Ed McMahon (Urban Land Institute)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
Historic Laurelhurst walking tour
Laurelhurst is one of the most architecturally distinctive neighborhoods in Portland. With beginnings as a planned streetcar suburb, this area has a high concentration of early 20th century Arts and Crafts-influenced residences as well as some grand Colonial Revivals. This Positively Portland walking tour will include several landmark residences, including the Mediterranean Revival style Markham House (1911) that was threatened with demolition and is now restored and expanded. Tour begins at Laurelhurst Market, 3155 East Burnside Street. 1PM Sunday, October 1. $15.
Density, Design, and Preservation: Ways to Promote Livability and Affordability
Portland is struggling to balance the need for more affordable housing with the desire of city residents for better-designed new development that people will want to preserve decades hence. While some see affordability, good design, and historic preservation as being in conflict, others believe that advocates for these goals can and should work together. Ed McMahon, the Urban Land Institute’s Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development, chair of the National Main Street Center Board and a nationally renowned authority on sustainability, urban design, and historic preservation (not to be confused with Johnny Carson's announcer), will discuss density and affordability in hot-market cities like Portland. University of Oregon, White Stag Block, 70 NW Couch Street. 6PM Tuesday, October 3. Free.
Old Town/Chinatown walking tour
Discover the history and architecture of Portland's first commercial district, where over 100 years ago ocean-going ships delivered their passengers and goods in this thriving port city . On this Positively Portland walking tour, attendees can see survivors of the cast-iron era and swing through Portland's Chinatown, which isn't really Chinatown anymore. Like many neighborhoods in Portland, this district is changing with the times and those changes involve the re-purposing of many underutilized buildings. The tour also includes a look at some prominent success stories and works in progress including the US Custom House (1901), now a We Work office space, and the Sailors Mission (1881), now the Society Hotel. Tour begins at AIA Center for Architecture, 403 NW 11th Avenue. 10AM Friday, October 6. $15.
Classical Downtown Portland tour
Downtown Portland contains an extensive collection of classically influenced buildings, many of which are clad with glazed terra cotta, a building material that was at its height of popularity in the early 20th century. On this Architectural Heritage Center tour, attendees will see the city’s first “skyscraper”, a bank that could have been a Greek temple, and learn about several architects from this period who left an indelible impression on Portland including A.E. Doyle, the firm of Whidden and Lewis, and the Reid Brothers from San Francisco. Tour begins on SW Broadway at Pioneer Courthouse Square - above the fountain. 10AM Saturday, October 7. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Timber and Stone: Celebrating Portland's Built Environment
This year’s Architectural Heritage Center fundraiser dinner and auction, entitled Timber and Stone: Celebrating Portland’s Built Environment, honors the Portland area’s rich diversity of historic architecture that defines the character of our communities. It celebrates not only the architects who shaped the city through their designs, but also the craftspeople, woodworkers, engineers, masons, and artists whose work both built and defined Portland. Held at the historic Melody Ballroom, the evening includes a silent and live auction, dinner, and other fun ways to participate and support the AHC. Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder Street. 6PM Saturday, October 7. $95 ($115 Patron ticket, $900 for a table, $1100 Patron table).
Merchants and Markets tour
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 meetup location to be announced. 10AM Tuesday, October 10. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Design for Climate Regeneration
The world is in a climate crisis, but we can do something about it. Since the start of the industrial revolution, we’ve been using fossil fuels to remake the world. This abundant energy and bad design led to the destruction of the biology that maintains our lives. How do we change the way we design our regions, towns, cities, and buildings to rebuild soil and bring CO2 levels back to what we need for a stable climate? What will it take? This introduction, presented by Jordan Fink, a permaculture teacher and City Repair co-founder, gives the big view of how we might go about making things right through design. Global Homestead Garage and Shop People, 416 SE Oak Street. 5PM Tuesday, October 10. Free.
Portland State of Mind: Luminous Legibility
Speaking as part of the Portland State University School of Architecture's Fridays@4 lecture series, visiting professor Leni Schwendinger, who most recently served as Arup’s global urban lighting leader and is a recognized authority on city lighting, with more than 20 years of experience creating illuminated environments for public spaces all over the world. Recent and ongoing projects include the Enhanced Design Initiative for the New York City subway, several bridges in Canada, and art projects for the Cleveland Rapid Transit District, among others. She is currently a Design Trust for Public Space Fellow and in fall 2017. Portland State University, Shattuck Hall Annex, 1914 SW Park Avenue. 4PM Friday, October 13. Free.
Buried Creeks, Gulches, and Lakes of Old Portland: Historical Ecology
Focusing on the early days of Portland, Dr. Tracy Prince, author of Portland’s Goose Hollow and co-author of Notable Women of Portland and Portland's Slabtown, presents a slide show of historic photos and maps to demonstrate how dramatically different the terrain of Old Portland (the west side—from the Willamette River to the West Hills) was from today’s terrain. This changed terrain includes: building the Great Plank Road which ran through the narrow and dark Tanner Creek Canyon; burying Tanner Creek, Johnson Creek, and Balch Creek; filling Couch Lake, Guild’s Lake, and other lakes; filling the 20-block long, 50-feet deep Tanner Creek Gulch and the 14 block long Johnson Creek Gulch; building streets on 20-50 foot pilings in areas that today’s residents would describe as flatlands; and largely forgotten Native American and Chinese American histories on now infilled wetlands. Such incredible alterations to Portland’s natural landscape were seen as necessary for growing a young frontier city and to accommodate real estate development. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, October 14. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Advertisements
Comments