Portland Architecture

Joslin retires as city land-use honcho

Jeff Joslin, Land Use Manager for Urban Design, Design Review, and Landmarks Review with the City of Portland’s Bureau of Development Services, has announced his retirement after 15 years. Recently Jeff sent out a farewell email that, with his permission, I’ll reprint here:

It's with gratitude and reticence that I announce I'm leaving the employment of the City of Portland.  It's been an imposing responsibility, and genuine privilege, to lead various urban design functions during a period encompassing the most active decade of development and change in Portland's modern history.

I've overseen an evolving and remarkable team that has shepherded billions of dollars of projects through increasingly sophisticated and demanding processes, while additionally being afforded the opportunity to participate in the planning and re-planning of Portland's most successful, new, and evolving areas and districts.

As a manager, I've seen my role as understanding the implications of the relevant overarching policies, and identifying and bringing to bear the appropriate human, technical, political, and financial resources necessary to manifest those policies in the most effective way achievable.  I believe the programs I've contributed to have been an ongoing armature and impetus for advancing good design throughout the city, while promoting an ongoing design dialogue that has helped the city grown well as it's grown rapidly.  It's my hope that I've done so successfully and responsively, forwarding the aspirations established by the citizenry, manifested by city leadership, and given voice and force by our remarkable and sacrificing citizen Design Commission and Landmarks Commission.

Portland 15 years ago was a much smaller city than it is today: its approaches to urban design were evolved for the time, but the program was modest.  A year and a half after entering the Bureau of Planning, I was placed in charge of the urban design program, which consisted of 4 employees, and oversaw detailed design and historic review over about four per cent of the city, while also developing urban design and historic regulation in a rapidly changing environment.

Five years later the size of that group had doubled, prior to being segregated into two urban design functions: one in the Bureau of Planning, one in what is today the Bureau of Development Services.  I'd come to believe deeply in the need to ensure the highest and best manifestation of policy and regulation in on-the-ground projects, and from that point on served principally to administer design review and historic design review programs, and staff the respective commissions.

Today, that program covers about twenty percent of the city, and has expanded to a dozen dedicated planners and architects, who - along with numerous indispensable support staff - also coordinate the multitudinous functions of a Design Commission and Historic Landmarks Commission.  Over three hundred projects a year are reviewed and advanced in the most urbanized and rapidly evolving areas of the city.  Our process is comprehensive and detailed - with nearly two dozen different design districts, over a dozen historic districts, and thousands of landmarks - and we review all new development and modifications to existing development in these areas.  The process, and our successes, have been studied and emulated worldwide.

I've no doubt, based on my extensive experience and investigation, that - in the realm of aesthetic regulation - we in Portland have the most evolved and effective approach and system of any city, in this country or beyond.

I inherited a development review process that, fifteen years ago, was broadly critiqued as being capricious, subjective, unpredictable, and un-attuned to the real needs of both citizens, and developers.  Today, despite the fact that the process, scale and number of projects have all increased enormously, there is nearly universal support politically, publicly, and developmentally.  We've learned together how best to creatively collaborate with designers, architects, developers and neighborhood advocates to push projects as high and far as economics, design capability, and regulatory intent would allow.  The process is today is largely viewed as streamlined, sophisticated, and adding value.  The ultimate testament to that is the fact that our most prominent developers, and leaders in our most rapidly shifting neighborhoods, are our most ardent supporters.  I take much personal pride in this evolution.

Also pertinent - in this economic cycle where other permit-related activity has drastically diminished, the work in the Design Team has expanded due to a concentration of capital and activity in the areas we regulate.  This is further testament to the phenomenal success of the system we've developed together.

Core to our work has been the fundamental belief, that quality development based in sound architectural and urban design principles is fundamental to the economic vitality, livability and sustainability of the city.  I'm hopeful that I've served that mission responsibly, and that the values and processes we've worked together to establish and employ will continue to be built on as we move further into this already challenging 21st century.

I leave behind a skilled and gifted team, and a Design Commission and Landmarks Commission of the highest order.  I look forward to watching and backing their efforts to continue growing well the city we love, and to personally contributing to that effort through other means in the future.

For me, there could have been no better urban design role, in no better city, at no better time.  Thank you, each and all, for the opportunity, and for your collaboration and support.

"Builderly modern": visiting the 1310 Condominiums

Last October the little-known 1310 Condominiums by Brett Crawford and Dana Ing Crawford won the Honor Award at this year’s AIA/Portland design awards. The Honor is the top prize, one of two given out along with Allied Works’ Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. The 1310 project, which has five units total (four with one bedroom apiece at 590 square feet and one two-bedroom unit at 930 square feet), also won the AIA’s Sustainability Award. (AIA/Portland is also a sponsor of this site.)

Not long after the awards, I made the short walk across Hawthorne Boulevard to have a look, and have since been back several times.

On the first visit, Brett Crawford was there to meet me. Although I’ve never heard his name bandied about much, he has a stellar resume that includes significant time at Thomas Hacker Architects (now THA Architecture), Opsis Architecture and Works Partnership: all very much upper-echelon local firms in terms of design talent.

Crawford used the phrase “builderly modern” to describe what he and wife Dana were going for. They were looking for “a box,’ a simple rectangular building that they could redesign and convert into condos, acting as architect, developer and even general contractor. They found it in a circa-1969 condo building on SE 14th Avenue just north of Hawthorne.

The most notable thing about the renovated project is the rain-screen and sun screens covering the façade. If you were photographing 1310, the money shot would definitely be the front, where there is a compellingly detailed array of sun screens and stairs to access the different units. It’s almost like fire escape as working sculpture.

That said, before and even immediately after first seeing 1310, it initially seemed possible in my mind that, while no doubt an impressive project in its aesthetics, its do-it-yourself spirit of architect as developer, and its admirably sustainable qualities, I had the nagging sensation of skepticism over 1310 winning the very top prize. Was it really better than any other project built in the city in 2008? Even Crawford was shocked when 1310 won. "You could have knocked me over with a feather," he told the Daily Journal of Commerce shortly after winning the Honor Award.

Indeed, there is nothing outright dazzling about this urban infill project, a conversion of an old apartment building already on that site. Compared to Holst Architecture’s Clinton Condominiums a half-mile to the south on Division and 26^th, for example, with sumptuous mahogany and glass contrasting with rough COR-TEN steel, there is nothing quite so jewel-like about Brett Crawford’s project.

Yet the 1310 Condos have grown on me over time. I’m captivated by the project’s elegant simplicity, the completeness with which the Crawfords oversaw every aspect of the project from initial concept to the final escrow stage of a sale.

On his Portland Modern website, Bob Zaikoski wrote of 1310, “The completed building has an elegance resulting from its' geometry and form and a richness resulting from some very skilled layering and materials choices. The detailing and execution of the rain screen skin and also the way the stairs and the sun screen are constructed speak of an attention and pride in detail seldom found in most of the built environment.” (Portland Modern is also a sponsor of this website.)

The AIA awards jury, which gave 1310 its Honor Award, wrote, "The project clearly demonstrates the value of architecture as a transformative process. The building is strong, but also humble in its character."

The difference between 1310 and a more obviously aesthetically dazzling work of architecture reminds me of the change in scale that British sculptor Rachel Whiteread has taken with her show at the Portland Art Museum that I reviewed for last week's Oregonian. In the past, Whiteread won Britain’s coveted Turner Prize and achieved acclaim for her room-sized or even building-sized sculptures, in which Whiteread created plaster casts out of entire architectural spaces – literally giving physical form to the negative space inside buildings. Her new show at PAM is far less grand in scale, instead consisting of plaster casts made of everyday objects like poster tubes and packaging Styrofoam. As curator Bruce Guenther described to me, Whiteread’s new work boasts a hand-made quality that the grander earlier works lack, even if their scale is much less impressive.

That’s the way I feel about 1310. What’s special about this project, I think, is that it feels like a kind of hand-made architecture. Obviously the Crawfords didn’t hammer every nail and build 1310 entirely themselves. But acting as architects, developers and general contractors, they had a more intimate level of interaction with their building than most architects experience. This is not to say exceptional architecture can’t come out of big teams of collaborators, or that large-scale buildings are inherently boring. Even so, the subtlety and do-it-yourself quality of the 1310 Condominiums are part of what give the project its attractiveness.

