Portland Architecture

Notes from Coliseum proposal night

Photo by Brian Libby

Last night at Memorial Coliseum was a wonderful kind of civic spectacle. Inside the arena, where the ice was set up for a Winter Hawks hockey game, presenters from all walks of life gave their pitches on what should be done with this landmark building. There were educators talking about creating a cultural museum, entrepreneurs suggesting wave pools and video conferencing centers, architects, developers, veterans' groups, peace activists, social service providers championing a cultural center, and representatives of the Trail Blazers there with their preservation plan.

Outside the arena in the Coliseum's concourse, with views out onto the nighttime skyline, hundreds of people perused a long line of tables showing off the proposals, while a jazz ensemble played tunes nearby. At this stage of the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee process, it's kind of like the first round in the NCAA basketball tournament or a grand-slam tennis match, with overwhelming favorites cast in the same pool as huge longshots. Ultimately the committee will only go forward with properly funded and widely supported plans, but for this night it was fun to see such a wide cross-section of individuals addressing the committee on a level playing field.

Photo by Brian Libby 

The Trail Blazers provided some of the additional images of Memorial Coliseum and their plan for it, which was a weakness in the Jumptown presentation when it was originally released. As these renderings show, the Blazers and the Winter Hawks (who are a partner in the proposal) have mostly left the original architecture alone, except for carving a new opening into the seating bowl at the building's entrance and removing the original entry canopy. I don't think the opening is a bad idea, although as I've said before, I hope the Blazers' plan is changed to retain the canopy.

Images courtesy Portland Trail Blazers  

The perceived top contender after the Blazers, local developer Douglas Obletz of Shiels Obletz Johnsen, had already released a wider variety of images of his proposed MARC, or Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex. Obletz spoke passionately about current Coliseum and Rose Quarter planning as this generation's "Pioneer Courthouse Square moment," a participatory civic act that gives birth to a new, much loved public gathering place. During his presentation, Obletz showed a video accompanied by John Lennon's "Imagine", with graphics and animated text evoking notions of a MARC (seen in a rendering below) overflowing with families and amateur athletes, local college and high school teams.

Images courtesy Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex

I found use of the Lennon song and the presentation's populist rhetoric to be a little over the top. It seems to me as if Obletz is trying to cast a potential contest between the MARC and the Blazers as a David and Goliath story, with the MARC representing the people's choice and Jumptown representing only corporate, out-of-town interests. ("Ahoy, there be Baltimoreans at our gates, ye olde Portlanders! Batten down the hatches!") Yet Obletz's firm has been very successful and prominent in Portland for many years. He's not the biggest fish in this pond, but he and the MARC team dwarf most of the other 96 proposals in resources and connections.

But don't get me wrong: This is not an endorsement of the Jumptown plan. It's too soon to say, and too early in the process.

Photo by Brian Libby 

Ultimately, of course, it's not really about who has a bigger or smaller development team, or whether they come from Portland, so much as a decision about Memorial Coliseum. And while the Blazers' Jumptown plan as we've seen it presented so far unquestionably has flaws, Iast night's proposals were about Memorial Coliseum, and I found their renovation plan to be the most sensible, plausible, and preservation-oriented.

For those who also attended the event last night and watched the presentations, what were your impressions? What were your favorites?

Examining Coliseum & Rose Quarter proposals (part 5): skylights, robotic parking, and a ferris wheel

 

As the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee gathers this evening (January 26 from 5-8:30pm) at Memorial Coliseum, I'd like to continue looking at some of the proposals. In the last four posts the focus was one project at a time, but with 95 proposals in all and presentations coming today, I'll present several this time.

First there is the "Light It Up" (pictured in renderings at top and immediately below), a concept described as bringing natural light into two zones within the existing Coliseum building. "The convention space located beneath the Main Entry Plaza has been identified and described by many as being dark and uninviting," its summary reads. So they propose an addition of two sculptural skylights: one centered before the building's main entry canopy and the second in the plaza. "In two other areas, natural light can be avoidably brought into the Convention Space by creating large punched opening along the space's western walls on either side of the main entry and inserting a glazing system. This will bring in light and afford conventioneer's views of the fountain and courtyards while also letting the public view inside to see what is happening."

 

The Light It Up concept also poses a replacement of the Coliseum's main roof to let in expansive daylight. The proposal explains that "the roof decking would be removed and replaced with either a translucent panel system or glazing system."

Personally, I really like half of this concept, where skylights are cut into the Coliseum's underground exhibit hall. This is something the Friends of Memorial Coliseum has suggested from the beginning of this process: enlivening the exhibit hall with natural light and using this area as the focus of new development and programming.

As for cutting a gigantic skylight into Memorial Coliseum proper, the arena itself, I'm more skeptical. Much of the building's structural support comes from the roof, so I'm not sure it is possible to do. But even if it is, there is already substantial natural light brought in from the four glass walls. The skylight above could amount to expensive overkill.

 Another concept, which I admittedly find a little silly, is the Car Memorial Museum. "We propose to re-purpose Memorial Coliseum in a way that will foster Portland’s evolution into a model sustainable city of the future," the proposal says. "Our concept begins with the counterintuitive conversion of the Coliseum into a colossal robotic parking garage. And it ends mid-century with the launching of a museum that celebrates the bygone era of the automobile."

"The Coliseum building is well-suited to hold a modular robotic parking system," the proposal continues, "and could accommodate roughly 5200 cars. Ideally, it would be one of several such 'Mobility Centers' that would ring downtown. Over time, as the city grows and reliance on cars declines, these facilities would be relocated to less urbanized areas. Eventually, when parking is no longer needed in the Coliseum, we propose convert it back to a civic use, namely the 'Car Memorial Museum.' The robotic parking apparatus would then be re-purposed to store museum 'specimens,' and to retrieve them on demand for close up display to museum patrons.

The people behind the Car Memorial Museum aren't just parking magnates. They explain on the proposal's website that while parking is a lucrative endeavor, their real purpose is to celebrate the end of the automobile.

 

Even so, I can't help but feel a robotic parking garage is an slap in the face to Gordon Bunshaft (the legendary Skidmore Owings Merrill architect behind the design) and Bill Walton, and to the Coliseum's place as a landmark building. It would gut the interior of the Coliseum and devote it to automobiles in a city where bicyclists and pedestrians are king.

Then there is the Peace Garden (below), from local architect Bill Badrick. "My proposal is to turn a former sports building into a garden/hotel/indoor gourmet center," Badrick writes. The entire seating bowl will be converted to personal garden boxes. Each former seat will become a private high tech planter for lease to city gardeners for their prize lilly or rose bush.

 

"The building," Badrick adds, "will have a sun-filled inflatable insulated dome added. The centerpiece of this garden bowl is a ferris wheel which rotates to allow dramatic garden viewing. The concourse around the seating/planting bowl will be made into a boutique green hotel. The building will create all of it's [sic] energy needs with a Water Wheel in the adjacent Willamette River."

