Architect George Nelson (Vitra)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
IIDA Oregon August forum
Adam Call, director of the Herman Miller Collection at Herman Miller will be sharing a journey and celebration of American architect George Nelson. This lecture, entitled “George Nelson: Architect of American Design,” explores his leadership and vast contribution to mid-century modern design and shares the breadth of his talents across teaching, writing, architecture, and a myriad of disciplines. It features pre-recorded conversations with Nelson and celebrates his legacy of modern, humane design. Workplace Resource of Oregon, 825 Northeast Multnomah Street, Suite 270. 5:30PM Thursday, August 17. $10 plus service charge (free for IIDA members, $5 plus service charge for non-IIDA-member students).
Mt. Tabor walking tour
This Architectural Heritage Center tour rambles through a stunning neighborhood on the west side of Mt. Tabor Park. From the former Baseline Road, now Stark Street, attendees will meander past numerous fine residences, as well as a school, church, and hospital. This area retains much of the freshness and beautiful views today that made it a popular place to build beginning in the 1880s and continuing well into the 20th century. Tour meetup location to be announced. 6PM Thursday, August 17. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Walking tour: Urban Renewal in the South Auditorium district
Urban Renewal in the US in the 1960s resulted in the destruction of many of the older supposedly "blighted" neighborhoods and commercial districts in cities from coast to coast. The commercial and residential center of the immigrant neighborhood in South Portland was one of those districts. Over 40 years ago the South Auditorium District in Southwest Portland was re-built with high-rise buildings, parks, fountains, sculptures and pedestrian walkways. Nationally recognized landscape architect Lawrence Halprin designed many of the places and spaces that define the feel of this neighborhood. This Positively Portland walking tour will explore this often overlooked district in downtown Portland and experience for ourselves the success or failure of this mid-20th century initiative in city planning. This is an easy, short walk with a gentle rise and descent on this 12 block stroll. Optional social time with dining and conversation after the tour. Tour begins at Ira Keller Fountain, SW Third Avenue and Clay Street. 6PM Friday, August 18. $10.
Design Museum Mornings: Deconstructing Design
Effective design means functionality, and functionality means use—and lots of it! Paradoxically, for many objects repeated use also means the gradual deterioration of functionality. With each instance of use, the aspects of design that enable the object to fulfill its purpose are progressively worn down and used up, until eventually it becomes useless altogether . No longer able to perform its intended function, the object is thrown away and promptly forgotten. Heidi Schwegler, award-winning artist and chair of the Oregon College of Art and Craft and Pacific Northwest College of Art's joint MFA program in Applied Craft and Design, presents these discarded, post-functional objects—normally so commonplace they are virtually invisible— as brilliantly crafted works of art, challenging her audience to consider the typically overlooked product design. By creating representations that not only exclude but emphasize the absence of these objects’ most essential functional elements, Schwegler deconstructs the usual fusion of identity and function. Her work calls attention to the design of functionality and presents the viewer a unique opportunity to contemplate a mode of design that often goes unseen. Bullseye Projects, 300 NW 13th Avenue. 8:30AM Friday, August 18. $10 (free for Design Museum Portland members).
Westmoreland walking tour
Westmoreland was the first of four subdivisions carved out of the Ladd Estate Company’s Crystal Springs Stock Farm in 1909. In contrast to adjacent Sellwood, Westmoreland was promoted as a modern residential tract. On this Architectural Heritage Center tour, attendees can expect bungalows, four-squares and modest mid-century homes. Surprises include houses built by the Fred Meyer Company and one built with union pension funds. The tour will begin with a stroll through part of the recently redesigned Westmoreland Park. Tour meetup location to be announced. 10AM Saturday, August 19. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Historic Produce Row Walking Tour
For well over a hundred years the Central Eastside Industrial District was a hub for wholesale food distribution throughout the Pacific Northwest. In recent years, as this Positively Portland walking tour will demonstrate, this area of abandoned warehouses and crumbling brick structures has been transformed into a magnet for forward-looking entrepreneurs and an important job generating center. Still maintaining its image as Produce Row, a variety of diversified businesses have moved into the area including coffee roasters, restaurants, delis, breweries and a mix of trendy retailers. This avant-garde ambiance was enhanced by the conversion of several warehouses into affordable commercial space and artist's lofts. Now development pressure from the north and south ends of the district brings more change to this neighborhood. Join us for a view of Portland's past meeting its future in the Central Eastside Industrial District. Sheridan's Market, 409 SE Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard. 10AM Saturday, August 19. $15.
Miller Family Free Day: Exploring Architecture/Build Community
Inspired by John Yeon and his innovative vision for Northwest architecture, landscape, and art, a retrospective of which is being held at the Portland Art Museum, this day of free admission and programs encourages visitors to reflect on Portland’s built environment and some of the ways transitional/affordable shelter is being addressed by architects and housing advocates in our community. Join a tour of the wide-ranging Quest for Beauty exhibition, learn about the tiny house village movement in Portland with members from the Village Coalition, watch a sleeping pod take shape and learn more about the POD (Partners on Dwelling) Initiative of the Center for Public Interest Design at PSU, and as an special treat experience the joy and beauty of traditional Indian dance. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue. 10AM Sunday, August 20. Free with $19.99 adult or $16.99 student/senior Portland Art Museum admission.
