Design calendar: January 16-31

BY BRIAN LIBBY

Hallgeir Homstvedt
The University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts' Department of Architecture Lecture Series features Oslo designer Hallgeir Homstvedt of Hallgeir Homstvedt Design. Homstvedt's lecture will focus on the breadth of work and how a being a multi-disciplinary designer is a natural part of a small studio where varied projects and processes are the norm. Homstvedt set up his own design studio in 2009, focusing on furniture, interior design, and product design. His work has been exhibited in London, Tokyo, Oslo, New York and Milan. Among his clients are renowned Norwegian and international furniture manufacturers like Lexon, Muuto, Menu, L.K.Hjelle, Hem and Established & Sons. Homstvedt also has broad experience working with interior and product design and has designed more that 10 brands stores across Europe for the sporting brand Norrøna. University of Oregon, White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. 5PM Tuesday, January 19. Free.

Cross-Laminated Timber: Lessons Learned from Current Work
Through the rise of mass timber, and especially cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels, one of the world’s oldest building materials is being reimagined as a viable, sustainable alternative to concrete and steel. Studies and reports have proven the safety and reliability of structural CLT, and innovative wood designs are going taller, spanning farther, and finishing faster. In the Pacific Northwest, a variety of CLT buildings are helping to spur building code changes, improve wood-based economies, and demonstrate the untapped potential of this versatile material. A panel of professionals from across the design and construction industry — including Joseph Mayo of Mahlum Architects, Andy Dykeman of general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis, Eric McConnell of KPFF Structural Engineers and Valerie Johnson of DR Johnson Lumber Company — will provide current insights into the world of structural CLT, which is rapidly evolving and maturing. Their real-world, hands-on experience with buildings constructed in the last year, currently in construction or about to start will draw architects, engineers and contractors who want to understand how to push the CLT envelope even further. AIA/Portland, 403 NW 11th Avenue. 12PM Wednesday, January 20. $70 ($50 for members of the American Institute of Architects, Associated General Contractors, or the Structural Engineers Association of Oregon).

Centennial Mills Public Forum
Centennial Mills has not had a good decade. A plan to restore a number of industrial buildings on this riverside site fell through in 2011. Then local developers Harsch Investment Properties and Venerable Properties signed on, but Venerable founder Art DeMuro passed away. Meanwhile, the abandoned buildings continued to deteriorate without much of any protection - even a tarp over the hole in the roof - being applied, allowing some structures to pass the point of no return. Then last year Mayor Charlie Hales called for the whole thing to be demolished, and the Portland Police tragically backed away from their plan to move the adjacent horse paddock, more or less ridiculing the entire effort. But not all hope is lost. Harsh president Jordan Schnitzer will be joined by Pearl District Neighborhood Association president Patricia Gardner, and historian Chet Orloff in a public discussion about the potential development scenarios created for the Centennial Mills site. Illustrations of the Harsch development concepts will be shown and discussed followed by an open dialogue with the public. This is perhaps the most important or at least the most prominent piece of industrial architectural heritage in the city. It ought to be the setting for a mixed-use development that combines old an new architecture in a way that makes Centennial Mills a destination for anyone in the adjacent Pearl District. But can our public and private leaders see it through? Pure Space, 1315 NW Overton. 6PM Thursday, January 21. Free.

Vocabulary Of Architecture
In this Architectural Heritage Center lecture, John Doyle helps demystify the language of architecture as it relates to buildings commonly found around the Portland area. After this session one will be familiar with a variety of architectural terms such as gambrel, oculus, lintel, corbel, and quoin. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 11:30AM Saturday, January 23. $12 ($8 for AHC members).

Fix-It Fair
Sponsored by the City of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Fix-It Fairs are free events where neighbors come together to learn simple and effective ways to save money and stay healthy at home this winter and beyond. Each fair features exhibits and workshops from dozens of community partners throughout the day. Experts are available to talk about water and energy savings, home and personal health, food and nutrition, community resources, recycling, yard care and more! Each fair also provides free professional childcare and lunch to attendees. Ron Russell Middle School, 3955 SE 112th Avenue. 9:30AM Saturday, January 23, 2016. Free.

DoCoMoMo Mid-Century Bowling
The mid-century modern preservation organization DoCoMoMo is going on recess, inviting members and interested parties to lace on their bowling shoes in this celebration of yesteryear's leisure-time architecture. Interstae Lanes Bowling Alley is situated along North Portland’s Interstate Avenue, a street dotted with brightly lit motel signs and other remnants of the city’s mid-century automobile craze and pre-Interstate 5 transportation corridor. Strike now if you can. What better use is there of one's spare time? Interstate Lanes, 6049 North Interstate Avenue. 6PM Tuesday, January 26. $15.

Portland 101: Crooked Grids, Tiny Blocks, And The Building Of The City
How did Portland get this way, with its little square blocks and weird intersections, the funny pronunciations and the bridge ramps to nowhere? Why is it even located where it is? Lecturer Robert Jordan will guide attendees through 150 years of Portland’s development, including stone carver’s mistakes, upside-down pineapples, and mythical tunnels, as well as more major decisions like the city's street grid, the naming and re-naming of our streets, and the eras of commercial architecture that have marked our compact and vibrant downtown, as well as the near blitzkrieg effect of the Great Demolition which left us with parking lots where the temples of finance and industry once stood. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, January 30. $20 ($12 for AHC members).