Ultimately awards can’t be taken seriously. No matter how many times somebody tries to explain it to me, I’ll never understand how Academy voters in 1968 could select “Oliver!” for Best Picture when one of the greatest masterpieces in the entire history of cinema, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was right there for the choosing. In other words, it doesn’t matter too much that 1310 won the AIA/Portland honor award. But I see the same high-quality design and comprehensiveness of approach that captivated the jury.

The 1310 Condos will also be part of an upcoming home tour called 11xDesign, featuring several projects around Portland both designed and developed by small firms and sole practitioners, including Path Architecture, SUM Design Studio, Ben Waechter, William Kaven, Design Department, Building Arts Workshop,  SEED Architecture, and Kevin Cavenaugh. I'll be writing a separate post on the tour shortly.

Could PNCA's takeover of MCC create a design museum?

As first reported by D.K. Row in The Oregonian last Wednesday, the Museum of Contemporary Craft and the Pacific Northwest College of Art have agreed to incorporate the museum into the school. 

The MCC was feeling a financial pinch after first moving to the DeSoto building on the North Park Blocks and then facing the sagged economy. PNCA, meanwhile, has been on a roll in the last year or two, acquiring the 511 Broadway building and ownership of its previously rented Pearl District home as well as starting up the Ford Institute for Visual Education with a string of noteworthy speakers through its accompanying "Idea Studios".

Although it's too soon to know what form the MCC will take under PNCA's leadership, what it will be called and how exactly its exhibits might differ, or if it will be there at all in a recognizable form. But initially, PNCA's influence seems to make design a greater part of the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

There have already been behind-the-scenes efforts by a small group of design industry people to create a design museum of its own in Portland. What if those forces began to put their support behind a newly branded, say, Museum of Craft & Design, a Design & Craft museum, or something to that effect?

Multidisciplinary design firm Ziba recently led the Oregon College of Art & Craft through a re-branding in which they challenged the school to think about and re-define what craft really means in the early 21st century. Is it making blankets and pottery by hand, or using NASA software to shape buildings out of titanium? Or both? These are the kinds of curatorial questions a reborn museum might be able to ask.

In fairness, though, much of this sort of thing the MCC was already doing. The recent exhibit "Manufractured: The Conspicuous Transformation of Everyday Objects" is one example. But making a sculpture out of black combs or used lipsticks isn't super-rigorous design exhibition, though. PNCA, with friends like Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works and Wieden + Kennedy's John Jay, could take things a step further.

Yet one also wouldn't want to lost the traditional craft aspect of the museum completely either, however. I loved another show that just concluded yesterday: "The Ceramics of Gertrud & Otto Natzler".

Hopefully this announcement won't be a sad day for MCC as the first step toward a fire sale. I'm still optimistic that won't be the case. Even so, it's another smart move by PNCA regardless, especially given that move-in to the 511 building won't come for a few years.

Adams stays

After initially hearing the news yesterday reported by several media outlets (including Willamette Week, The Portland Mercury and The Oregonian) about Mayor Adams deciding not to resign, I didn't want to write anything more. 

In my previous post, I articulated some of the difficult ambiguity that most of us have felt involving the scandal, and how neither resigning nor staying would feel perfectly right. I've also really appreciated hearing from readers that the post struck a chord and that many felt the same sense of wrestling with the issue.

In the time since the original story broke, it has been interesting to see who has taken what side, or neither. The Oregonian and Just Out (!) were calling for Adams to resign practically before the story even broke. The Oregonian in particular surprised me with how sure they were of themselves. There seemed to be very little deliberation, or deliberation done very rapidly.

At the same time, I had to cringe a little at the spectacle of a press conference supporting Adams with Pink Martini frontman Thomas Lauderdale standing before City Hall in his precious little bowtie, or Storm Large joining him to shout out expletives before belching out Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man". 

But this morning's Oregonian editorial pushes me more into the pro-Adams camp than any of Adams' actions could do to push me away. The Oregonian editorial board not only calls Adams's decision a case of voting "for himself," but their essay also accuses those defending the mayor's right to continue in office as doing so out of fear or self interest. They eschew any notion that Adams staying is in the city's interest and anything other than his own. Which is at least indirectly quite insulting to anyone preferring to greet the mayor with forgiveness.

"Some are from organizations that have benefited financially and politically from Adams' presence in City Hall. Some don't want to land on Adams' bad side by failing to back him. Others...are willing to overlook unprofessional behavior, unethical campaign tactics and perhaps even criminal misconduct if necessary."

In other words, the Oregonian editorial seems to say, if you are standing up for Adams, your own interests and motivations are morally empty as well. This is the key part of what I take issue with (although I mean no disrespect to these editors personally, of course). Apparently only they have strong values - provided, of course, we're not talking about forgiveness or taking the long view of things.

If one of these editors had been George Washington's parent when he chopped down the cherry tree, George would have been doing ten to life in a British stockade for juvenile delinquents.

I can see the board initially calling for Adams to resign. But attacking those who don't assess the situation similarly or draw the same conclusions is as Machiavellian as anything Adams did during his days as Vera Katz's fearsome chief of staff.

If the paper is right and we're all being too gracious in letting our elected Mayor begin his term, then a recall effort will provide means for removing him from office.

But in the meantime, after coming down in the middle with regard to the Adams scandal, I can't help but feel that the righteousness of his critics has pushed me away from their arguments.

UPDATE - additional thoughts after the initial post: While this isn't first and foremost an issue of homosexuality but rather lying to the public (or perhaps now the legality of whether kissing is sexual contact, given the admission that Adams and Breedlove kissed before Breedlove was 18), I wonder if part of what's inspiring the Adams-should-resign camp, along with a strictness about the mistake-free sanctitude of the office itself, stems from the fact that this affair forces us to think more explicitly about Adams' being gay. Ironically, being out can have the effect of making one's orientation a relative non-issue. To many people, myself included, it's still a non-issue. But I think there may be others out there who were only willing to go along with an openly gay mayor as long as he did it relatively discreetly. But in this case, I'm not accusing or explaining; I'm asking. I know I support Adams in not resigning, but the fallout of what it means is something to consider pondering.

Wrestling with the Adams scandal

Since news first broke about newly sworn in mayor Sam Adams admitting he lied about his sexual relationship with a younger man, the chorus of voices calling for his resignation has quickly grown strong. The Oregonian, the state's daily paper of record, and Just Out, the city's premiere publication devoted to the gay community, have both called for Adams to step down. So has the Clackamas Tribune (oops, I mean the Clackamas-based Portland Tribune).

I still feel locked somewhere in the middle: I can't necessarily argue that the mayor shouldn't resign, given the obvious breach of trust that exists between him and the citizens of Portland. At the same time, I am resistant to join in calling for the guillotine.

Steve Duin made an excellent point in an Oregonian column this morning: that as Democrat sex scandals go (as opposed to Republican embezzlement) the Adams affair feels more like the troubles that plagued Bill Clinton than those with Neil Goldschmidt - provided of course that it's true the mayor didn't engage in statutory rape with a minor.

By the way, the Monica Lewinsky figure in this affair is actually named Beau Breedlove. His name practically translates as "beautiful sex." This is a bad joke, right?

I have felt supremely disillusioned about American politics for the last decade, dating back to Bill Clinton's impeachment. I still see that episode as a political witch hunt for the ages. In Adams's case, there isn't a witch hunt. But I hear a similar voice asking, "Who cares?" Part of me wants to forgive Adams as a dutiful commitment to Bill Clinton. Newt Gingrich has nothing to do with Sam Adams, but I see that fool in my head when I come close to calling for the mayor to resign. Did you know Gingrich later admitted to an extra-marital affair he committed during the Clinton impeachment? That's the kind of hypocrisy that can come from these incidents when we are quick to mount our moral high horse. The threat can be found in the title of an Alan Dershowitz book on the Clinton impeachment: Sexual McCarthyism.

Obviously lying to the public as an elected official is not kosher. But if such a leader is ever going to be forgiven for lying, it should be when it comes to his personal life. Not only did I not know much of anything about Sam Adams's sex life before this scandal, but I didn't want to know anything.