 

Badrick has been a regular Portland Architecture reader and commenter for a long time, and I've always appreciated his insights as well as the watercolor paintings he creates for all of his design ideas. In the past he has also submitted ideas for the Willamette MAX bridge being built by TriMet, as well as the Columbia River Crossing bridge, each focused around the idea of adding park-like spaces to the bridges.

So I want to give Bill the utmost respect when I say this: A ferris wheel? An inflated dome? The seating bowl converted to garden boxes? Are you kidding?

Like I said, with 95 submissions there isn't enough time in my day (or month) to write about all of the proposals. If there's a great Coliseum/Rose Quarter proposal among the 95 that someone things I really should look at and present in more detail, I'm happy to oblige. But you can also read about each of the proposals here, on the Rose Quarter Development Project website. And again, at 5PM tonight at Memorial Coliseum, presenters will be making presentations in their own words.

Examining Coliseum & Rose Quarter proposals (part 4): an "Action Sports" complex and resort

 

Continuing our look at some of the 95 proposals for Memorial Coliseum that were submitted to the mayor and PDC's Stakeholder Advisory Committee, and mindful of tomorrow (January 26) as the date when presentations on these projects will be made at the Coliseum, is the Portland Action Sports Complex and Resort.

The idea here stems from how The Rose Quarter, including both The Rose Garden and Memorial Coliseum arenas, has long represented professional sports in Portland. The program seeks to address how participation in American sport is changing. Participation in many traditional sports (hockey, baseball) is declining, even as participation in other outdoor sports of the "X Games" variety like skateboarding or cyclocross or snowboarding, has grown substantially.

"The redevelopment of Portland’s Rose Quarter offers an opportunity to create a world class facility that can combine the history of the old with the potential and excitement of the new," the PASCR website says, "while providing a safe place for families and friends to participate in a wide variety of active sports."

The Portland Action Sports Complex and Resort concept was put together by Action Sports Northwest with design assistance from Viridian Environmental Design,  and Architecture Office. Action Sports CEO Adam Wagner was previously involved in putting on the Nelscott Reef Tow In Classic surfing event.

The complex, they say, "would include some of the best facilities in the world for sports such as surfing, skateboarding, BMX biking, rock climbing, kayaking, and white water rafting in one location. The facility would also include family friendly activities, including water slides, tubing, instruction and camps."

The proposal also includes copious mention of sustainable design and construction methods intended. Most unique in this regard would be a "living machine", with wastewater processed through a series of water storage tanks that would biologically treat the water before it re-enters the environment.

 

Also included in this Rose Quarter plan would be a  250-500 room resort hotel with accompanying retail shops. "The entire development would be a destination resort that could become the athletic center of the city," the proposal goes on, "Each facility would be designed to encourage daily use but, in combination with exterior plazas and outdoor spaces would be able to accommodate large scale professional events, such as the Dew Action Sports Tour and the X-Games.

In terms of the Rose Quarter's physical makeup, the PASCR proposal would more or less leave Memorial Coliseum untouched except for necessary restoration and new seating for the arena. Like the Blazers, the he Portland Action Sports Complex and Resort sees the Coliseum having continuing value as a medium-sized arena with not only sporting events but a continuing role as a multipurpose arena.

As I got into the meat of this proposal on the website, it became clearer that water recreation and sport lies at the heart.

 

The PASCR would include what they are calling the "world’s first indoor circular wave pool", designed by the Kelly Slater Wave Company. "This design utilizes a large circular pool that creates perpetual waves and is located below street level at the heart of the new hotel," the website goes on. "The wave pool is sunken approximately 40-feet below street level with a high atrium space overhead that will allow natural south-facing sunlight to wash over the space creating a stunning view from street level and from the reception and lobby areas of the hotel. A number of rooms and conference facilities could easily be located to overlook the wave pool from the cantilevered terraces above the space. A hotel would be integrated with the wave pool and other water features, like a kayaking path, lap pools and so on.

Another aspect of the proposal is the Memorial Plaza, the large open space between Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Garden, the new hotel and wave pool. The large, flat plaza is bordered on the east side along NE Wheeler Avenue with a set of steps that gently integrate the site's nearly eighteen feet of grade change from Wheeler Avenue to the front doors of the Coliseum.

 

Overall, I like the idea of a hotel on the Rose Quarter site because it could put more people on the ground there than just people coming to events at the arenas. The idea of having a sort of themed destination sports-and-spa resort seems not so outlandish.

And of course having been involved in trying to save Memorial Coliseum and follow the strictures of its National Register listing, I like the fact that PASCR would let the MC be the MC.

As far as programming, I also like the idea of adding athletics and fitness-oriented programming to the Rose Quarter, just as the Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex (MARC) proposal does. Only the PASCR, unlike the MARC, would do so in a way that keeps the Coliseum's original architecture intact. Wonderful as the MARC's programming is, it guts the inside of the building.

At the same time, the wave pool feels just a little gimmicky to me. I don't mean that wave pools themselves are without value. It sounds like a lot of fun to go surfing in the middle of the city, especially when it's raining outside for months straight. And hey, it's a great tie in with "the wave", that silly stunt that sports fans do at games when their team has a big lead. But if building the wave pool is ultimately the hook on which everything hangs, the whole raison d'etre for this proposal, well somehow that feels  a little backwards.

What do the rest of you think?

Examining Coliseum & Rose Quarter proposals (part 3): Harrison offers "Jumptown Plaza"

 

He's neither a developer nor an architect or businessman. James Harrison is an artist whose large scale public sculptures have received sizable acclaim. He was instrumental in saving the Lovejoy Columns several years ago, and his sculptures have been commissioned for locations ranging from Portland's Eastbank Esplanade to an exclusive club in London called Hospital.

Harrison is one of the 95 parties who have submitted ideas for Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Quarter. Likely his proposal won't be treated as seriously as those from the Trail Blazers or developer Douglas Obletz (who have offered Jumptown and the Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex), simply because he doesn't have the same resources to generate the concept or see it through with funding. Even so, Harrison's "Jumptown Plaza" proposal is more than worth a look.

  

The Jumptown Plaza scheme is relatively simple, which may be its greatest strength. It looks to preserve Memorial Coliseum as a functioning multipurpose arena. Basically Harrison imagines restoring the arena according to its National Register strictures. The lone exception is a new entry canopy, placed on the south side of the building to better orient it to the Rose Garden and to the riverfront.

If there is a bold, more substantial part of Harrison's plan, it is to replace the Trail Blazers' One Center Court building with a new high-rise tower. I like this idea a lot, because One Center Court is one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. It's basically a giant parking garage with a few floors of office above it and a hideous curving roof. What's more, One Center Court takes up a lot of land that could, as Harrison points out in his scheme, become part of a more substantial plaza or public courtyard.

