and the rest of the Pacific Rim. The focus in both meetings, more or less, was retail design. We visited the Omotesando shopping district and the youth-oriented areas of Hibiya and Roppongi, where there was an incredible array of shops like Bathing Ape and Original Fake that provide energizing designs that, more so than in the United States, are born from the identity of the brand and product. In a Levi jeans store in Omotesando, for example, the whole place was festooned in oversized rivets from the jeans themselves. At the Bathing Ape boutique, designer Masamichi Katayama of Wonderwall has created a glass-enclosed moving track to display the company’s high-fashion sneakers.

Visiting Tokyo for the second time, I was reminded that it is by far the most dazzling, high-energy city I’ve ever been to. There are numerous neighborhoods with enough flashing neon to make Times Square look like Gresham. Even so, Tokyo is also clean, safe and exceptionally well organized. Some of that is the Japanese national character. My colleague Michael pointed out that even the homeless people in Tokyo kept their little niches of cardboard and cans incredibly well ordered.

Driving by downtown Portland yesterday on the way home from the airport, the city looked absolutely tiny. But it also looked good. As much as Portland is correct to pursue a higher-density future, we are incredibly fortunate to have such a generous amount of space. Looking into my Southeast Portland neighborhood as I write this, it feels astonishing to see no one out on the sidewalks – and after being in a throng of thousands on every block the last ten days, I gots no problem with that. Even though it’s stating the obvious, I also have to say that one can’t consider the city of Portland without the context of its surrounding natural landscape. That one can drive an hour or two from our city and find snow-capped mountains, massive river valleys, pristine beaches and fertile farmland is all the more amazing. And yet at the same time, I don’t mean to paint Portland as some backwater burg. Show the Japanese buildings like the W+K headquarters and the Belmont Lofts or public spaces like Pioneer Courthouse Square or Tanner Springs Park, and they’ll come away impressed. Same goes for our commitment to green building, seen in structures like the new OHSU Center for Health and Healing in South Waterfront. And they’ll also come and see for themselves. While in Kyoto on a popular little street of restaurants and bars called the Poncho-Ko, I met a Japanese businessman who was flying to Portland today to meet with executives from Intel. And he’s just one of many.

So it’s nice to be back. Anyone care to fill me in on what I missed?

Karrie Is So Very

I'm actually in Kyoto, Japan as I write this, attending the 2nd International Conference on Universal Design (more on that later). But I wanted to pass on some information about critic/journalist Karrie Jacobs visiting Portland for a couple events.

Jacobs is the author of The Perfect $100,000 House: A Trip Across America and Back in Pursuit of a Place to Call Home, published by Viking. She is also a contributing editor at Metropolis magazine where she writes a monthly column, “America,” about how ideas and strategies in architecture and design play out on the landscape. Jacobs was the founding editor-in-chief of Dwell magazine, and also served as the architecture critic of New York Magazine.

On Monday evening at 7PM, Jacobs will give a lecture at the Art Institute of Portland. And on Tuesday at 12:30PM at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Jacobs will be joined by Oregonian architecture critic Randy Gragg for a Q&A and conversation.

Jacobs is here to plug her book, but she's one of the top thinkers and writers in the United States about design and all its attendant social issues. These events are highly recommended. I'd check them out if I were in the same hemisphere.

Fire Stations from Emmons Architects and Hennebery Eddy

Last year a partnership between Emmons Architects and Hennebery Eddy garnered a finalist slot in the design competition for Fire Station 1. It was a very nice looking proposal, rather influenced by contemporary Dutch design, but they ultimately lost out to Thomas Hacker Architects. And the project has since been scrapped by the city -- a major, major mistake in my opinion -- due to budget problems.

However, both firms have designed new fire stations before and after the competition.

  Emmons Architects recently unveiled its completed Fire Station 27 in Southwest Portland. The wood, concrete and glass structure is nestled into a hillside site that mimics the contours of the terrain in a host of compelling, angular forms. Even so, this is not a jagged set of corners, but a nicely flowing composition. Emmons has designed numerous fire stations before, so #27 also comes with top notch facilities for the firefighters.

  Meanwhile, Hennebery Eddy also has unveiled Fire Station 28 on Sandy Boulevard in Northweat Portland. Here an entirely new structure has been fused with the existing early 20th Century firehouse. Looking at the new station with its marriage of old and new, each with its own style but in a harmonius whole, is an impressive site.

Regarding Fire 1 for one more moment, I don't want to take anything away from competition winner Thomas Hacker Architects, but if they and the city can't reach a proper agreement on costs, why can't the city offer the chance to the Emmons/Hennebery Eddy team or to Allied Works, the other finalist, to build the fire station and museum on the new site under the new budget strictures? This of course relates strongly to Ankeny Plaza, with the fire station there being vacated and the area being transformed into one with housing and more vibrant street life there beyond Saturdays when the market comes. I doubt this will ever happen, and I fear the city doesn't have the courage to take a risk on something like Fire 1 for fear of more budget problems. It's too bad, because all three of the original Fire Station 1 finalists are more than capable of doing good work.