I've tried to ask myself a few test questions about Adams and his future. For example, if he were heterosexual and had confessed to an affair with an 18-year-old woman, would he be in this much trouble? I'm not sure, but I know I personally once again would find it somewhat irrelevant. Another question I've asked myself is, if a close friend (gay or straight) confessed to me he/she had lied to cover up a romantic tryst and then apologized, would I forgive that friend? This time the answer is simple: absolutely. And would I be able to trust this friend again? Yeah, I would. It's called being a friend.

Another question I've asked myself: If Adams were a Republican, or otherwise a politician with whom I disagreed on the issues, would I be more likely to call for his resignation? It's possible. In that scenario I'd sense a weakness, and a chance for the politicians I prefer to defeat the one I dislike. I'd be calling for a republican sex-scandal-plagued mayor to step down, but probably with the ulterior motive of wanting him gone anyway.

When we elected Sam Adams a few months ago, it was with tremendous fanfare. This wasn't just a new mayor we were electing, but a young, energetic lifelong policy wonk who had earned a great amount of praise and enthusiasm. I wasn't just thinking about Adams's four year term as mayor, but anticipating the possibility of a two or three-term run like Vera Katz had. Does all that enthusiasm completely disappear when a mistake is made? Not for me. There's no doubt Adams's personal judgment and integrity have taken a massive hit in my mind and in just about every Portlander's. Yet I also don't see Adams as a pariah who now lacks those skills, judgment and passion to lead.

Every time I start to think Adams should resign, I wince at joining the chorus of people on their high horses judging the mayor as if none of us have ever lied about our personal lives. Then if I start to say we should let him continue, I must admittedly pause and wonder what kind of wrong message that might send. After all, even if Breedlove was 18, it was really stupid of Adams to risk his entire political life on this affair.

There is also tremendous symbolism associated with Sam Adams in a way that goes beyond his being the head of the Portland city council. He is the first openly gay elected mayor of a major city in the United States. It would be a terrible shame if that historic breakthrough ended in flames. Clearly it is significant that a publication like Just Out called for the mayor's resignation, but I also think that call was about Just Out as much as it was about what they think is right for the mayor. There's so much discrimination against gays and lesbians anyway that they can't afford to be associated with this kind of ethical lapse. That's hard to question as a motive. But I'm disappointed they'd hang him out to dry so quickly. Where's the loyalty?

And as for The Oregonian editorial board calling for the mayor to step down, that's significant too, and may contribute to Adams resigning. At the same time, let me remind you: this is an editorial board that in 2000 endorsed George W. Bush over Al Gore for president. This may sound a little funny, but even if the paper is correct in calling for Adams to step down, I think they're doing because it would look too questionable for them not to take a hard moral line. The Oregonian also seems to be saying in its call for resignation that the problem isn't just Adams lying, but that he somehow wasn't contrite enough. Which I find silly.

I've also wrestled with the notion of Willamette Week reporter Nigel Janquiss, who broke the story. I freelanced for WW for seven years, and got to know Nigel a little bit during that time. He's a good guy and a very, very skilled reporter. But now that Nigel's two biggest stories have been expose pieces on the sex lives of Neil Goldschmidt and Sam Adams, there's a part of me saying inside, "For what?"

While reading a host of opinions from various local leaders, few of them seemed relevant or insightful - except for the comments of new city commissioner Amanda Fritz: "I've been a psychiatric nurse for 26 years, and people make mistakes....People do things that seem ridiculously wrong, and then lie about it." Oh, and the comments of Leslie Carlson, co-chair of the Sustainable Development Commission: "I think we put leaders on too high of a pedestal. I got his apology, and that's enough for me."

Although I'm not ready to call for Adams to resign, two possible strategies for going forward seem interesting and worth further consideration: that Adams voluntarily support a recall effort, which would begin this summer at the earliest, or that he resign and run for mayor in the ensuing general election. In both cases, Adams would not be walking away so much as giving the people of Portland a referendum on his future. It would be a really tough risk for Adams: he'd essentially be giving in to his adversaries' demands. But if Adams were to leave the mayor's office and somehow regain it, that would be the best of all possible outcomes for him.

This is probably a dangerous post to write simply because I'm still thinking as I type. In an environment where more and more have joined the mob calling for Adams's head, I don't feel comfortable joining in. You know what? I lie sometimes too. Calling out the mayor feels too judgmental. It feels like there is no value in forgiveness, or in the trust that we placed in Adams originally.

Another question I've asked myself recently: Would I vote for Sam Adams over Sho Dozono knowing that Adams lied about a relationship with an 18-year-old? Even as I've wrestled with whether Adams should resign, I've almost surprised myself to realize that the answer is a resounding 'yes'. The mayor's office has tremendous symbolic value, and we have to hold that office to a level of integrity. But is Sam Adams still much better qualified to lead the city than Dozono? I think so. I'd rather have an experienced, driven elected official with an impressive track record who lied when cornered about his sex life to protect his privacy than a travel agency owner with no experience in government.

Regardless of how this turns out, though, the irony of seeing Adams tumble from grace like a skydiver without a parachute, all on the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, one of the most important days in the entire history of the United States of America, is something I and many Portlanders will never forget. It's a big enough moment, therefore, that the only thing I'm sure about is I want to avoid any hasty decisions or judgments.

Right now I'm leaning toward saying that Adams should not step down. There is no perfect solution here, but the forgiveness I feel inclined to give our mayor is the same sentiment I would give to any friend or family member who did the same.

 

UPDATE: After giving this more thought, I've come to believe what we need here is an official mechanism for the city to censure Sam Adams, to put on record that we're not letting this mistake slide. But that action should come in lieu of, and stop short of, actually removing him from office. Does censure exist as an act the City Council can pass? It exists in the US Congress, and would have been the more proper means for punishing Bill Clinton as well. Has anybody read the city charter lately?

Jahn pictures the DNA of Oregon design

In the last few years Jeff Jahn has quickly risen to become one of the leading voices in Portland on contemporary art. He is a jack of all trades, acting as the co-founder and a leading critic for the visual arts blog Port as well as a working artist and a curator, in the latter case both with his own organization, Organism, but also in a guest role at other galleries. Jahn has also been involved on a volunteer basis with the Portland Art Museum.

Originally from the midwest, Jahn is also a cousin of famed architect Helmut Jahn, and perhaps for that reason, Jeff has a strong interest in architecture and design (particularly bridges and transit projects), which often figures into his Port writings. He is also, just as I might say of myself to a lesser degree, a really fervent talker with a great deal of stamina. Nor is this pony-tailed multi-tasker lacking in confidence, smarts or chutzpah.

Recently Jeff sent me a quartet of his photos with accompanying commentary by email. He talks about trying to capture the "DNA," or in other words the essence, of a design in a manner that straddles abstraction without crossing over fully. This first shot, of the Portland Aerial Tram, is included in the Visual Chronicle of Portland. Of the tram image and his architectural photography in general, Jahn says: 

"I’m essentially using photography to turn architecture into paintings... a kind of anti-architecture (a la Gordon Matta Clark) based on finding the compelling design DNA of a building and letting it exist visually without any function or physical load bearing... essentially turning a building into a visual philosophy. For this work I’m uninterested in being a documentarian and tend to present disorienting space more like an object that is both emptied and complicated for the purpose of contemplation. I like Todd Eberle too but he's way more documentary in focus, even his abstract stuff is less spatially confusing and more documentary. You can tell I’m a painter and also have made art deco-style stained glass windows as a kid (age 7+). You can really see it in the composition."

This next shot is of the Standard Insurance Building (also known as the Standard Plaza), built in 1963 and designed by Skidmore, Owings, Merrill.

In a piece for The Oregonian I seem to recall ran in late 1999, Randy Gragg listed this as his favorite Portland building, and I think it might be mine as well. "I agree it's underrated," Jahn says. "I love the escalators and the plaza around the building." 

The photo here depicts part of the open plaza design that SOM employed to give the ground level a better integration with the street. You don't see many tall buildings in Portland today where the ground floor just kind of disappears. It's always storefront retail for a mixed-use affair. The Standard stands out in this way as did many buildings by Mies and other architects of this period did.

The Standard, says Bart King's Architectural Guidebook to Portland, was also ahead of its time in having underground parking and a fireproof interior stairwell. 