In Harrison's proposed plaza, there would be room for a series of vendors selling food to eat as well as produce. A public market or farmers market could be held here on a regular basis, or there could be a setup for food-cart vendors. (Just a modest series of uniform stalls could eliminate their ugly trailers but maintain the wonderfully Portland spirit of the food cart explosion.) In addition, Harrison envisions a sculptural piece that doubles as a protective cover from the rain.

"To accommodate the Portland ethos," Harrison told me, "it needs to be fine grained and not mega scaled. The Rose Quarter already has the mega scale with the two arenas. It needs that fine grain." By fine grain, he means smaller-scale vendors who operate using a hundred square feet, not ten thousand.

Harrison's scheme also creates a bridge over Interstate Avenue to connect the Rose Quarter with adjacent riverfront property. This is another crucial aspect of any Rose Quarter plan. The property sits next to such a valuable resource in the river. We could have another, only better, Eastbank Esplanade here. It would be a great place to put some of the restaurants or bars the Blazers are envisioning with Jumptown.

  

Harrison admits that his renderings aren't as sophisticated or extensive as the MARC's, and that his plans for the entire Rose Quarter aren't as ambitious as the Blazers'. Even so, the basic idea of his Jumptown Plaza concept is very sound: Recognize the Coliseum is already a well functioning and beloved resource; enhance the public plaza between the Coliseum and the Rose Quarter; change out the One Center Court building, which is truly the problem here; and create a connection to the river. Problem solved, right?

A preservationist perspective on Memorial Coliseum plans [updated]

 Photo courtesy Blue Ruin

As the mayor’s Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee begins vetting proposals later this month for the renovation of Memorial Coliseum, here at Portland Architecture I’ve tried to describe the pair of leading contenders, the Trail Blazers’ Jumptown and Douglas Obletz’s Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex (MARC), more or less objectively.  I also plan to write about some of the other proposals that have been offered, and will do that in the days ahead.

But in the meantime, I want to make something clear: The Trail Blazers appear to have the plan that is vastly more preserving of the original bowl-in-the-glass-box design that makes Memorial Coliseum special and great. That said, appear is an operative word. They still have to prove it with more drawings and follow-throughs on pledges. 

 Image courtesy gdwriter.com

It was easy to be distracted from the Blazers’ plans for the Coliseum when the Jumptown scheme was released earlier this month. At this stage of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee process, only Coliseum renovation plans have been asked for, but the Blazers went ahead and submitted their ideas for the entire Rose Quarter district. Their plans show not just a renovated Coliseum, but also a vast array of hotels, residential construction, an entertainment complex and more. It spreads not only through the RQ but also across Broadway to and across Interstate Avenue to the riverfront.

Usually taking a holistic view from the get-go is a good thing, and the Blazers are correct to see that the Rose Quarter is not an island (even if it seems so now) but instead connected to the city fabric in crucial ways. They see it’s the Rose Quarter that’s the problem, not Memorial Coliseum.

The building, designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill and opened in 1960, represents a culmination of integrity, excellence and wonder. The size of four city blocks but resting on just four columns, it is perhaps the only arena of this size in the world that has a completely transparent exterior facade. It's a glass jewel box.

Photo courtesy City of Portland archives 

The Trail Blazers are proposing a light-handed renovation for Memorial Coliseum that preserves nearly everything crucial and wonderful about the architecture.The seating bowl inside would remain intact. Likely only the seats themselves would be switched out, allowing not only more leg room for attendees but also for the team to create the approximately 7,000-seat arena they seek without any structural change to the bowl.

Although the MARC plan has evolved positively to now include a similarly sized 7,000-seat venue to what the Blazers propose (originally Obletz’s scheme had no arena), and even though renderings now show the building’s exterior glass façade being preserved (instead of a TVA Architects-designed façade that resembled their own portfolio more than the original structure), one thing is still clear: The MARC proposal completely guts the inside of Memorial Coliseum, so much so that it would no longer be the same building. The Blazers’ proposal is the truest preservation we have.

What’s more, a lot of what Obletz is proposing for the MARC is also proposed in the Jumptown scheme, only in a less invasive way. The Blazers too are offering a bevy of athletic facilities available to the community. But the Jumptown plan puts those facilities in the massive underground portion of Memorial Coliseum, a space so large that Portland used to hold its annual show there. Both schemes even include a sports museum, but only the Blazers’ proposal would preserve the interior of the Coliseum itself. 

photo by Brian Libby 

The Obletz scheme is more ambitious in its provision of athletic facilities; there are more swimming pools and basketball courts. Yet it completely sacrifices the interior of the building to produce what seems to be only an extra 50,000 to 75,000 square feet of additional athletic space.

Then there’s cost: While the Blazers may have ambitious plans for the rest of the Rose Quarter (and beyond) with Jumptown, the team’s Memorial Coliseum scheme would be vastly, vastly cheaper than the MARC proposal. We’re talking about a minor facelift versus radical reconstructive surgery. Considering we’re still stumbling through The Great Recession, does Portland really want to choose the more expensive scheme?

At this point you might say, “OK, I accept that the Blazers have the more preservation-oriented about the Coliseum, but I’m really concerned about Jumptown.” After all, the Jumptown renderings show a cheesy array of faux-historic brick buildings with a crassly ginormous canopy. What’s more, the Blazers’ development partner, The Cordish Company, has a controversial reputation, and the entertainment districts Cordish has built in places like Kansas City, Louisville and Los Angeles don’t seem like the right fit here.

But you have to understand something about Jumptown: Other than the Coliseum renovation plan, the scheme unveiled is still in its early stages. Even if we greenlight Jumptown, there is still time to convince the Blazers to employ a top local architect and to favor contemporary architecture over faux historicism with the buildings comprising the entertainment portions of the Rose Quarter.

 

photos by Brian Libby  

What we’ve seen so far are just early renderings provided by Cordish and its frequent architectural partner, Baltimore-based Design Collective, which has a picture of a combination Barnes & Noble-Hard Rock Café in neo-historic packaging on its website. That’s not the kind of design talent we need for Jumptown, but it’s probably not the designers we’ll get. In conversations with the Trail Blazers, team leadership has repeatedly emphasized that they want to build what the community wants. A local architect working with them and Cordish? No problem. A change to the Jumptown scheme? They say they’re all ears. The problem is that so far we have to make a leap of faith in believing them. The more the Blazers sign contracts and produce renderings going in the preservation direction, the more support they should garner.

It would be naïve of me (or anyone) to accept every Blazer pledge about Jumptown and to skeptically ignore Obletz’s ideas about the MARC. That’s especially true given that Obletz has provided in his numerous renderings a much more extensive look at what the MARC would actually look like. The Blazers, on the other hand, have only provided one rendering of their Coliseum plan. So an apples-to-apples comparison is tough when you’re looking at a single rendering versus about 10.

