Saul Zaik (right) with Corey Martin of PATH Architecture, photo by Brian Libby
This Wednesday, Rejuvenation hosts an interview with esteemed Portland architect by Becca Cavell of THA Architects. Proceeds from the event (which comes with a suggested $20 entry fee) will go to the Street of Eames Fund, which supports two after-school programs for homeless children in Portland. (Though the Street of Eames tour is no more, the fundraising continues.)
Zaik, who I wrote about in a previous post as well as a Portland Modern profile last year, is a kind of local living legend. Still practicing today, the architect first set up shop in 1956 with partner Donald Blair and later established Zaik/Miller with Jim Miller after working for Belluschi/Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the local outpost of SOM that designed Memorial Coliseum and several other local landmarks.
Zidell House by Saul Zaik
In its early days, Zaik/Miller mostly focused on residential work, earning a place alongside giants of regional midcentury modern design like Pietro Belluschi and John Yeon with projects like the Zidell House, built around a ship's mast and shaped like a futuristic flying saucer or umbrella, or the Feldman House, a seminal work of Oregon midcentury modernism. Zaik/Miller later expanded its portfolio to include public buildings such as financial and educational institutions. I Notable restoration projects include Timberline Lodge, Crater Lake Lodge and Vista House at Crown Point.
Portland Modern (which, in full disclosure, is a sponsor of this site) has an excellent slide show of Zaik's numerous designs and drawings here.
Saul Zaik drawings
A 1973 portrait of Zaik in Symposia magazine stated, "When one thinks of Oregon architecture one immediately envisions weathered wood structures resembling Willamette Valley farm buildings. The Oregon architect of the current generation most sympathetic and skilled with this vernacular is Saul Zaik of Portland. His residences, condominiums and apartments are to be found throughout Oregon, and like his predecessors Pipes, Brookman, Yeon and Belluschi, a Zaik home is easily identifiable. The shapes of his structures are sometimes complex, but always the roof lines are simple, and the resulting building is an easily understood statement of its use and its site."
The Zaik interview is scheduled for 6PM at Rejuvenation, 1100 SE Grand. The Zaik interview is the continuation of the Conversations With a Modern Architect series that has also included local home design and construction stalwarts as Robert Rummer and Robert Oringdulph. RSVP is suggested.
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