As these new designs for Fire stations 27 and 28 definitely seem to show.

Oh, They're Better Bricks Alright

Last Thursday the annual BetterBricks Awards brought a host of honors to those in the local green building community. Awards were broken down into four categories: owner/decision maker, designer, advocate and facility operator/manager.

The first award, for owner/decision maker, went to Robert Gerding of Gerding Edlen Development, the company behind the Brewery Blocks, the South Waterfront (along with Williams & Dame and OHSU), and numerous other projects. Gerding was also paid tribute to by the Architectural Foundation of Oregon recently in its annual Honored Citizen dinner.

The next award, in the designer category, went to Brian Thornton, an engineer with Thornton Energy Consulting. As green buildings become more and more sophisticated with electrical and mechanical systems, such experts are an invaluable part of the design process, and need to be involved as early as possible. Designers like Thornton help make the most efficient uses of energy, water and other resources, often helping to significantly reduce overall building costs by creating efficiencies and in some cases selecting smaller-sized mechanical systems because of it.

Winner in the advocate category was Johanna Brickman, director of sustainability for Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership. I’ve been very impressed by the transformation ZGF has undergone in the last few years. Although longtime figures like Bob Frasca and Bob Packard are still heading the firm, ZGF has become significantly younger and has incorporated a more democratic, inclusive process for design. What’s more, they have people like Brickman working to ensure that a holistic approach with innovative materials assures as sustainable a work of architecture as possible.

The final award, for facility operator/manager, went to Kent Huey, vice president and general manager of Western Beverage Company, who pursued a host of sustainable design, materials and methods as his company’s new headquarters will use half the energy expected for a building its size.

Congrats to all the winners.

Oregon Architects, Engineers Building Sri Lanka School For Tsunami Orphans

As reported by Barry and Melody Finnemore in the latest issue of Oregon Architect (an AIA publication distributed to all registered architects in the state), the Oregon chapter of Architects Without Borders and the Portland chapter of Engineers Without Borders (do these two really need to be separate?) are collaborating to design and build a boarding school for 300 students orphaned by last year's Asian tsunami.

The Elalla Boarding School will include student dormitories, classrooms, staff housing, a library, administrative offices and a medical clinic on an 8-acre site on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. The budget is $2.5 million, coming from the nonprofit Asiana Education Development by way of widespread donations - more of which are still needed. The Elala will serve children ranging from 6 months to 18 years of age.

According to the Oregon Architect article, some of the local design professionals involved are: Jessica Napier of KPFF Consulting Engineers, Jean von Bargen of Michael Willis Architects, Jeff McCormick of CH2M Hill, Patrick Donaldson of Communitecture, and Caroline O'Leary of Ankrom Moisan. With a project this size, certainly there are more working behind the scenes - hats off to them all.

And as always, more help is needed. Architects Without Borders held a recruiting meeting in late September, and the chapter is looking for design leads who can commit to six months of work, and other design professionals who can commit for shorter periods.

Skylab and Architecture WLead Design Award Winners

Congratulations to Skylab Design and Architecture W, which took home the biggest honors at the American Institute of Architects annual design awards over the weekend.

Skylab, known best for its design/development of Doug Fir restaurant, won an Honor Award (the evening's highest honor) for its mixed-use project downtown at 12th & Alder, which houses the firm's offices as well as a private residence and retail. Jeff Kovel, who leads Skylab, is an uber-talented designer, and it's good to see his firm get the recognition it deserves. (Side note to Jeff: why did Doug Fir have to replace those exquisite shredded hash browns with yucky ubiquitous roasted potatoes?) Here's what the jury said about the 12th & Alder project:

"The project takes dissimilar materials and turns them into an interesting composition that references its history and yet is not nostalgic about it.  The interiors are completely integrated into the architecture, with custom designed furniture that is built as part of the walls. The building is designed to illicit dialogue between old and new, past and present.  The design awards jury lauded this project as a complete idea on the inside and out that is rooted to its particular street corner and adjoining buildings, particularly in the powerful interior slot that focuses on the church steeple across the street."

Architecture W, which has offices in Portland and Nagoya, Japan, won for its 'm house' (doesn't anybody use capitals anymore?), principal Michael Weenick's residence, which consists of a box-like form dramatically cantilevered over its base. More comments:

"The jurors were struck by the deceptively simple image of a solid box floating on a podium, and they felt this project was a wonderful combination of heavy and light, with a nice figural quality to it.  The jury was very impressed by the building interior, which they described as “beautiful, spare, and luscious.”  There were many favorite details, including stairs that drop out of the volume and are clad in glass, and a small pool situated underneath the cantilevered top level to reflect sunlight inside."