What’s more, this isn’t a black and white preservation choice even as it relates to just the Coliseum. After all, the MARC proposal has the Jumptown scheme beat in one regard: it preserves the Coliseum’s outside entry canopy and Jumptown does not. According to Trail Blazers’ Vice President J.E. Isaac, though, the team is absolutely willing to keep the canopy. And while the Blazers are now proposing a relatively hands-off approach to the Coliseum, they have previously discussed making additions to the buiding with swoopy curves, which would be utterly disastrous.

photo by Brian Libby 

This is not a perfect process. It’s easy to get confused when we’re dealing with two Coliseum plans and only one Rose Quarter plan. And even if the Blazers’ preservation of Memorial Coliseum is preferable to Obletz’s, we’re talking about an out-of-town developer running Jumptown compared with a local developer spearheading MARC, the latter of which would be more in tune with Portland’s values. Even so, if you want to see Memorial Coliseum preserved as it is and always has been – as one of the greatest contemporary buildings in Portland, and one of the most architecturally unique large arenas anywhere in the world (it’s the only truly transparent arena) – it seems clear that the Trail Blazers are the ones looking to best preserve the Glass Palace.

What we need now is to hold the Blazers to their pledges and see more proof. We need more renderings of Memorial Coliseum as the Blazers see it in the future, and a commitment to keeping the swoopy addition plans in the waste bin. We also need the Blazers to commit to hiring a local architect. So far they have on board a superlative Portland architect, Rick Potestio, but my understanding is that he’s so far only an adviser, and is not producing designs. Ultimately, whether it’s Rick or another Portland architect/firm, the final Coliseum management agreement needs to come with a contractual provision that the winning suitor has to work with a local architect. As things stand now, it’s a little too easy for the Blazers to parade Potestio as part of their team while still relying on Cordish and Design Collective to actually provide the blueprints. Having a great Portland architect like Potestio or Brad Cloepfil, and leading the design process (not the developer), is a priority. It’s what makes Portland the design capitol it seeks to be.

Because I write this blog and am also involved in the leadership of the Friends of Memorial Coliseum, it can be confusing with regard to what hat I’m wearing as I write this. So it should be said that the qualified support I’m pledging for the Blazers’ Coliseum/Rose Quarter plan is my own, and not an official Friends endorsement. And even if this were a no-holds-barred vote for the Blazers from myself and the Friends, it would be contingent on the Blazers doing and showing more before the deal is sealed. Ultimately, the National Register listing should be the real guide for how to proceed with this landmark building.

Having said all that, though, it appears today as if the Blazers have the best plan out there for truly saving Memorial Coliseum. Now we need to hold them to it.

UPDATE, 1/21/10: After reading several comments responding to the idea that I have endorsed the Blazers' Jumptown plan by writing this post, I want to clarify my remarks: I am not unequivocally supporting the overall Jumptown plan - at least not yet. I support the Blazers' plan for renovating Memorial Coliseum over the MARC plan because it's far more preservation oriented. But I also am concerned about the rest of Jumptown as the Blazers have presented it so far, in terms of the aesthetics, programming, and the use of an out-of-town developer that arguably may be out of step with Portland values. The fact that we're comparing a Coliseum plan to an overall Rose Quarter plan is indicative of this confusion.

Examining Coliseum & Rose Quarter proposals (part 2): Obletz offers revised MARC plan

 

If the Portland Trail Blazers are the favorite to win a city contract to redevelop the Rose Quarter and Memorial Coliseum, the next biggest contender is the Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex (MARC), offered by Douglas Obletz, president of the local development company Shiels Obletz Johnsen.

SOJ has developed numerous high profile projects in town, such as Museum Place downtown, which provided high density housing (by GBD Architects) on top of a Safeway (the first Safeway in the nation to have housing above the store).

Obletz, who I visited with and interviewed two weeks ago, insists the MARC proposal is not simply the endeavor of a large local developer looking to get a piece of the Rose Quarter pie. He talked about how Memorial Coliseum is a public building, and thus no private entity -- the Trail Blazers included -- should be set up to use the building as a for-profit venture. Obletz believes the RFP (request for proposal) process being employed at the end of the city's Stakeholder Advisory Committee is flawed. "The only people who can afford to go through the RFP process are the Blazers," he said. "And should they make money off public land?"

 

Obletz also believes the Rose Quarter is better off as what he calls a "sports village", not the entertainment district the Blazers are betting on. And his MARC proposal, drawn up by TVA Architects with an assist from architect Peter Meijer (who wrote the Coliseum's National Register application), does just that.

As many know, the MARC plan was first offered several years ago, when the Coliseum came dangerously close to becoming redeveloped into a big-box retail outlet, possibly a Home Depot. At that time, the idea of a recreation complex sounded infinitely better. However, if you were looking at the MARC plan from a Coliseum preservationist perspective, it was ominous; that initial MARC proposal would have entirely removed the Coliseum's seating bowl (now protected by the National Register listing). And TVA's renderings refashioned the original glass exterior to look like...well, like a TVA building.

Meeting with Obletz to look at his revised MARC plans earlier this month, it was clear that they had changed significantly -- and for the better. Now they include, like the Trail Blazers' proposal, an approximately 7,000-seat arena that would continue to be home to the Winter Hawks hockey team. What's more, Obletz envisions Portland State University basketball teams using the Coliseum as their home court, as well as state high school playoffs in basketball, wrestling, swimming and numerous other sports.

 

Although the MARC would retain an arena, the design drops the arena down a floor, so that when one entered, the top of the seating bowl would be at eye level instead of the bottom. "The existing seating bowl is completely removed in our proposal," Obletz explained. "It is replaced by a smaller diameter seating bowl with 6,500-7,500 seats.  Some of this new bowl will rise above the Concourse Level, but not to the extent of the current bowl." By giving the arena a "haircut", as Obletz called it, room would be left over for a new floor above called the Field House level. These areas, along with underground spaces, would provide a bevy of athletic facilities: olympic sized swimming and diving, more basketball courts, and workout equipment.

The new Coliseum arena would also be flexible enough to provide a velodrome track, thereby incorporating Portland's burgeoning bicycle culture as well as a competing plan for the building. It would also allow for indoor track, something I've heard Nike has advocated the Blazers make a possibility for in the Jumptown plan.

  

Along with preserving key elements like the glass exterior and entry canopy, the National Register listing also calls for no other architecture to be touching the perimeter of the Coliseum. The MARC plan honors this, but adds a small building to the north side of the Coliseum that, while not touching the original facade, would more or less abut it with an underground passage.

Also like the Blazers' Jumptown proposal, the MARC would also make room for a sports museum. Instead of being branded by Nike, the museum would be a resurrection of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, which used to be housed downtown.

The MARC would also move the veterans' memorial out of the sunken outdoor garden where it now exists and move it to the front of the Coliseum; this is somewhat similar to the idea the Trail Blazers have of moving the memorial to the northwest corner of the Rose Quarter.

