Design calendar: June 2-15

Pacific Ocean at Newport, Oregon (photo by Brian Libby)

BY BRIAN LIBBY

Ken Buesseler: Our Radioactive Oceans
Marine radiochemist Dr. Ken Buesseler, who heads the at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Center for Marine and Environmental Radiation (CMER) and the How Radioactive Are Our Oceans project, discusses the basics of radiation, the affects of Fukushima nuclear disaster on the Pacific Ocean, and ways we can help. Buesseler's HRAOO is the only program monitoring the Pacific's radioactivity post-Fukishima. Refuge PDX, 116 SE Yamhill Street. 7PM Monday, June 2. $5-10 suggested.

University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts Open House
The university's Portland outpost celebrates final and thesis projects and exhibitions of student work from the Department of Architecture, the Department of Art - Digital Arts Program, and the Product Design Program. University of Oregon, White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. 6-9PM Thursday, June 5. Free.

Traversals: PSU School of Architecture Student Work
The School of Architecture at Portland State University continues its annual exhibition of architecture students' end-of-year projects. The show will highlight the creative achievements of students throughout the graduate and undergraduate programs. AIA/Portland Center for Architecture, 403 NW 11th Avenue. 5:30PM Thursday, June 5. Free.

Robert J. Lilieholm: Future Scenarios for Oregon's Forests
A professor of forest policy at University of Maine, Lilieholm's research has taken him all over the world to explore ways in which wildlands can be sustainably managed to promote a variety of social, economic and ecological goals. In his research, Lilieholm models alternative future growth scenarios and develop market-based approaches to sustain communities and the surrounding lands upon which they depend. His lecture, part of the 2013-2014 Graduate Visiting Artist Lecture Series offered by the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Craft, is entitled “Future Scenarios for Oregon’s Forests.” A panel discussion moderated by Jennifer Allen of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions will follow. First Unitarian Church, 1034 SW 13th. 7:30PM Monday, June 9. Free.

Peninsula Park (image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Portland’s Olmsted Park Plan: A Bicycle Tour of North & Northeast Portland Parks
In 1903, the nationally renowned Olmstead brothers' landscape architecture firm created the plan for a park system in Portland that would serve as the model for much of the young city's development, including neighborhood and regional parks, scenic boulevards, and pedestrian pathways. Steve Dotterrer and Richard Ross, who have spent several decades as Portland region planners, historians, and preservationists, lead this ride through the historic Olmsted landscapes of North and Northeast Portland. Along the way you’ll explore these great places: Peninsula, Columbia, and Overlook Parks, Willamette Boulevard, Omaha Parkway, and the Ainsworth Blocks. This tour is intended for intermediate-skill cyclists aged 18 and over. 1PM Saturday, June 14. $20 ($12 for AHC members).

Modernism and Beyond: The Architecture of Downtown
Downtown Portland contains an abundance of post-World War II architecture by some of the leading architects and firms of their time, be it the mid-century works of Pietro Belluschi and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill or the postmodernism of Michael Graves. This tour explores the southern portion of the central business district. Attendees will learn about the controversial and the award winners, the architects and firms that designed them, and the issues of the times that led to such dramatic changes to our built environment and skyline. 11AM Sunday, June 15. $20 ($12 for AHC members).