The second tier of prizes, the Merit Awards, went to three projects: the Hillsdale Library by Thomas Hacker Architects (which I wrote about for Architecture Week magazine), the Firstenburg Community Center in Vancouver by Opsis Architecture, and another Architecture W project in Nagoya, the M/F House, which I visited and wrote about last year for Dwell magazine. Very impressive stuff.

The Citation Awards, a kind of bronze medal, went to the Eliot Tower by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (with Ankrom Moisan as architect of record), the Technology Classroom Building at Portland Community College by Opsis, and the Lair Condominiums by Rick Potestio, now of Mahlum Architects. This must have been an especially good year for architecture in Portland, because I think some of these projects easily could have leapfrogged a couple spots and taken top honors.

There were also a series of unbuilt projects honored: an upstate New York residence by Brad Cloepfil and Allied Works, the San Gabriel River Discovery Center in El Monte, California by Thomas Hacker, and two projects by Works Partnership - the stunning mixed-use 'b-Side 6' (pictured) set for East Burnside and a renovation of the Olympic Mills warehouse in the Central Eastside.

Mayor Tom Potter contributed the Mayor's Award for Design Excellence to the Henry V Events Center by Waterleaf. Like last year's selection, a New Seasons market by Richard Brown Architects, this is an excellent community building with admirable sustainable features. I'm not sure if it's the best work of architecture in the city, but those awards already exist and were given to other projects. I think the greater question for Mr. Potter is whether he'll consider increasing his investment in local architecture by resurrecting the Mayor's Design Initiative, from which the Mayor's Design Award came during the Vera Katz administration as part of a larger effort to encourage quality architecture. The Portland Design Festival, another Katz baby, has also unfortunately faded away on the mayor's watch. That said, it's great to see the mayor at least contributing this award.

Meanwhile, looking at the awards as a whole, we have multiple awards going to Architecture W, Opsis, Works Partnership and Thomas Hacker, all of which are not new to the trophy case. One can only hope these awards will further encourage developers and other potential clients to give smaller firms like these a chance at bigger projects. Gerding/Edlen Development took just such a chance last year by awarding a South Waterfront condo commission to Hacker's firm, and that's just the kind of steps any architecture enthusiast would like to see more of. Architects like Kovel of Skylab, Michael Weenick and Brian White of Architecture W, and Bill Neburka and Carrie Schilling of Works Partnership  deserve bigger commissions and the chance to really shape the city. But awards like these are certainly a great step forward.

Design awards and Critique This Weekend

This weekend three local design-industry member organization - the American Institute of Architects, International Interior Design Association, and the Industrial Designers Society of America - are holding a combined awards ceremony to celebrate the city's best work. The ceremony will be held at 7:00pm this Saturday  at the Wonder Ballroom at 128 NE Russell Street.

Tonight at 5:30pm there will also be a jury critique session at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, in which the architecture and interior design award juries discuss their impressions not only of the submittals they saw, but also the city of Portland itself. I've attended these critiques numerous times over the years, and it's always been interesting to get the input of jurors who know design well but may be new to Portland and, thus, have an informed but fresh perspective. At $5 the critique session is also a little more affordable than the $50 design awards ticket.

Anyone care to venture a guess about which projects from the last year will win awards?

Holst's Mississippi Project Under Fire

Recently the city’s Bureau of Development Services rejected a proposed building on North Mississippi that earlier the Boise-Eliot Neighborhood approved by a two-thirds majority.

The project, a four-story mixed use building with condos above, was designed by Holst Architecture and developed by the Kurisu family. Holst, as many know, is one of the city’s most talented design firms, and the Kurisu family also owns a respected Japanese garden design firm. (Patriarch Hoichi Kurisu came here 27 years ago to help design Portland’s Japanese Garden.) The Kurisus planned to put their headquarters on the ground floor and build a garden that would, at least some of the time, be open to the public.

The project’s opposition is led by members of the anarchist Black Rose Collective, which is headquartered next door on Mississippi. They say it doesn’t reflect the character of the neighborhood.

And to my surprise, the BDS agreed. In Thursday’s Oregonian, city planner Jeff Joslin of the BDS is quoted as saying the building “shows little deference to nearby patterns and elements.”

At four stories high, the building is a floor or two higher than its neighbors, including two historic buildings the developer owns and is preserving. One of the things that got the project rejected was that the fourth floor isn’t set back from the rest of the street-facing façade. But the code allows for this height on transit lines such as Mississippi.