 

Overall, Obletz makes a viable case that the MARC would be more successful than an entertainment complex like Jumptown at bringing Portlanders into the Rose Quarter on a daily basis. He also argues that the MARC would do more to activate residential development along Broadway (the north edge of the Rose Quarter) and in the Lloyd District without creating duplicate entertainment and restaurant venues that would otherwise compete with existing retail enclaves like Northeast Broadway, Alberta, and North Mississippi.

Personally, I would find it difficult to throw my support entirely behind the MARC because, while a seating bowl is technically retained, it still does too much from my Coliseum preservationist perspective to change the inside of the building.

  

At the same time, there is undeniable validity to some of what Obletz says and proposes. A public athletic center for the whole community to use on a daily basis probably would be a better course than a cluster of restaurants, bars, etc. And Obletz's company is a local developer with a long track record of generating very Portland transit-oriented developments. The Blazers' development partner, The Cordish Company of Baltimore, has a consistent history of creating banal, crassly commercial developments that seem to attract suburbanites and embarrassing racially motivated security incidents.

Obletz also argues that, while both the MARC and Jumptown would require public funding, his plan does it more honestly. His idea is for approximately 25 percent of the project to be funded with public dollars. Or as Obletz put it, "I suggested that we try to put together about 25% of the project cost from available public resources, e.g., urban renewal and coliseum reserve funds, plus private fund raising from foundations and sponsorships, and other tools like new market tax credits-- then go to the voters for the balance." As I understand it, talk in the past about Jumptown or other Rose Quarter proposals would be more likely to raid urban renewal area funds meant for the Convention Center or Interstate urban renewal districts.

“This is a defining moment for the future of the Rose Quarter, Memorial Coliseum and our city," Obletz added. "Now is the time for the citizens of Portland to step up in support of a community project that symbolizes what Portland is about.  The MARC represents responsible use of public assets, promotes health and wellness, serves kids and families, preserves our architectural heritage, commemorates our veterans and enhances tourism and economic development.”

 

In an ideal world, we'd be able to take the best of both the Jumptown and MARC plans and merge them into one. Make it athletics-oriented rather than entertainment and bars like Obletz suggests, and keep the Coliseum a public building. But leave the arena solely an arena like the Blazers plan, and move the athletic facilities into surrounding spaces such as the massive underground area beneath the Coliseum and its adjacent plaza. Both plans already call for a sports museum and amateur athletic facilities anyway.

Assuming such a merger won't happen, we're left with some gray area. There are things to like about both Jumptown and the MARC, and things not to like. And each plan needs further vetting, both with respect to the design itself and how it would impact the community.

A public meeting is sheduled for January 26th to review the various proposals submitted.

Examining Coliseum & Rose Quarter proposals (part 1): Trail Blazers imagine Jumptown

 

Last Friday, January 8, was the deadline for submitting proposals to the City's Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee for redeveloping Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Quarter.

Many ideas have now been submitted, from a roller coaster to an aquarium. But there seem to be two serious, viable proposals currently being offered: the Trail Blazers' "Jumptown" scheme, and developer Douglas Obletz's Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex.

First we'll start by looking at Jumptown and then, in the days ahead, look in depth at the MARC and any other proposals that seem to have a chance of going forward.

As it happens, both Jumptown and the MARC are surprisingly similar. Although neither scheme started out this way, both now include (1) an approximately 7,000-seat arena; (2) a sports museum; and (3) facilities for amateur fitness and recreation.

 

The first major difference between Jumptown and the MARC is Jumptown's broader scope. Although I believe this stage of the Advisory Committee process only called for ideas pertaining to Memorial Coliseum, Jumptown is an entire scheme for the Rose Quarter and even beyond. It envisions new buildings along the waterfront across Interstate Avenue. It imagines a new residential neighborhood north of Broadway where the massive, aging Portland Public Schools headquarters now exists. And within the Rose Quarter itself, Jumptown imagines a mix of hotel and entertainment space.

The Jumptown scheme divides the district into sub-areas such as "The Yard", consisting of the two arenas, and "Jump Street", consisting of restaurants and bars just north of the two arenas where they meet Broadway.

As has been reported by various media looking at Jumptown, the area would also include a new practice facility for the Trail Blazers, and these basketball courts and exercise areas would also be made available to the public.

With former Nike executive Larry Miller heading the team, the Blazers have also made ties with the Swoosh to possibly bring in a museum. Whether this would be a museum devoted to the history of Nike itself or to sport or Oregon sport in general is unclear. My guess is that Nike would simply take over the Oregon Sports Museum and brand it with the Swoosh. As a sports fan myself, I wouldn't mind seeing the likes of Steve Prefontaine, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods immortalized in this museum, but I'd rather it be the likes of Prefontaine, Dan Fouts and Bill Walton.

Then there is the veterans memorial, which the Blazers are contemplating moving to the northwest corner of the Rose Quarter beside the Broadway Bridge. Their proposal has this to say about the veterans:

"Our current work-in-progress approach focuses on creating better access, visibility and connectivity for the memorial aspects of the Coliseum.  We intend to meet this objective in several ways. First, we’re considering a new park-like setting as a memorial, perhaps on the parcel adjacent to the Broadway Bridge, to honor Oregon veterans of all wars, not just those who served prior to 1960. Our hope is that the new space will foster contemplation and remembrance, while better connecting the memorial to the river, an important part of Portland’s shipbuilding past. Second, we believe a new iconic memorial element at the entrance to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at concourse level will increase visibility and prominence.  Third, we will designate a large meeting space in the building, accessible at all hours, specifically for veterans’ gatherings and other uses as veterans see fit. Veterans have requested that this element—originally proposed during the initial construction 50 years ago—be incorporated into our approach."

 

I'm still trying to digest all these schemes, words, plans and ideas regarding Jumptown. But at first glance, I see things to be both excited and wary about. In terms of wary, there is the fact that the Jumptown scheme seems to remove Memorial Coliseum's entry canopy, which is protected in the building's National Register listing and is an essential part of the architecture. I also worry about this big investment in a commercial district that, based on the involvement of The Cordish Company (the Blazers' development partner) could be crassly corporate, banal and (if I may lay down a rancid stereotype) a magnet for overgrown frat boys from the suburbs.

At the same time, one has to applaud how far the Blazers have come since first discussing an entertainment zone inside the Coliseum itself. They now are committed to preserving the building as a multi-purpose arena, with only nominal changes to the seating bowl itself (something called a "party platform" at the top of the bowl). What's more, they have hired one of this generation's most talented yet underutilized architects in Portland: Rick Potestio. Having Rick on the Blazers' team helps give the Coliseum a watchdog against the ill-advised whims of Cordish.

I want to be careful about passing judgment one way or the other on Jumptown just yet. When it comes to Memorial Coliseum, I am not just an impartial blogger or journalist but an advocate for the building as part of the Friends of Memorial Coliseum leadership. What's more, it is impossible to separate completely the plans for the building versus plans for the larger Jumptown district and scheme. So far what I see is a preserved Memorial Coliseum, and I like that (the removed canopy not withstanding). I also like the density that would be added to the Rose Quarter with a highrise hotel and other projects. There hasn't yet been enough rigor applied to Jumptown other than the Coliseum to judge whether the architecture itself would be good or bad. It seems too large and ambitious at first glance, but first glances sometimes don' tell you much.

