Harper's Playground design (image courtesy KATU)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
A More Inclusive World, One Playground At A Time
G. Cody Q.J. Goldberg, founder of Harper's Playground, a play area at North Portland's Arbor Lodge Park intended for children of all abilities, will describe the process of tackling this ambitious public project from the ground up with little to no experience in fundraising, design and community building. “Our community playground was off-limits to our daughter because she uses wheels to get around. We founded Harper’s Playground to change this," says Goldberg. "We assembled a team of top designers and shared our vision. We asked for and received help from many. The playground went from dream to reality. We embraced these three powerful and important forces for a better world: community, inclusion and play.” Portland State University, Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Park, Room 217. 12PM Thursday, April 3. Free.
Regenerative Design & Economics
In a brownbag series offered by Portland State University's Center for Public Interest Design, Stuart Cowan, Ph.D., a partner with Autopoiesis LLC (which offers ecological design, strategic planning, and sustainable finance services), will address the question of how we can connect public interest design projects to initiatives like transition towns, ecodistricts, one planet communities, and living buildings, which suggest opportunities to greatly increase the resilience, livability, and equity of neighborhoods and cities. How can we connect public interest design projects aligned with these visionary efforts with significant, tangible investment from local communities, government agencies, and the private sector? In this discussion, we will explore the emergence of “regenerative economics,” within which regenerative design is valued and nurtured for its multiple social and ecological benefits. Portland State University, Shattuck Hall, 1914 SW Park, Room 217. 12PM Friday, April 4. Free.
Downtown Portland Sacred Spaces
An Architectural Heritage Center tour of several downtown Portland churches and other houses of worship, including the South Park Blocks and West End. This year's tour is reportedly sold out, but a repeat of this tour has been scheduled for the fall. 12PM Sunday, April 6. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Canstruction
An annual art show, design competition, and food drive all rolled into one, Canstruction raises hunger awareness by challenging teams of architects, engineers, and construction personnel to create larger-than-life pop art masterpieces made entirely out of unopened cans of food, which are then on display at Pioneer Place. While admission is free, visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to bring high quality non-perishable foods such as tuna, beans and canned vegetables, which will be donated along with the cans used in the competition to Oregon Food Bank. This year’s goal is to raise 150,000 meals – enough to provide an entire week’s worth of food to meet the needs of children in the Portland Metro Area. Pioneer Place, 700 SW Fifth Avenue. Exhibit on view10AM-8PM Monday-Saturday, 11AM-6PM Sunday, April 7-13. Free. Competition on April 7.
New Mobility for a Sustainable Urban Future
A lecture by J. Alexander Schmidt, who heads sustainable city planning and urban design at Beijing's DeTao Masters Academy and chairs city planning and urban design at University Duisburg-Essen in Germany. Schmidt argues that to sustainably develop cities, urban mobility needs to be re-invented. Over-reliance on automobile-oriented planning means that many cities have lost their quality of urban life. Mobility forms the city and the city forms mobility: This is the starting point for an interdisciplinary approach to urban mobility, taking into account urban space, traffic modeling and user preferences. The lecture is based on a research project dealing with new perspectives and concepts for sustainable urban mobility to reduce GHG emissions and to stabilize and improve the quality of life. University of Oregon, White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. 5:30PM Wednesday, April 9. Free.
Kitchen Revival Tour
A self-guided tour of renovated kitchens in historic Portland homes, presented by the Architectural Heritage Center and representing a range of approaches to renovating one's kitchen in a manner that reflects the home's original design and style. 10AM-4PM Saturday, April 12. $25 ($20 for AHC members).
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