The next two photos are of the Mt. Angel Abbey Library, designed by the legendary Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, and Pietro Belluschi's Equitable Building  (now called the Commonwealth). 

"I love the plate tectonics of this," Jahn says of Mt. Angel. This was Aalto's last building in the United States (and one of only two along with Baker House at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts), completed in 1970 just six years before the architect's death, and his next to last project of any kind (predating only the Essen Opera House in Germany). 

The wood detailing you see in this picture is a key attraction of the interior - it's not surprising that Aalto also designed furniture. I was also blown away visiting Mt. Angel a couple years ago by the plethora of natural light. It is organized around a central, open circular well, and then ringed by curving reading tables and radiating stacks. Even though the library is nearly 40 years old, it feels like a small Utopian society of the future.

Looking at his photo of Belluschi's Equitable Building here, the look we know is not to be found. After all, the building owns a place in architectural history as the world's first aluminum-clad structure. Jahn says of his picture, "Since the mechanicals of this building are massively important I thought I'd focus on the part of the building that houses and vents those mechanicals.  We take things like air conditioning for granted and how many buildings have good looking mechanical housings?"

Latest Designs on Portland discussion: The life and work of Thomas Hacker and THA Architecture

The bi-monthly discussion series "Designs on Portland" will resume this Thursday evening at Design Within Reach (1200 NW Everett Street) as I welcome Thomas Hacker, founding principal of THA Architecture (formerly Thomas Hacker Architects), and David Keltner, also of the firm.

As many in our local architecture community know, while studying at the University of Pennsylvania Thomas Hacker got his start working in the office of Louis Kahn, who is easily among the four or five top architects of the 20th century. It was in Kahn's office that Hacker began to form the means of practicing the soulful contemporary architecture that he and his colleagues still deliver today as the firm celebrates its 25th anniversary.

In spring of last year I interviewed Hacker somewhat extensively for my Oregonian story, "Dreamers + Builders", on the most important players in Portland's design and architecture scene. Speaking then about his time in Kahn's office, Hacker told me:

"It had a profound effect on my career. When I was at Penn, I was basically offered a job over the holidays. One of my teachers was working in Kahn's office and asked me to come help build some models. And I never left. I worked there for six and a half years, both as a student and then full time for three to four more years."

"Most important to me is that there was never a sense of a difference between teaching architecture and the production of architecture...There was that feeling that the practice was a place to have a dialog about architecture, but in relation to the actual making architecture."

"When you had a firm, they were searching for the kind of best expression of the program you're working on, or the structure of your building and the material. All that was a search to find a meaningful expression. And that's what this firm was based on."

Before founding a firm in Portland, Hacker also taught for years at the University of Oregon in Eugene. There, he taught some prominent future designers like Brad Cloepfil, Nancy Merryman, Rick Potestio and John Cava. All but Merryman would also work in Hacker's Portland office when it was established in 1984. On the BICC building at Oregon Health & Science University, for example, Cloepfil worked on the beginning of the project (before leaving the firm) and Potestio oversaw its completion. “The BICC and School of Nursing derive strength from their finely tailored, structural integrity, which sets them apart from the current fashion for fragmented designs,” wrote Architecture magazine editor Deborah Dietsch. “Thomas Hacker's buildings at OHSU not only offer a sign of health within their university setting, but within contemporary architectural design."

In the last decade, Hacker's firm has produced a plethora of very fine buildings, particularly public ones. There are libraries in Woodstock and Hillsdale neighborhoods and another in Beaverton. There are campus buildings at Lewis & Clark college and other local institutions, a new theater in Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare festival, as well as the recently completed Atwater Place condo in South Waterfront and two under-construction projects downtown: the Cyan apartments and a new Mercy Corps headquarters.

In a promotional email about Thursday's discussion that went out from Design Within Reach, one of the tag lines said a theme would be, "How do you survive your founders?" This was misleading, for which I apologize. One of the reasons we're also having David Keltner of THA Architecture as a guest is to emphasize that there is more to the firm than Thomas Hacker. Generational transitions in leadership are tough for almost every firm. Hacker himself isn't retiring or leaving the firm any time soon; Sarah Hacker, the firm's head of marketing, told me she expects Thom there for another decade. So we'll be discussing the work of Thomas Hacker, but also looking at the team of people who help deliver THA Architecture's designs, people like Keltner but also Hacker firm veterans like Becca Cavell, Jonah Cohen, Alexander Lungershausen, William Dann, Kacey Jurgens and Charles Dorn.

I make no secret of the fact that Thomas Hacker has always been a favorite Portland architect of mine. He's also a wonderfully inspiring interview, talking easily and openly about the search his firm enters on every project for not just the most practical and pragmatic ways to get a building built, or even the chance to use gorgeous expensive materials, but to find the integrity of giving physical, brick-and-mortar or glass-and-steel form to our greatest hopes and desires.

Thanks again to Design Within Reach for hosting the event, as well as to Pour wine bar for providing refreshments. The event kicks off at 6pm at DWR, on the ground floor of Cloepfil's Wieden + Kennedy building.

Inauguration Day

The sun is shining this morning as, like hundreds of millions of people across the world, I watched Barack Obama's inauguration as 44th president of the United States with joy, awe, and humility.

Sixteen years ago in January of 1993, I stood just beyond the Capitol building's reflecting pool where the capitol meets the mall, watching Bill Clinton elected as president. The joy was great that day too, the sense of promise palpable and limitless. There will be difficulties in the Obama administration just as there were in Clinton's - hopefully fewer of them, of course. But the message today is one of renewal, and looking forward.

One sentence from Obama's acceptance speech rings true for the architecture and building community, even as we struggle through a terrible recession robbing people of jobs and companies of business:

"Your society will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

If you're sitting at home unemployed today, or at work wondering how you'll make payroll, there's reason to feel less optimistic today than the more fortunate among us. Even so, the journey continues, and with a great spring in our step even as we face sobering hardship.

Federal stimulus and a few packed restaurants

Last week Democrats in the US House of Representatives unveiled an $825 billion economic stimulous plan, including $550 billion in spending and $275 billion in tax cuts. According to calculations by Tom Inchioski of Engineering News-Record, "about $135 billion of the spending portion of the plan would go toward construction. Additionally, construction firms would benefit from the plan’s tax incentives, which includes an extension of a provision that allows small companies to write off the costs of equipment and other capital purchases in the year those items are purchased."

The package includes $14 billion for repairs to K-12 schools and $6 billion for higher education (community colleges, colleges, and universities). Also, out of $7.7 billion total going to the General Services Administration for construction, repairs, and operations of federal buildings, $6 billion would go toward boosting energy conservation and energy efficiency.

Many local or regional firms have made a name designing sustainable K12 schools, from BOORA Architects to Mahlum (among others), and firms like SRG Partnership, Yost Grube Hall, Opsis and THA Architecture have designed a lot of university buildings.In both cases there are several more examples. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca is among those firms that have provided design for federal buildings, such as the US Consulate in Turkey and the Bonneville Power Administration building here in Portland.

Inchiosky also quoted national American Institute of Architects federal affairs director Andrew Goldberg, who said of the stimulus, "We have proposed higher funding levels, but as a first draft, it is encouraging." Goldberg and others are also calling for "shovel-ready" assistance for projects ready to be built now, as well as for projects that are still in initial design phases.

As we struggle through unsettling economic times, with some already laid off or with business slowing and others worried about the same happening to them, one also looks for any good signs you can find. In the last few days, eating out I've been surprised to find packed houses everywhere I went or passed by: Cup & Saucer Cafe on Hawthorne, Biwa off Sandy Boulevard, Mother's downtown. When we left Biwa at about 7:30, about 30 people were waiting for a table.

Studies show sometimes small entertainments and pleasures like movies and affordable dining can actually rise during recession or depression. Perhaps it's too naive of me to see it as a hopeful sign. But along with the quantifiable impacts like job loss or declined sales, much of the force of recession is psychological. For those of us who have jobs, which still thankfully is the overwhelming majority of the workforce, we have retracted spending largely because we fear something happening, not because it actually has. Paradoxically, if more of us were ignoring the news about economic doldrums, we might all be likely to go spend money on clothes or cars or foie gras.