There are more design and code issues to the BDS rejection than the fourth floor, many of which have been highlighted in detail on the Indymedia website. But more broadly, this is about modern architecture and density in historic neighborhoods—growing pains. Often in these cases, I believe contemporary design becomes compromised by attempts to fit in that turn out to be faux-historic. I believe the original buildings are better honored by architectural diversity. Otherwise, historic districts become architectural Disneylands.

It's the same problem we faced on Northwest 23rd when the Historic Landmarks Commission rejected a proposed Apple store there, another Holst-designed project. One could argue that Holst doesn't know how to design for a historic neighborhood context. But I suspect it may be the other way around. The Apple store project is already dead, and if the same fate besets the Kurisu project, I can't help but feel frustratingly pessimistic about the chances of modern architecture in Portland.

Black Rose Collective member Brian Bailitz told the Oregonian part of the project’s problem is the designers didn’t seek out community input. He has a point there, although by no means were Holst or the Kurisus obligated. But for such a supposedly flawed building, it sure looks gorgeous to me.

I don’t live in the North Mississippi neighborhood, nor am I a planner with expertise on code issues. Indymedia makes a strong case that many details need to be changed to meet compliance. At the same time, I see this as a wood-for-the-trees issue. I dearly love great architecture, which this city has relatively little of and would find, I think, in the Kurisu project. And I fervently support high-density development, which this project helps achieve.

There are also related issues of gentrification in North Mississippi that seem to fuel a lot of the Black Rose Collective’s fire, and I respect them for that, at least in theory. But stopping this project isn’t going to stop gentrification. It’s only going to give North Mississippi a lesser building by a lesser architect and client, or it’s going to give the neighborhood no building at all.

On Monday at 1:30pm the Portland Landmarks Commission will hear an appeal of the BDS rejection. (Location: 1900 SW Fourth Avenue, 4th floor - attendance encouraged.)

If the rejection is sustained, I hope the architects can come up with a design that addresses individual elements without sacrificing the integrity of the whole. But perhaps the best solution, if it can be achieved, is for this building to be built on another site in another part of town. If North Mississippi doesn’t want this project, I think many, many other neighborhoods would jump at the chance.

A Dumptruck of Shame on Robert Pamplin

As reported by Anna Griffin in today's Oregonian (it'll be interesting to see if the Tribune picks this up), Robert Pamplin has gone back on his pledge more than two years ago to mayor Vera Katz to donate the entirety of Ross Island to the city.

This is the same Ross Island that Pamplin's company, Ross Island Sand & Gravel, has been removing an infinite succession of dumptrucks full of earth from over the last several decades to make and sell concrete.

The article explains that Pamplin has been angered over the last couple years that city leaders haven't given his pledge a proper amount of attention. In a September 27 letter to mayor Tom Potter, quoted in the piece, Pamplin wrote his company "made several overtures to the City, but those came to no avail for lack of response."

Well, Dr. Pamplin certainly has the city's attention now - and ours. The problem for Pamplin, though, is that (at least in my view) the attention is showing him to be a welcher and a crybaby.

Awww, poor Dr. Gazillionaire, didn't get your phone calls returned fast enough. And after you were kind enough to offer back the island you've carved into for a half century and carted away. If only the City that Works were the City that Puckers Up.

Yes, of course there are other, more practical factors in this debacle, about environmental liability post-handover and other legal stuff. But there's just no getting around the fact that Pamplin pulling his donation of the entire island seems petty, shortsighted and sad. I'd prescribe the good doctor a long, hard look in the mirror.

UPDATE: The Portland Tribune, which Pamplin owns, did indeed cover the Ross Island handover. But there is not one single mention of the donation being a reduction from the original pledge. Which of course is ignoring the elephant in the room. I'd have expected the paper to at least acknowledge the controversy, even if they cast it in a more Pamplin-favorable light.

Giving It 1%

Somehow I got on an email list I never signed up for, but in this case I'm glad I did. I've been receiving information for the last several months about a campaign by the nonprofit institution Public Architecture called the "1% solution", intended to increase investment of time and money by the design profession in public spaces. Here's their explanation:

"Based on a 40-hour workweek, one percent represents a modest 20 hours per year per person. Were all 240,000 architecture professionals in the U.S. to sign on, the collective resources would be the equivalent of a 2,500-person firm (the largest in the world) working fulltime for the public good, totaling an estimated 5,000,000 hours annually."

"Launched in 2005, the 1% Solution program grew out of the realization that no formal mechanisms exist to encourage, support, or even simply recognize architects’ pro bono work."

I'm certainly not one who should be casting any stones, because I honestly don't spend much time on volunteer work. But Public Architecture has signed on numerous member firms that have pledged 1% in time and money. One thing I noticed, though, is that there are five firms in the state of Washington that have signed on, 27 in California, and even two from Arkansas, among several others. But there is only one Oregon architect signed up, a sole practitioner in Beaverton called Stonhaus.Ark.