Design calendar: September 16-30

Standard Insurance Center and Gilbert Building (Brian Libby)

BY BRIAN LIBBY

How To Research The History Of Your House
Ever wonder who lived in your house before you did, or what your house looked like originally? Historians Tibby O’Brien and Morgen Young will discuss how to uncover the history of one's vintage house (as well as any other building). Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, September 17. $12 ($8 for AHC members).

Portland URM Seismic Retrofit Project
Three City of Portland bureaus—the Bureau of Development Services, the Bureau of Emergency Management and the Portland Development Commission—have joined together to form the Portland URM Seismic Retrofit Project, which seeks to address seismic retrofitting of the city's 1,700 public and privately-owned unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings. This is the second of two public forums meant to bring feedback on a draft proposal being created. Portland Development Commission, 222 NW Fifth Avenue. 6PM Thursday, September 22. Free.

End of Summer Rummer House Tour
This tour, benefitting Restore Oregon, focuses on the Oak Hills neighborhood of Beaverton and the cluster of homes there built by noted midcentury homebuilder Robert Rummer. These homes have often been compared to the better-known Eichler Homes of California, and feature terrific natural light while effortlessly fusing indoor and outdoor space. 10AM Saturday, September 17. $35 ($25 for Restore Oregon members).

Pioneers To Postmodern tour
Take a whirlwind tour of the entire range of Portland's architectural history. Visitors on this Architectural Heritage Center tour will learn about the first wooden structures near the river as well as the elaborate cast iron, stone and terra cotta decorated buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. From there one will be transported into the modern age and the sleek designs of Pietro Belluschi and the postmodernism of Michael Graves. Tour begins at southwest corner of SW Pine Street and Naito Parkway. 10AM Saturday, September 24. $20 ($12 for AHC members).

50 Years Of Historic Preservation In Portland
President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act into law on October 15, 1966. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Architectural Heritage Center will host a panel discussion looking at how historic preservation (and sometimes the lack thereof) has impacted the Portland area. Panelists include William Hawkins, architect and author of Classic Houses of Portland: 1850-1950; former Architectural Heritage Center executive director Cathy Galbraith; and Brandon Spencer-Hartle of the City of Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, September 24. Free.

Fall at The Shire
Take a tour, bring a picnic, camera, or drawing pad, and enjoy a day at The Shire, the 78-acre picturesque landscape designed by John Yeon. With an unobstructed view of Multnomah Falls exactly a mile away, The Shire offers an experience of the landscape not be missed. Walk the trails and learn the story of Yeon's life-long advocacy for protection of the Gorge, culminating in the National Scenic Act that now protects--the campaign for which began at The Shire. Due to maintenance, this will be the final tour of The Shire this year. 11AM Sunday, September 25. $20-30 sliding scale.

Last Sundays at the Watzek House
The University of Oregon's John Yeon Center for Architecture and the Landscape invites the public to tour Portland's only National Historic Landmark residence, the Aubrey Watzek House. Completed in 1937, the home's bold yet timeless synthesis of many traditions of residential architecture into a refined new language became an important inspiration for the Northwest Style of Modernism. Published widely and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art next to such icons as Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Watzek House, 1061 SW Skyline Boulevard. 1:30PM Sunday, September 25. $20-30 sliding scale (free for students and Yeon Center members).

Architects Without Borders: Focus on Community Engagement
The latest meeting of the Architects Without Borders Oregon chapter features two guest speakers who will discuss community engagement and how effective practices contribute to good design and project success. Planner Anita Yap is founder of the MultiCultural Collaborative, which has guided community engagement processes for Portland's Jade District Visioning Plan, Cully Park Safe Access Project, and the Powell-Division Transit and Development Project. Lucas Gray is with Propel Studio, a firm that advocates for community engagement as one of the tenets of its practice. Recently Propel worked with residents of a Japanese farming town to come up with new ideas for an unused nursery school building. In Portland's Montavilla neighborhood, collaboration with parents and other stakeholders yielded a design for a play shelter at Vestal Elementary School. Center for Architecture, 403 NW 11th Avenue. 6PM Wednesday, September 28. Free.