One also must touch upon the process itself. The SAC's deliberations will ultimately give way to a request for proposals - essentially acknowledging that at the end of the day this is a private, for-profit initiative. But Memorial Coliseum is a public building, and thus it's arguable that it should not be treated as a for-profit venture. I'd rather see an RFP for the rest of the Rose Quarter but something less profit oriented for the Coliseum. At the same time, I wouldn't want the process to give our beloved Blazers enough animosity or frustration to consider leaving town.

Over the days and weeks ahead, I'll be giving Jumptown further scrutiny and encourage you to do the same. And for those interested in making their voice heard (other than in Portland Architecture's lovely comments section) or just learning more about the Coliseum, PDC is hosting folks from 5:30 to 8:30 at Memorial Coliseum on January 26.

A gleaming cube: UO's Jaqua Center

photo by Brian Libby 

When I visited the University of Oregon John E. Jaqua Center for Student Athletes in Eugene earlier this week, the afternoon January sky was decidedly gray. But inside the 40,000 square foot building was teeming with natural light: from above via a massive skylight, and from all four glass sides of this transparent cube.

Much has been made of the high budget for this project, which was funded privately and made possible by the contributions of Nike co-founder Phil Knight, Oregon’s golden-goose benefactor. The Oregonian called it a “Taj Mahal.” Spending time in this ZGF Architects-designed building, though, it’s not really luxurious materials that stand out.

 

photos by Brian Libby 

Sure, there’s a classroom decked out with yellow leather seats from the company that manufacturers seats for Ferraris. And this building has the only elevator shaft I’ve ever seen that flashes multicolored neon lights. Yet the Jaqua Center experience is really all about glass, wood and natural light.

Viewed from outside, the building is incredibly clean and simple as a sculptural object, particularly given how the exterior is surrounded on three sides by water. In many of the photos I took, it was surprisingly difficult just to determine where the building ended and its reflection in the water began.

Eugene Sandoval of ZGF told me that in early client meetings before the design was generated, Oregon athletic director Mike Bellotti (then the head football coach) emphasized the desire for a building that celebrated the natural beauty of Oregon. Bellotti spoke to Sandoval of how the surrounding landscape was a recruiting tool for luring top athletes from other regions of the country, and asked for a building that would articulate that sensation.

 

photos by Brian Libby

It starts with the natural light. For years there has been research data showing humans are more alert and productive in naturally lit spaces. Students are shown to achieve higher average test scores. Even checkout lines under skylights record higher sales than those that don’t. And I can scarcely recall ever being in a building this size and so easily being able to look in every direction and see outside. No matter where you are in the Jaqua Center, you don’t just see out, but through.

Normally energy codes wouldn’t allow for a building with anywhere near this much glass. I mean, the entire façade is glass. But this building actually has two facades, with a five-foot gap in between that you pass through upon entering. This way the building is heated efficiently using thermal solar energy, otherwise known as the greenhouse effect. In the summer, the building is continually flushed with fresh air using the stacked ventilation effect — up and out the top.

photo by Brian Libby

photo by Randy Rasmussen for The Oregonian

 photo by Randy Rasmussen for The Oregonian

Inside, the building is centered around a large three-story atrium that is bisected with glass-ensconced catwalks. The interior design, particularly in these public areas, utilizes a series of massive wall displays. One is made from thousands of photos of current student athletes that were etched onto metal paneling and combine to form a likeness of Albert Einstein. On another wall (pictured above), the names and likenesses of past UO athletes are etched onto square wood blocks that jut in and out of the wall.

The furnishings in study areas and counselor/tutor offices, which comprise much of the building, are kind of like an Apple store with wood floors, glass and immaculate Mac computers. Common areas have some of the more luxurious material finishes, such as the aforementioned Ferrari leather seats in one classroom as well as some very high-end French Ligne Roset sofas in another gathering area. This is the kind of space in which the budget obviously bought a lot, but meticulous attention to detail is what really makes it sing. Even fire extinguishers are tucked into elegant wood cubbyholes.

 photo by Brian Libby

Looking across the University of Oregon campus at some of the ugly and run-down buildings not funded by private dollars or zealous football fans, one can certainly understand how some students and faculty might look at the Jaqua Center with envy or even a bit of resentment. Back when I was in college, I remember visiting friends at UO with dorm rooms that resembled prison cells. Yet the obligation of billionaire benefactors to fund academics as much as sports is another argument for another time. And besides, the Jaqua Center is an academic building, even if it’s one for student athletes.

What’s more, every major university, even if it happens to be a state school, is able to grow and flourish only with the help of such windfalls. It’s how Oregon got a fancy law school building and a new business school headquarters in years past — from donors with names like Knight, Autzen, Lillis and Schnitzer. It’s how Ohio State and Georgetown and Harvard get theirs too, and I’m not sure if such gifts, athletic or academic ones, engender much soul-searching.

 

photos by Brian Libby  

Ultimately the point here is to talk about the architecture, a successfully vibrant, open, light-filled work that couldn’t have been achieved with money alone. Like all building projects, this is a collaborative effort involving numerous architects from ZGF as well as their many contractual partners, including Hoffman Construction, Arup (one of the world’s leading engineering firms) and Benson Glass. Even so, the Jaqua Center also represents the continuing rise of Eugene Sandoval at ZGF (the equivalent of a director if this were a movie) as one of Portland’s foremost design talents.

The Rose Bowl, Memorial Coliseum and the genius of classical-modern

photos by Brian Libby

2010 began for me not in Portland, but in sunny Pasadena, California to see my beloved Oregon Ducks compete in the nation’s most storied college football game: the Rose Bowl.

Needless to say, the game’s outcome was a disappointment. Oregon hasn’t won the Rose Bowl since 1917, and I really thought going into the game that the Ducks had the better team. But Ohio State played smart, disciplined football with a star-making performance from quarterback Terrelle Pryor, and the Ducks shot themselves in the foot with mistakes.

 

Even so, I was absolutely blown away by the experience of seeing a football game in the Rose Bowl stadium. And it wasn’t just because I was seeing my Ducks play in the “Granddaddy of Them All”. Watching a game from the Rose Bowl is a spectacular architectural experience.

Sports stadiums for football come in two basic types: the simple bowl and the stacked deck. Bowl-shaped stadiums were once common in the early 20th century as football first became popular, but they have since been vastly outnumbered by stadiums with upper decks hovering over the field-level seats. Besides the Rose Bowl, a handful of bowl stadiums remain, such as Michigan Stadium and Notre Dame Stadium.