If there's anything you need to get out of a recession, beyond money and jobs themselves, it's optimism. Here's hoping Tuesday's inauguration will be inspiring to the economy as it already is politically, historically, socially, and culturally.

If Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc were alive today

Sunday during halftime of the Eagles-Cardinals NFC Championship football game, I randomly began flipping through a coffee table book gathering dust on the bookshelf: Architectural Theory From the Renaissance to the Present. It was either that or Danielle Steele (not really), but the coinflip favored the architectural theory book. 

Inside, I came across a text by Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, a French writer and educator who lived from 1814-1879. Oddly enough, some of le Duc's theories made me think about today's burgeoning age of sustainability.

Viollet-le-Duc predates modern architecture, but his writings, particularly his Detailed Encyclopaedia of French Architecture from the 11th to the 16th Century, had "an almost unparalleled impact on the conceptual tools of modern 20th century architecture," the authors write. Also a restorer of many Parisian landmarks, Viollet-le-Duc was forced out of his professorship at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the leading architecture school of its day in Europe, "as a result of his extensive but futile attempts to reform the training of architects."

Much of his crusade was to wrestle the principles and leadership in architecture away from the clergy and into the hands of secular society. But Viollet-le-Duc also laid out a formula for learning and practicing architecture that acted as a template for Modernist theory that would be very influential in the century-plus to follow: function over ornamentation, engineering versus architecture as art.

Looking back on his Detailed Encyclopaedia from an early 21st century perspective, the very Modernism that might have acted as an antidote to overly ornamented classical design became bogged down by accompanying social theory and rejection of the past. Modernism also became a visual style with its own brand of minimalist ornamentation, rather than an absence of petty style.

Sustainability reminds me of the rise of Modernism in its basic premise that buildings must be efficient machines for harnessing natural resources and eliminating wasteful energy or materials. The invention of air conditioning and the ability to seal off buildings in the 20th century, combined with relatively cheap energy, took building and design away from basic principles of site, materials and climate logically dictating the way in which to build. In other words, architecture by its very nature has always undergone a tug of war between science and art. Obviously in the end you can't have one without the other. But with the mandates of global warming, depleting fossil fuels and other environmental issues, we need logic and science to solve today's problems. Still, will sustainable architecture of the 21st century someday be considered a style as well? If Viollet-le-Duc were alive today, he'd be pounding on the inside of his coffin. But what might he say about green architecture once we let him out?

Are we in an era today where where reference manuals on practicing architecture need to be re-written? People use platitudes about the profession changing or this being a transformative time, but that can probably seem true in any time as one is living it. Even so, particularly given the spirit of change and renewal accompanied by a change in US president the day after tomorrow, I'd be curious to know if if the times really are, in fact, changin'.

Portland Architecture blog seeks contributors

For the last three years, Portland Architecture has been a one-person operation. But it was never necessarily supposed to be that way. I've often, while interviewing architects or talking with fellow journalists, offered invitations for contributions to the site. But somehow it's never quite happened.

I'd like to take this moment to invite anyone with a topic concerning local architecture in Portland to email me at brianlibby@hotmail.com with a story to tell, an opinion to deliver, or insight to provide.

Despite the economy, this is an exciting time for Portland architecture. The nation and the world see Portland as a leader in sustainability and progressive planning. A host of creative talents have moved here in recent years. There has been a massive building boom that's probably over now, but people are going to continue moving to Portland in droves as the latest recession eventually recovers. There will eventually be lots more built.

This blog is delivered in part thanks to generous sponsorship from entities like AIA/Portland, BetterBricks, and Portland Modern. They, and you, deserve the most comprehensive information and advocacy for design in our city. If anyone reading this has information and ideas that might be beyond my radar, please get in contact and help make Portland Architecture better.

 

We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging and mudslinging.

Pagoda Chinese restaurant, Hollywood District landmark, threatened with demolition

Granted this may not be the same a losing a historic building by an acclaimed architect, but numerous people have emailed me about the planned demolition of the Pagoda Chinese restaurant in the Hollywood district at Broadway and 39th. My pal Matt Davis of the Portland Mercury reported on this today, but Matt actually got some key info from a Hollywood neighborhood association newsletter.

The impetus for Pagoda's destruction, apparently, is a new Key Bank branch being planned for the site. If a restaurant closes at a key urban intersection, no one can blame some other business for choosing to relocate there. However, Davis's description of the planned Key Bank as "dreary" seems pretty inarguable.

With just a little creativity, Key Bank could make an exception to whatever cookie-cutter franchise design they usually employee. It sounds inherently silly to keep the faux Chinese architecture of a low-rent chop suey palace, but wouldn't it be a lot more fun to have the Pagoda building preserved as a Key Bank? Even if Key Bank is rolling its collective eyes at the prospect, they'd surely garner more community good will by preserving the Pagoda building. (Unless it was designed by Sienna, apparently.)

This is basically pop culture history more than architectural history, but pop culture is worth preserving too. If we can go out of our way to preserve neon signs, there's no defense necessary in preserving the look and memory of a beloved Chinese restaurant.

You are free to consider this last point of mine to be your fortune cookie message of the day, minus the cookie of course.

The Hollywood neighborhood association will meet next Thursday, January 22 at 7pm at the Hollywood Senior Center, at 1820 NE 40th.

The end of Sienna Architecture

In today's Oregonian it was my sad duty to report on the closing of Sienna Architecture Company.

Originally known as JKS Architecture before a 1990s name change that accompanied a new focus on urban infill, Sienna has operated in Portland for almost 58 years. As recently as last summer, the firm employed 45 people in its local office and 9 more in Seattle. But unfortunately, an October cut in staff couldn't stem the tide.

Sienna could be a controversial firm. Reddick, who took over ownership in the mid-90s and then brought on architect Lee Wynn as a partner in 1999, was a savvy marketer. If that means he was more marketer than designer himself, I'm sure Reddick would be fine with that. However, he always has demonstrated a tremendous passion for design and for city building. Profiles of Reddick in Architecture Magazine and the Harvard Design Review spoke glowingly of him as a kind of urban pied piper, seeking out surface parking lots to transform into high density mixed use buildings. Which more or less happened with Sienna projects like the Northrup Commons and Cascadian Court.

Even more controversial than Reddick is Jeff Lamb, a key designer at Sienna who came to the firm several years ago, left to go out on his own for much of the last decade, and then returned the firm's prominent offices on the ground floor of Pietro Belluschi's landmark Commonwealth Building. Lamb has provided design work for recent Sienna projects like Allegro, the 21-story mixed-use condo intended for Goose Hollow along the MAX line, as well as condos in Southeast like H44 and D48 (pictured at left). During his time away from Sienna, Lamb collaborated with BOORA Architects on what I think is one of the best Portland condo buildings: The Metropolitan. I also wrote about Lamb's interior design work on two incredible projects for art collector and tech-industry veteran Michael Del Castello, a Pearl District loft and a Vancouver penthouse.

Frequently when I've written on this blog about Reddick and Lamb, there have been some very spiteful comments from a minority of voices  in the comments section. Sienna had some legal trouble over some of the firm's 1990s work: mixed use spaces built on very small budgets, where risks were probably taken to stretch the design. However one might fault a developer or contractor just is much in those cases. "I wouldn’t say we’ve picked a lot of fights, but we’ve tried to do the right thing in places where zoning didn’t allow the right thing to be built," Reddick told me. "Jeff and I have gone through our share of asbestos suits." Reporting on Sienna's closing, I found good will. Maybe Reddick and Lee Wynn Winn were designers first and business people second, people told me, but they are good people.

Is Sienna's closing a bellwether bell weather moment for Portland architecture? Are other well known firms coming next? Many seem to have laid off employees, although few firms will go on record as saying so. The marketing director at one medium-sized firm I talked to said they had not laid anyone off but have had some projects canceled that were pretty far along towards breaking ground.

Reddick and Winn both told me that Sienna was talking about breaking up into two or more firms as long as a year ago. The studio Winn headed within the firm was focused on hospitality design, while Lamb and Reddick were more involved with ventures in Asia and elsewhere in the United States - they're currently meeting with clients in Tulsa, for example, still carrying out design work orders for a client in Beijing, and have a condo project in Salem called Rivers (pictured at right) that's more than halfway constructed. But the economy very much hastened that process.