2017 International Radiance Workshop
The University of Oregon's Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory is pleased to host the 2017 International Radiance Workshop. (Radiance is a suite of programs for the analysis and visualization of lighting in design.) The event will kick things off with a viewing of the 2017 solar eclipse on the morning of August 21st with the traditional three-day Radiance workshop to follow from August 22nd through the 24th. An optional radiance training will also be offered on August 25th for those interested in learning more about running daylighting simulation using Radiance. University of Oregon, White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. 9AM Tuesday, August 22. $500 for three-day workshop ($400 for presenters, $300 for students.
Modernism and Beyond tour: the Architecture Of Downtown (south)
Downtown Portland contains an abundance of post-World War II architecture by Pietro Belluschi, Michael Graves, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. This Architectural Heritage Center tour explores the southern portion of the central business district. You’ll learn about the controversial as well as 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. Tour begins at Salmon Springs Fountain, SW Naito Parkway and Salmon Street. 10AM Tuesday, August 22. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
2017 Portland Chapter CSI Golf Tournament
A fundraiser and golf tournament for the Portland chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute and its scholarship programs. Lewis River Golf Course, 3209 Old Lewis River Road, Woodland, Washington. $400 for a team of four, $100 single.
Pearl District tour - Preservation In the Midst of Change
Over the last 20 years, the Pearl District has been transformed from industrial enclave and rail yards into one of Portland’s most popular residential, cultural and retail districts. A century ago, the area went through a similar transformation, from a working class housing area at the edge of a marsh to the city’s biggest industrial and warehousing area. Many of Portland’s best known architects of the period designed buildings for important local and national companies. Most of these buildings remain, with their exteriors intact, and new uses inside. But as the pending demolition of the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Feldman Building (a renovated old warehouse) reminds us, the current wave of development could threaten more historic buildings. Tour meets at southeast corner of NW 10th Avenue and Johnson Street. 6PM Thursday, August 24. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
King's Hill tour
Many of Portland’s most notable late 19th and early 20th century architects designed homes in the hilly King's Hill, a National Register Historic District, featured on this Architectural Heritage Center tour. The neighborhood is also known for its wonderful landscape architecture, serving as a gateway to Washington Park. Tour meets at the staircase near the entrance to Washington Park on SW Park Place. Tour meetup location to be announced. 10AM Saturday, August 26. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Japanese Garden Notes: Seeing Through a Designer’s Eye
The New York Times has called Marc Peter Keane "the undisputed American master of Japanese garden scholars. Keane is a landscape architect and renowned author of multiple books on Japanese garden design and history, including the newly-published Japanese Garden Notes: A Visual Guide to Elements and Design (Stone Bridge Press). As the first foreigner to obtain a work permit in Japan for landscape architecture, Keane lived and worked in Kyoto, Japan for 18 years, designing gardens for private individuals, companies and temples. His garden design work includes private residences, company grounds, and temple gardens, as well as a park in Tokushima and a historic district in Nagano. He continues his design work now from his studio in Ithaca, New York. This talk is coordinated in partnership with the Japanese Garden Training Center, is a new educational initiative of the Portland Japanese Garden that seeks to provide a place in North America for learning the skills and techniques for creating and stewarding Japanese gardens while acquainting students with the cultural heart and soul of Japanese garden arts. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue, Fields Ballroom. 3:30PM Saturday, August 26. $15 ($10 for Portland Art Museum/Asian Art Council members).
Rosé and Rummer house tour
Join the local DoCoMoMo for a summer evening to tour a classic Robert Rummer built residence with rosé wine and hors d'oeuvres provided. Additionally, there will be an interview with builder Robert Rummer about his homes and career. The location is a classic midcentury-modern house built in 1966 by Robert Rummer located in Southwest Portland. It has amazing light, interior atrium and outdoor spaces. Robert Rummer was a real estate developer during the post-war period. Drawing strongly from the Eichler homes of California, he built several mid-century modern homes in the Oregon metro area during the 1960s and 1970s. The notable Oak Hills Historic District in Beaverton includes several of his builds. SW Cecilia Terrace. 4:30PM Sunday, August 27. $20 plus service charge ($10 plus service charge for DoCoMoMo members).
Montavilla neighborhood tour
A former monastery, 19th century farmhouses, Arts & Crafts Bungalows, and a vibrant streetcar era commercial district with a restored Streamline Moderne theater? It’s all in Montavilla. On this Architectural Heritage Center tour, one can take a walk through this historic streetcar neighborhood nestled below the east slope of Mt. Tabor while learning about its development and some of the one-time residents and architects behind the buildings. Tour meetup location to be announced. 10AM Tuesday, August 29. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Merchants And Markets: Touring Portland’s Historic Yamhill District
Exploring the heart of Portland’s late-nineteenth century commercial district, this Architectural Heritage Center tour visits the Yamhill Historic District and nearby historic buildings of SW Second and Third Avenues. The route is packed with the names of prominent city pioneers who made their mark as merchants, developers and architects as well as providing some of the city’s finest examples of cast iron, Richardsonian Romanesque and Classical buildings. The tour also will visit the Willamette’s first bridge, the first public market, and the city's first Chinatown as we discuss how the district spearheaded the first preservation efforts for Portland’s downtown. Tour begins outside the World Trade Center, SW First Avenue and Salmon Street. 10AM Tuesday, August 16 and 6PM Wednesday, August 31. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
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