When attending a game in one of these football stadiums, some fans actually prefer sitting in upper-deck seats instead of at the top of a bowl, because they’re closer to the field (although higher up in the air). However, if you’re a design enthusiast, there’s no contest as to which stadium makes a purer, more beautiful building and experience: a simple and elegant bowl.

 

 

In this way, the Rose Bowl, despite being a work of 1920s modern or art deco architecture, also recalls the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. I don’t mean that it has Doric columns or the standard base-middle-top configurations. Rather, the Rose Bowl recalls the symmetry of classical architecture: the notion that there is a spiritual quality evident in the simplicity and symmetry of form.

In ancient Rome, for example, the center of all cities was a large open square called a forum. A descendant of the Greek agora, or assembly place, the forum developed into the Roman amphitheater. Instead of terracing the seats into a hillside, the Romans tiered them within freestanding, oval buildings. If you go to Rome today and look at the ancient Colosseum, which was begun by Emperor Vespasian in AD 70 and completed a decade later by Emperor Titus, it looks very much like the stadium in Pasadena I visited on New Year’s Day.

 

 

The awe I experienced being in the Rose Bowl at its blend of massive scale and ultra refined symmetrical forms reminded me of what I love about Memorial Coliseum in Portland. It too is the absolute simplest of forms: an oval seating bowl inside a glass box. It recalls the efforts of the ancient Greeks to strive for perfection in the appearance of their buildings, finding dimensions in harmony with nature and the human body. “Symmetry and the unity of parts to the whole were important to Greek architecture,” writes Debora Dietsch in Architecture for Dummies, “as these elements reflected the democratic city-state pioneered by the Greek civilization.”

In other words, the simple sculptural beauty of Memorial Coliseum – the organically shaped oval seating bowl inside the geometrically perfect glass exterior box – is also a symbol of all that we strive for to make Portland a civic success. What’s more, like the Rose Bowl stadium, Memorial Coliseum can be celebrated as an architectural icon that is at once the most populist of places – an arena for sports and arts and rallies – as well as the most refined expression of art and design.

  

 

Over email today I conversed with another member of the Friends of Memorial Coliseum, designer Randy Higgins, about this connection - between simple modern 20th century arenas and stadiums and classical Greco-Roman architecture. He had this to say:

It's important to remember that back then architecture was rocket science. It was the most significant thing a society could produce. Only societies that had established a high degree of social and economic stability could coordinate the communal and extended effort to make a building.

What happened then is the same thing happening in China and Dubai today, or in the USA in the early part of the 20th century. A society proves it has come of age by going through the effort of making something great - something previously thought impossible.  In this manner the building is meant to be known not as architecture but as themata: a 'wonder.'

Memorial Coliseum was created as an example of Portland's civic identity coming into being. It was conceived as a wonder with its incredible size supported on four columns, and the design follows suite to best express that singular act so that every visitor can bear witness to the wonder of its creation.  

I know some of this talk (mine or Randy's) can seem highfalutin, with all the classical references and talk of themata. But this is an essential component, in my mind, of our large public buildings and gathering places: the ability to transcend the experiences we have there.

Obviously, this isn’t meant a post about more real-life topics like the Rose Quarter planning effort or the Stakeholder Advisory Committee vetting proposals for Memorial Coliseum from amusement parks to hydroponic gardens. Instead, it’s an effort to communicate how truly special stadiums like the Rose Bowl and arenas like Memorial Coliseum are, both as community/national landmarks and as – more than 2,000 years after Western civilization first flourished in ancient Greece and Rome – a quintessential example of how the biggest places can also be the simplest and most beautiful.

As it happens, the Rose Bowl stadium will be renovated in the years ahead. But the plan is to return the structure closer to its original configuration. The first ten rows of seats on the end zone sides (where I was lucky enough to sit) will be removed so the rose bushes flanking each goal, as they did in the 1920s, will be returned. Meanwhile, we seem to float every possible idea for Memorial Coliseum except the only one that makes any sense: preserving it as a multi-purpose arena.

We can’t let the Coliseum and Rose Quarter debate be rooted entirely in issues of money, and we needn't go searching for new ideas for Memorial Coliseum. The fact is that Portland has been blessed with a very special building, a work of architecture that unites the best in contemporary and classical design. What's more, its original program as a multipurpose arena - a gathering place - is part of Memorial Coliseum's essential DNA. I already knew that, and so did many of you reading this. But after spending New Year’s Day in another gathering place with that same genius of design, it is a reminder to remain vigilant in supporting the preservation of Portland’s so-called Glass Palace — not as a fitness center, aquarium, botanical garden, amusement park or museum, but as the simple yet spectacular multipurpose arena it was born to be.

Recapping 2009 in local architecture

2009 was a tumultuous and trying year for architecture and architects in Portland, bringing new life to the skyline even as the profession struggled to eke out its very existence.

The year began in January with two major political events: the inauguration of President Obama and then the swearing in and subsequent eruption of scandal for Mayor Sam Adams. Arguably more relevant for architects, though, was the horrific state of the economy. Many firms began layoffs toward the end of 2008, and that only continued in 2009. Then, a well-known and award-winning firm, Sienna Architecture, closed its doors. It seemed like a dangerous sign for many local firms teetering on the brink of closure, although in reality it's never that simple; Sienna had other business difficulties.

image courtesy of Rosales + Partners 

Yet as the economy sputtered, there were signs of life, particularly in public projects. Boston-area architect Miguel Rosales unveiled designs for a “hybrid” bridge for Trimet’s Willamette River MAX and pedestrian crossing (pictured above). There was also the Pacific Northwest College of Art’s takeover of the Museum of Contemporary Craft. 

February saw new attention and new life for one of celebrated Portland architect Pietro Belluschi’s buildings, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, after it was expanded and renovated by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Closer to home, historic preservation took an uglier turn. First there were threats to a local landmark of mid-20th Century kitsch, the Pagoda Chinese restaurant; it has since been demolished. Then Riverdale Grade School, a building by legendary Portland architect A.E. Doyle (the other most renowned Portland architect besides Pietro himself), saw the community rally in what would also end up an ill-fated preservation effort.

 photo courtesy of Riverdale 120

That same month, there were some potentially positive signs for architects and the economy, from LRS Architects designing the largest LEED building in China to Ankrom Moisan winning a commission for Danish wind turbine-maker Vestas’s new American headquarters in Portland. Skylab also unveiled plans for its stunning Weave Building downtown on Burnside, ambitiously looking to break ground within the year; it hasn’t happened yet, though.