If you're a building industry company that partnered with Sienna, or a former employee, and still looking for payment, Reddick told me, "We're owed more than we owe," and he intends for Sienna to honor all those obligations.

As I mentioned in the article, Reddick and Lamb's new company will be called V3 Design. It's Version 3 for Reddick after JKS and Sienna. The 'V' stands for a plethora of words the pair came up with over glasses of wine one night: vision, velocity, vitality. It's also a Roman numeral for 5, which represents the architecture, interiors, product design, development and planning they will offer.

I also would like to give a shout-out to Ridiculous Design, the new studio begun by two laid off Sienna employees, husband and wife designers Giorgio and Claudine Lostao. These are a couple of impressive talents whom I'm hoping will stay in Portland. The Lostaos came here a couple years ago from Miami, where they worked for one of the nation's most acclaimed architecture firms, Arquitectonica. I wrote about their own home (pictured at left), a West Hills renovation of a small cottage into a dazzling modern residence, for the December 2008 issue of Metropolitan Home magazine. The Lostaos and Ridiculous Design specialize in hospitality, and they are retaining McCormick & Schmick's restaurants, a former Sienna client, as their own. These are precisely the type of intelligent, talented creative minds that have come to Portland in recent years, and the very people the city risks losing if the economy slides too far.

Meanwhile, it's still a sad day to see one of the city's most venerable architecture firms close its doors. I've always loved walking past the Commonwealth Building and seeing Sienna's architecture models in the ground-floor window, an ideal occupant for Portland's most significant work of architecture. Whether it's Reddick and Lamb, the Lostaos, Lee Wynn or other talents disbursing from Sienna, though, hopefully we haven't seen the last of these designers.

Rosales at Bright Lights tonight

Tonight at Jimmy Mak’s jazz club at 5:30pm, the Bright Lights discussion series from Portland Spaces magazine and the City Club of Portland continues with Randy Gragg interviewing Boston-based architect Miguel Rosales, designer of Portland’s next bridge over the Willamette.

TriMet is proposing what will be downtown's first new river bridge in 35 years—and the nation's first-ever transit/pedestrian/bicycle bridge. As the press release attests, “It's a trophy in the making to add to Portland's ever-growing mantel of green alt-transport innovations. But, not surprisingly, a debate is emerging over cost and aesthetics.”

The Guatemalan-born, MIT-educated Rosales has led the design of more than 15 major bridges, including the new Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC, the Liberty Bridge in Greenville, South Carolina, the Puente Centenario over the Panama Canal (pictured above) and the Zakim Bridge in Boston (pictured below).

Over the past six months, in collaboration with German engineering firm Schlaich Bergermann and Partners, he has studied a dozen types of bridges for TriMet and the Willamette River Transit Bridge Advisory Committee.

The final two contenders are a cable-stay bridge, which would have towers reaching 270 feet high, and a wave bridge with an undulating open-web truss pattern. The cable-stay, which is more standard, is estimated to cost between $89 million and $93 million, whereas the wave bridge, which has never been built before, could run from $93 million to $119 million.

Will Portland make its decision based on money that will seem like pocket change in a generation, or will the city commit to the best design no matter what? And how much wiggle room for creativity and uniqueness might there be within the more traditional cable-stay design?

One thing I noticed looking at Rosales's designs for the Zakim and Puente Centenario bridges is that they do not appear to be banal, cookie cutter designs at all. Both are quite striking. The cable-stay may not be the best bridge for its context and for the pragmatic requirements of site. However, it does seem that we could be scared off by the notion of the cable-stay being more 'traditional'. After all, the wave's look might not stand the test of time.

I'm not saying I favor the cable-stay. In fact, I previously was explicit in supporting the wave. Now, I'm not sure. What makes me feel better than the choice of either bridge type, though, is knowing there is a talented designer working on the bridge. I've never met Rosales or heard him speak (that could change tonight), but it seems there is genuine reason to be optimistic about his talents.

Architectural Heritage Center seeks nominees for top Portland buildings list

What are your favorite Portland Buildings? In conjunction with Oregon's 150th birthday, coming up this Valentine's Day, the Architectural Heritage Center invites the public to send them a list of your 10 favorite Portland buildings – "from houses to skyscrapers", they say – by February 1. The AHC will publish its list of the 150 favorite Portland buildings on the anniversary. You can email your picks to Val Ballestrem at valb@VisitAHC.org.

As it happens, I wrote a list of my 10 favorite buildings in a 2001 Willamette Week article reviewing Bart King's Architectural Guidebook to Portland. These might not be my same choices today, but here they are. Or, here they were (in no particular order), with the original comments. All photos except the first one by yours truly: 

Gilbert Building (319 SW Taylor Street)/Architect: Whidden and Lewis, 1893

A beautiful execution of the simple, modest 19th Century brick office building. Romanesque arches lining its upper facade give the Gilbert an understated elegance that has aged gracefully over the last 108 years.

Marilyn Moyer Meditation Chapel (The Grotto, NE 85th Avenue at Sandy Boulevard)/Architect: Thompson Vaivoda and Associates, 1992 

Perched atop a cliff overlooking Portland from The Grotto, this non-denominational chapel is one of the most peaceful enclosures in the city. What's more, the outer glass shell and streamlined shape point our thoughts skyward with a subtle visual poetry.

Portland International Airport Canopy/Architect: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (with KPFF Consulting Engineers), 2000 

Yes, it's just a big awning, but is there a more striking panorama of metal and glass in this city? Over two acres long with intricately woven cables holding pedestrian bridges, what was once an unpleasant trek from car to terminal is now a theater for the possibilities of engineering. Reminiscent of Norman Foster's Nicholas Grimshaw's Waterloo Station London or the new Penn Station being built in New York, this is a grand glass entrance to the city.

U.S. Custom House (220 NW Eighth Avenue)/Architect: James Knox Taylor/Edgar M. Lazarus, 1901

Often ignored by drivers and pedestrians on busy Northwest Broadway (not to mention the city as a whole), this elegant French Renaissance-style building is a sleeping giant. It features a massive courtyard and regal, ornate detailing in terra cotta and granite. Occupied by the Army Corps of Engineers, it's merely an old government office building now-but in a city famous for its historic preservation, the right tenant could bring this handsome behemoth alive.

U.S. National Bank Building (321 SW Sixth Avenue)/Architect: A.E. Doyle, 1916

Every city has a bank modeled after the classic Roman temple. That said, this version by A.E. Doyle, possibly the city's greatest architect ever, carries a majesty that transcends its somewhat common manner. From carved bronze doors to a cavernous tri-colored marble interior, genius here is truly in the details. The U.S. National is an ode to the almighty dollar even someone with mere lint in their pockets must stop to appreciate.

Portland Telegram Building (1101 SW Washington Street)/Architect: Rasmussen Grace Co., 1922

Another splendid old building that has fallen into disrepair, the Portland Telegram Building was originally home to a newspaper of the same name-hence the tower, an architectural tradition for this industry. A striking combination of brick and terra cotta that catches the eye of virtually every passerby despite its shabby state, this is where the Mercury or Tribune should have set up shop. 

Coca-Cola Syrup Factory (2710 NE Davis Street)/Architect: James M. Shelton, 1941

Art Deco is arguably the most elegant and handsome visual style of the last century, but it is rare in Portland. While this modest two story complex would pale in comparison to many of the Art Deco buildings in, say, Miami, it is a welcome stylistic divergence in the Rose City, making an irrelevant little office a lot more fun than anything around it for miles. 

Union Bank of California (407 SW Broadway)/Architect: Anshen & Allen, 1969

At first glance this building looks austere and uninviting, its massive concrete facade reminiscent of the daunting monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But as one of Portland's only remnants of the International style of the mid-20th Century, the Bank of California is a reminder of architecture's bygone idealism. This was a vision of the future that didn't take, which makes it all the more interesting in retrospect. 