Also in February was the 11 x Design homes tour, featuring a host of self-developed residential designs by the likes of Path Architecture, Atelier Waechter, SEED Architecture, Webster Wilson, Design Department and SUM Design Studio. It was a funny tour, because half the houses were still under construction. But these houses also represent a new up and coming generation of Portland architects, as I wrote in a Dwell magazine article about the tour. I was particularly fond of the Z-Haus by Waechter, which felt ideally Portland but reflected the talent of Ben Waechter as he learned architecture under renowned architects Brad Cloepfil and Renzo Piano.

photo courtesy Atelier Waechter  

In the spring, there was more debate about the Columbia Crossing bridge project and even Burnside Bridgehead reared its head amidst a new planning effort by the City. A proposal for the Oregon Sustainability Center (pictured below) by a team of local developer Gerding Edlen with GBD Architects and SERA Architects defeated a handful of nationally regarded competitors. The Portland Timbers won advancement to Major League Soccer, necessitating PGE Park become a soccer-only facility. With that, the first whispers began that Timbers and Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson was looking to build a new Beavers minor-league baseball stadium on the Memorial Coliseum site. Pietro Belluschi’s widow, Marjorie, also passed away.

image courtesy City of Portland 

The new Portland Streetcar loop for Martin Luther King Boulevard and Grand Avenue won federal funding in the spring as well. Murals became allowed once again under city code after a long effort to distinguish them legally from advertising. Habitat for Humanity unveiled its first LEED-rated house, in the North Mississippi district. Arun Jain left the City as its chief urban design strategist, following city planner Gil Kelley out the door as the Adams administration charted a new course.

There was also a neon rose placed atop the John Yeon-designed Portland Oregon Visitors Center, drawing the ire of architects and design enthusiasts who deplored the way this local landmark became part carnival attraction. But the biggest preservation effort was directed at Memorial Coliseum, as a host of organizations such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the US Green Building Council officially called for the building to be spared.

photo by Brian Libby 

In May, Trimet continued to vet competing hybrid and cable stay bridge options for its Willamette River crossing. The more unique design, Miguel Rosales’s hybrid, seemed to be squeezed out due to cost concerns, even though Rosales and his engineering partner were never approached for detailed cost information. Then the agency selected architect Donald MacDonald over Rosales. Initially it seemed we’d be stuck with a banal cable-stay bridge like MacDonald’s firm had done before, but ensuing design versions for the Willamette Bridge have turned out to be impressive. Rosales would have designed a great bridge for Portland, but MacDonald is no slouch.

image courtesy Donald MacDonald Architects

Also in the spring, the Sustainability Center team began seeking feedback on its design, which seemed to impress people more for its ultra-high performance (meeting stringent Living Building Challenge standards) than for its look, which seemed a little like an office building with a giant leaf-shaped roof on top. Just across the street from the Sustainability Center site on Broadway, the new Cyan apartments opened. Designed by THA Architecture (formerly Thomas Hacker Architects), it showed a new way forward for downtown high-density development: smaller and less expensive. In sadder news, though, longtime historic preservation expert and architect Alfred Staehli passed away.

About this same time, the Memorial Coliseum preservation effort took a new turn when Mayor Adams announced the abandonment of plans to demolish the building for a baseball stadium. The Mayor then subsequently announced the formation of a Stakeholder Advisory Committee to look at future options; it began meeting in September. (I remain skeptical of the Committee because Memorial Coliseum doesn't need new program ideas; it needs to be preserved as the multi-purpose arena it already is.) Meanwhile, Lents briefly became the intended home of the Beavers’ baseball stadium until residents balked. The same happened in Beaverton, and now the issue remains unresolved.

In the summer,  Metro began to weigh future urban growth boundary expansion. And an alternative design was proposed for Riverdale School that would have saved Doyle’s original building. But the school’s leadership turned a deaf ear.

photo by Brian Libby 

Summer 2009 also saw the opening of what may be the top new building design in Portland in 2009: the Ziba headquarters (pictured above), designed by Holst Architecture. Teeming with natural light, the building (as I wrote about in Metropolis magazine) also brought new ideas about how to arrange an office. Personal space is miniscule, and meeting space is huge. There’s even a special room for Ziba’s clients to chill out, watch TV and grab drinks from the fridge. Also, there was the opening of the Courtyard by Marriot hotel downtown, from a design by SERA Architects. That same month, though, there were two tragedies: the death of Bob Gerding (co-founder of Gerding-Edlen Development), and the demolition of Riverdale.

As the fall began, small projects like the SIPs House attracted attention. Its designer, SEED Architecture, was as involved with the materials and construction as the design, a do-it-yourself strategy that continues to gain traction.  Then, Memorial Coliseum got a shot in the arm when the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places – not just the exterior glass box, but the seating bowl inside as well. Two local health care projects, a Providence clinic on Interstate Avenue (pictured below) by Mahlum (with an assist from Rick Potestio) and a building at Oregon Health & Science University by Perkins + Will, were the top winners from the AIA’s national healthcare awards. And the city’s long planned Resource Access Center for the homeless was finally given the green light after a lawsuit involving city urban renewal was settled; it broke ground at year's end.

image courtesy American Institute of Architects 

Also, perhaps the most prominent addition to Portland’s skyline was completed: the 12 West building by ZGF Architects. This is the first building in the United States to have building-integrated wind turbines. Draped in glass with gorgeous pattern-making, the building also represents the continued re-emergence of ZGF, the city’s largest firm, as generator of high-quality design.

photo by Brian Libby 

October brought the death of another titan, the great landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who designed the Keller Fountain and numerous other public spaces in Portland. Portland Spaces and Portland Monthly editor Randy Gragg would soon release a book on Halprin’s designs.

Then there was the "China Design Now" exhibit opening at the Portland Art Museum, featuring a host of architecture, fashion and graphic design. Although the exhibit originated at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, China Design Now has felt particularly relevant to Portland as an emerging Pacific Rim city.

photo by John Clark courtesy of Portland Spaces 

The annual AIA Design Awards, part of the overall month-long Portland Architecture & Design Festival, saw the bSIDE6 building on Burnside (pictured above) by Works Partnership and Shattuck Hall’s renovation by SRG Partnership  YGH Architecture walk away with the top Honor Awards. "A new generation of young architects is reaching beyond the expected to blend high density, sustainability, and thrift into a bolder breed of Portland building," wrote Portland Spaces' Amara Holstein, citing bSIDE6. "At last." After seeing its Museum of Art & Design open on Columbus Circle in New York, Portland’s Allied Works also won a major design competition, for a music center in Calgary. 

Closer to home, the waterfront and Ankeny Plaza got a major uplift late this autumn from the opening of the Mercy Corps headquarters, a LEED Platinum-rated design by THA Architecture. Across the Willamette, there was also a design competition for a new firefighters’ memorial.

Looking ahead, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic about the state of the economy. It’s not exactly safe to say Portland design firms are about to go on a hiring binge, or that we’ll be seeing more highrise condominiums sprouting quite so quickly anymore. Even so, considering the veritable freefall for the economy and the building industry that was still happening as 2009 began, there may now be a stronger light shining at the end of this long, dark tunnel. And given Portland’s sizable reputation as a world leader in sustainable design, the city seems well poised to lead the way as we remake and re-imagine the built environment in the wake of planetary climate change. Like Kermit the Frog and Ray Charles sing, it’s not easy being green. But it’s the way forward without question.