Portland Building (1120 SW Fifth Avenue)

Architect: Michael Graves, 1984

Consider the listing of this building a statement of sorts. Granted, the architecture here is in many ways downright shabby: It's an unpleasant place to work in and completely uninviting at street level. In other words it's a bad gift with great wrapping. What's more, the Portland Building's legacy has arguably scared us away from real signature architecture for the last seventeen years. Yet in a city that favors the agreeable to the bold, and function to form, here's to architect Michael Graves and his backer on the project, Philip Johnson, for aspiring to something more than merely another banal government office building. If all architecture followed the Portland Building's path, we'd be in big trouble. But thank God at least one structure in this city dared to shake things up. 

Eighth Church of Christ Scientist (3505 NE Imperial Avenue)

Architect: Charles Ertz/Stanton, Boles, Maguire and Church, 1926

Even in a city known for its innovative church design, few houses of worship command a presence with such modest square footage. Fascinatingly geometric yet elegantly curved, the building combines a Mediterranean roof, Romanesque detailing and Byzantine massing. It's a veritable trip around the Old World, yet displays an effortless uniformity.

If I were compiling a new list of favorite buildings today, I can guarantee you the Church of Christ Scientist would not be included. And neither would Doyle's US National Bank, although of course I respect the impressive architecture there. I doubt I'd have the Bank of California on the list, although I still like it. I would, however, still have the Gilbert Buiding on my list, as well as the PDX canopy.

Several buildings not yet built when I wrote that piece would merit consideration, and some were built and have risen in my mind. In the latter case, I've always loved the Portland Plaza, for example. Though seldom discussed now, it was published in Time magazine when initially built, and resembles a Chicago building I adore by one of Mies Van Der Rohe's apprentices.

Among newer work, I'd consider Host's Belmont Lofts, Allied Works Wieden + Kennedy building and 2281 Glisan building, Rick Potestio's Lair Condominiums, BOORA's Metropolitan condos, Thomas Hacker Architects' Woodstock and Hillsdale branch libraries, Angelil/Graham's Portland Aerial Tram, among others. 

I also regret not having any Pietro Belluschi work on my Willamette Week list. The Portland Art Museum would certainly qualify, as would the landmark Equitable Building. But his late churches like the one at University of Portland are wonderful as well. And as for his mentor, A.E. Doyle, I particularly adore Central Library, so much so that I'd probably even take it over Seattle's signature Rem Koolhaas-designed central library, which then-NY Times critic Herbert Muschamp called the best building he'd ever reviewed. I wouldn't go that far complimenting either library, but I think it's a real testament to our library that it's probably more beloved than such an acclaimed building to the north. The Doyle central library here is a modern interpretation of Georgian architecture, which is also one of my favorite historic styles.

What else am I forgetting? Well, there would be what is quite probably my favorite Portland building of all, the Standard Plaza by Skidmore, Owings, Merrill. Not to be confused with the Standard Insurance Center a couple blocks away, which I also like a lot, and which I believe is also by SOM. These midcentury buildings by America's most important large firm of that era aren't eye-popping landmarks, but have the simple elegance of a Donald Judd sculpture.

Naturally, these lists are silly in their apples versus oranges comparisons and listings, but it's fun to argue over what should be there.

Celebrating, defending A.E. Doyle

Tonight at 7:30pm, author Philip Niles will read from his book, "Beauty of the City: A.E. Doyle, Portland's Architect" at Powell's City of Books (1005 W. Burnside). Niles is also profiled by Jeff Baker in today's Oregonian.

Niles, Baker writes, grew up in the Portland area and his parents had a beach house in Neahkahnie near the vacation home Doyle designed and built for his family. At Reed College, the author commiserated with Doyle's campus there, which the architect considered among his best work. Niles also has an astute take on how Doyle's old buildings were preserved and now contribute to one of America's better preserved downtowns:

"The thing about Portland that's so unusual is that for a long period of time, nothing happened," Niles told Baker. "The Public Service building (an early Doyle design) was the tallest building in town until the end of World War II. Portland was something of a backwater  in that there wasn't much money for new architecture, and by the time things changed, at the end of the 1960s, people were more aware of the value of old buildings and downtown was preserved. I taught outside Minneapolis for many years, and it was just gutted. There was no respect for the past."

Speaking of having no respect for the past, local architectural historian Libby Dawson Farr, Ph.D., recently had a letter published in The Oregonian that I wanted to pass on, regarding the planned demolition of Doyle's Riverdale School:

As an architectural historian, a Riverdale alum and a former Riverdale parent, I believe the decision to demolish Riverdale School is deplorable.

Designs for a new and updated school facility that don't consider the historical importance of the original A.E. Doyle building or try to retain the perimeter walls of the original Colonial-style structure show a lack of foresight. Doyle was adept at utilizing classical styles on many types of buildings, including houses, and the choice of an elongated, rather low building was brilliant at the time.

The site was large and open then and the area itself was more pastoral. The design is taken from the European palace form from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, utilized in many art museums and government buildings throughout the country.

It has a dominant central section topped by a cupola and flanking wings running out from each side. It was filled with light on the East, South and North sides from the large sets of windows lighting every classroom. There are some significant design details throughout the structure as well. I can remember every teacher I had when I attended Riverdale from first through the eighth grade because of the position of each classroom in the building.

It was a modest building, yet Doyle's successor in the firm, the late Pietro Belluschi, was called upon several times to design alterations to it after Doyle's death in 1928. Riverdale students and parents pride themselves on providing educational excellence far beyond most school districts in the Portland area. What will the demolition teach students about the importance of history, the need to preserve (and yes, update) culturally important structures? 

From one Libby to another: well said.

Holst on Holst

For today's Oregonian, I wrote a profile of Holst Architecture, the firm behind (most recently) the 937 condos, the Clinton Condos, the new Ziba Design headquarters, Hotel Modera, and much more.

In newspapers you almost always generate more material than will fit into the article. Below are some additional comments from John Holmes and Jeff Stuhr, the founding principles of Holst. One point I also want to make here, which may not have come through in the original story, is that besides John and Jeff there is a whole team of talents at Holst. I also did not give a comprehensive mention of all their projects. Besides the aforementioned ones, they've also got the Sunrose Condominiums at Southeast 28th and Burnside, they're doing the controversial parking garage finally approved for NW 23rd Avenue, collaborated on the AIA Center for Architecture, and are designing a retrofit and facelift for one of my favorite local buildings, at 415 SW 10th.

Here are Holmes and Stuhr's thoughts about Holst's place in town and the current economy:

Holmes: "Now for us you’ve got two minds. You’ve got the overall economy sort of going like this (motions downward), but because of our development as a firm we’ve sort of gone like this (motions upward). It’s less steep for us, but it’s definitely not going down. Not yet. I think part of it is we have some significant work being completed now. Hotel Modera, I think that was a real successful project. Clinton is finally wrapping up. And 937 is a big deal."

Stuhr: "With 937, what I like is the patterning. It’s fairly normal throughout the district. And ours sort of breaks that pattern. And I think that’s a good thing."

On Holst style and use of materials:

Stuhr: "Certainly there’s a tendency we already had toward a more kind of focused modernism, I’d say. That’s always been our natural tendency. But if there’ some thing a lot of buildings in Portland do, it’s having too many things going on, especially on the façade. If people would edit things down and keep the richness, that’s what I think we’re striving for.

Stuhr:"It’s a very collaborative process and we’ve got a great staff that works with us here. As we’ve grown up and as you’ve grown older and you’re…I feel like John and I are like, ‘Here’s the concept of the building.’ John may tend to draw and I may tend to more critique, but what’s good in our marriage, so to speak, is that we bring out the best in each other. As I got involved with the policy a bit more, it’s not that John doesn’t.

Holmes: "I think through drawing. Drawing actually helps me think. I’ll draw something, almost like a scribbled mistake, and it helps me get an idea. I don’t think that’s necessarily the way Jeff approaches it. But I would say the best work that we do, I would say there’s a real exchange between Jeff and I. he can make a comment and it’ll make something click in my head. I just really respect that level of feedback.

"I also think what has changed in the last few years is we’ve built up this strong group of people we work with. It’s 18 people now. We’re both in position of directing people more now. Jeff or I might draw something, but three other people might be too. In a weird way it’s becoming more collaborative."

Stuhr: "There are so many facets to the creative process in business. The romantic idea is someone is out in the monastery driving out their vision. That’s the myth. The world’s so much more dynamic now. Especially with computers now, it just moves so fast the things you can do. It’s like you come to this point where Clinton or 937 is finally built, you can render these things so completely now that we feel like we’ve seen the building before it’s come to fruition.

Holmes: "Profession-wide the computer has changed the process. Our upstairs is full of models. That’s how you used to work, literally building it. But with the 3d programs that we have now, and more and more evolving from this physical hard to build thing to a computer, we can experiment ten times more and flip it around and be inside of it.

"I know for myself early on in my career I would draw a perspective sketch before I would draw a floor plan. That’s kind of opposite of how people were taught, especially in my day. Now I think when people come out of school they’re doing it more like I did it years ago. They’re more spatially oriented than the computer. It’s a more 3-d exercise than it used to be. It’s an exciting time to be an architect in that regard. It’s a very rich time. I think modernism is finally in a way finding its kind of true place.

Holmes: "Modernism started out as very rational, almost an outgrowth of science, this belief that rational thought was the be-all end-all of human existence. Well it’s not, it‘s just one piece. Architecture has to be a reflection of who we are more completely.

Stuhr: "This morning I flipped over to 89.9 and they said art is of the heart and of the mind. And architecture is that way. It’s rational and it’s structure, but if it stays in that realm, it misses that whole chance to affect how you feel.

Skylab, ZGF, Holst projects earn year-end honors

Interior Design Magazine has awarded Skylab Architecture a 'Best of Year' award for the design of the branding agency North. The 10,000 square foot office situated in the Lane-Miles Standish building (formerly home to an 85-year old printing business and now on the National Register of Historic Places) took the Best Small Office category.

North sought a new kind of office that would reduce or eliminate the traditional cubicle and stretch the parameters of working in a creative environment. The design responds to alternative social interactions with a series of breakaway modules for working, eating, collaborating and lounging. A stacked, cantilevered think module reveals a newly articulated view of the West Hills through clerestory windows in the building. A series of interspersed glass and metal panels define the edit module, two soundproof rooms without doors. Taking a universal icon for quick creative thought, the media module is post-it note yellow.

The magazine also honored Zimmer Gunsul Frasca for its design of the University of Oregon Athletic Medical Center. "When student athletes first enter this sports-therapy and training facility," writes ID's Nicholas Tamarin, "they're greeted by a zigzagging white Corian bench that unravels like a roll of sports tape. And that's just the beginning of the athletic imagery Zimmer Gunsul Frasc Architects created for this 15,000-square-foot center. A seating area features four sandblasted glass screens depicting students in various athletic poses, images made from the names of the school's former athletes, while an adjacent oak wall is branded with the names of the school's most important coaches. The school's "O" logo is depicted in a large relief comprising 3,000 aluminum rods that pierce a glass wall in the nutrition bar. Even there, the stools boast leather covers laser-cut with sport statistics."

This was Interior Design’s third annual Best of Year Awards, with winners in 62 categories from a pool of nearly 1,300 entries. An award ceremony was held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York on December 4th, 2008. The winners are featured in the December issue of Interior Design.

Meanwhile, online design magazine Cool Hunting has selected Holst Architecture's Clinton Condominiums as one of the 'Top 5 Buildings of 2008'.

"The building's minimal interiors combine attractive design with eco-consciousness in a way that's right at home in the Pacific Northwest," wrote Cool Hunting's Doug Black. 

The other four winners were all European architects or firms: Englishmen Nicholas Grimshaw (for an experimental media center at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York)  and Thomas Heatherwick (a cafe in Littlehampton, England), Dutch architect Trude Hooykaas (for the Kraanspor dock-to-office development), and the French company Abilmo (for their 'Pop-up Hotel' rooms).

This award also feels like somewhat of a vindication for the Randy Rapaport-developed Clinton condos. There has been some hostility from neighbors who feel the bold modern look doesn't fit its context, or that the project turns a blind eye to Division Street, or regret the historic home displaced from the site. And to extent, there's some validity in those claims. Nevertheless, I marvel at the Clinton Condos every time I see the building, particularly its jewel-like front facade and its sumptuous mahogany trim at ground level.

Let's welcome Mayor Adams with great ideas for the city

Although I believe he was officially sworn in at midnight on January 1, for the last few days our new mayor, Sam Adams, has been making rounds through the community to listen to ordinary voices about the state of the city.

Obviously the biggest issue right now is the economy. As Adams has visited neighborhoods like St. Johns and Parkrose, he learned of closed businesses and vacant storefronts. He can't make the Dow Jones go up or fix the mortgage crisis. And it's a weak mayoral form of government in which Adams only wields so much power beyond any other city council member. But Adams comes into office with a tremendous amount of excitement. He's smart and energetic and, while not to be crossed, seems very willing to listen.

One of Adams's key mentors, former mayor Vera Katz (under whom he was chief of staff), paid attention to design and architecture. There's reason to believe he'll do the same. Even though one never agrees with any elected official all the time, I'm optimistic and enthusiastic myself about the incoming Adams administration.

In the spirit with which the new mayor has gone on a mini listening tour, I think it's a great time for architects, planners, and other members of the design and building industry to give Adams a few ideas and opinions about how, to put it in simple terms, the city can work better.

Many of you reading this are better able to assess individual line-item issues and broader concerns Mayor Adams should heed. Please leave a comment here about what he should prioritize and appreciate.

As someone writing about architecture here over the last decade and watching city government, I'd like to see more of an official action taken toward assuring design excellence in all city projects, be it the ones public employees occupy or the projects agencies like the Portland Development Commission funds. To me sustainability and energy/resource efficiency are huge parts of this, but just that: parts. At PDC, for example, there is a staff member devoted to coordinating sustainability efforts, but nobody working to assure good design. Particularly when you're coordinating involvement from a lot of neighborhood and community voices, I wish there someone doing at the city level what someone like Ed Finer grew famous for doing at the GSA on the federal level: making great buildings. Vera Katz started the Mayor's Design Initiative and Tom Potter discontinued it. Maybe that's a good place to start. I'm just sayin'.

Also, there is a lot of work to be done on the transportation front, be it bridges for MAX over the Willamette and possibly for I-5 over the Columbia. There may be a Burnside/Couch couplet and almost assuredly new streetcar and MAX lines. There could be a lot of federal dollars available if Portland plays its cards right. And besides these projects, what else might Portland be in line for? I'm not sure how much a mayor can do about this, but I'd love to see Adams advocate for high-speed rail on the west coast. With the mayors of Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles behind such an effort, the chances would improve. And if we're talking about rail, why shouldn't you be able to take a train from Portland to the Oregon Coast? Anybody driving on to Lincoln City or Canon Beach knows traffic is getting ever more clogged.

Then there are long-term issues like the future of Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Quarter, not to mention the Portland Public Schools property just north of there. There's the downtown US post office space on NW Broadway that could be transformed. Centennial Mills could easily fall through if the developer backs out, so that will need mayoral attention to make sure it happens. Same for Burnside Bridgehead. On the other end of the spectrum, there are surely things city government could do better to make creative projects able to happen. As the city continues to add density, people will get more and more clever about maximizing less obvious urban spaces. Are city regulations going to encourage and not hinder that experience?

Sam Adams might also be able to influence important bodies like the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Design Commission, even though I believe those are part of bureaus that commissioner Randy Loenard oversees. Speaking of which, under Leonard's watch there have been laudable efforts like the Living Smart competition for skinny houses. Why not put some local architects to work on some kind of invited design competition brainstorming new ideas for some city projects?

Four years ago, I wrote a Willamette Week article about key issues facing incoming mayor Tom Potter: the transit mall (how to handle MAX, buses and possibly other vehicles together), South Waterfront (forgetting about whether to tram or not to tram and making sure the rest of the neighborhood develops), and Burnside Bridgehead. Today the new transit mall is nearly complete...finally. South Waterfront has developed a great deal from four years ago and, once the economy recovers, will continue growing. Burnside Bridgehead has been on hold for awhile, but may come back. In fact, it has to eventually given the prominence of that site.

But again, I'm not an architect. I don't even play one on TV (to paraphrase an old aspirin commercial). You tell me--no, tell Mayor Adams--what you'd like to see happen in the 4, 8 or perhaps even 12 years he could have ahead running our city.