Blagen Block, NW First Avenue (Brian Libby)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
Walking Tour: Cast Iron and Classics in Downtown Portland
This walk along First, Second and Third Avenues from Salmon Street to Oak Street features some of the best surviving examples of Portland's cast iron architecture in one of the earliest National Register districts in the city. Included in the tour are several Classical Revival buildings that defined the image of the city in the early 20th century. Located between the waterfront and city center, this neighborhood has experienced a renaissance in recent decades and is the home to several notable Portland hotels, shopping destinations and dining venues. Tour begins at City Coffee, 932 SW Fourth Avenue. 1PM Friday, March 16. $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 meetup location to be announced. 10AM Saturday, March 17. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Elmer Feig: Apartment Designer Extraordinaire
Much like the Portland of the 2010s, Portland in the 1920s experienced a period of unparalleled apartment building construction. Scores of new buildings appeared during the decade as single family residential streets all over Portland were transformed. At the center of all these new apartment buildings in the 1920s was a former draftsman by the name of Elmer Feig, who actualluy was never licensed as an architect in the state of Oregon. Nevertheless, his buildings left an indelible mark on Portland. As this Architectural Heritage Center lecture by Fred Leeson will explore, Feig’s work reflected popular design trends of the time. He designed dozens of apartments, houses, and other buildings – many of them very simple in shape and size, but masterfully adorned with Mediterranean, Moorish, and Egyptian details. Unfortunately, with the onset of the Great Depression, Feig faded into relative obscurity and ultimately left Portland altogether. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, March 17. $10 ($12 for AHC members).
One City/Many Futures: The Portland We Are Making (Part Two)
Buildings are rising everywhere. Streets are clogged. Maybe you’ve heard there is a new Portland Plan or that half a billion will be spent to “widen” I-5. How many bioswales and bike lanes are enough? How many highrises? There’s lots of talk about equity, but is anyone creating it? Is Lents the new Pearl? How do all the changes to Portland fit together? Do they? Through a series of discussions in March hosted by Randy Gragg, "One City: Many Futures" offers a panoramic view of the next Portland with an unprecedented line-up of the people and projects defining the city’s future: top city officials, developers, architects, and community activists shaping the places that we live, work, and play. This second installment, entitled "How will we move?", features presentations from Portland Bureau of Transportation director Leah Treat and TriMet director of business planning Alan Lehto on city-wide plans, architect John Breshears of Architectural Applications on Portland's next bridge, Better Block's Ryan Hashagen and Street Trust's Jillian Detweiller on changes happening at street level, Port of Portland director Curtis Robinhold on the future of Portland International Airport, ODOT's Megan Channell and PBOT's Caitlin Reff on the I-5 expansion at the Rose Quarter interchange, and representatives of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon on the topic of transportation and justice. Portland Armory, 128 NW 11th Avenue. 6PM Monday, March 19. $20 plus $2.03 service charge for those known as "Supporters," ($10 plus $1.53 service charge for general admission, $5 plus $1.27 service charge on a sliding scale format, free for students).
Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Tour
When Ralph Lloyd began his 35-year effort to create an east Portland "downtown" in 1926, the site for his project, Holladay's Addition, was one of Portland's grandest neighborhoods. The remaining neighborhood, now known as Sullivan’s Gulch, was heavily impacted by the development of the nearby Lloyd Center mall. But as this Architectural Heritage Center tour demonstrates, the neighborhood still retains some significant historic residential architecture. Tour begins at northeast corner of Holladay Park, NE 13th Avenue and Multnomah Street, 10AM Tuesday, March 20. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
COTE Tour: Don’t Flush It and Forget It – The Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Plant
As recently as 1952, Portland’s sewage was emptied directly into the Willamette River and the Columbia Slough. Today we have state-of-the-art Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant. It processes nearly 30 billion gallons a year and returns the treated water to the Columbia River. With more than 2,500 miles of pipe that send wastewater to the plant 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the plant’s main goal is to avoid human health risks and to provide good quality water for drinking. However, these processes require increasing efforts in energy inputs, translating to increased secondary environmental impacts. What can we do as designers to maximize the efficiency of the existing systems? An in-depth guided tour of the facility with members of the American Institute of Architects Portland chapter's Committee on the Environment will provide a better understanding of how it works and what one can do to help alleviate unnecessary burdens on the system. Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant, 5001 N Columbia Boulevard. 12PM Thursday, March 22. $35 plus $4.01 service charge ($25 plus $3.45 service charge for AIA members, $15 plus $2.89 service charge for Associate AIA members or those not seeking AIA Continuing Education credits, $5 plus $2.33 service charge for students).
Walking Tour: Portland Architecture on the World Stage
In the decades before Michael Grave’s Portland Building grabbed global headlines, local modernist pioneers John Yeon and Pietro Belluschi brought fame to the city with architectural designs of their own. They were soon followed by big name firms such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as well as a few “starchitects” of their time, namely Charles Luckman (whose firm designed the Wells Fargo Center and Hugh Stubbins (designer of the PacWest Center). Added to this mix was the exceptional work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and a plethora of local firms including ZGF.This tour takes a look at the work of these and other architects that have left their mark on downtown over the past several decades. While gaining insight into Portland’s architectural recent past and near future, attendees on this Architectural Heritage Center tour will also learn about the impacts of urban renewal as well as concerns over pedestrian access and sustainability. Tour meetup location to be announced. 10AM Saturday, March 24. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Portland's Historic Sacred Spaces
Portland's first house of worship was built in 1850, five years after the city’s founding. Since that time many of the city’s most important architects and artisans have contributed to our rich assortment of sacred spaces, serving a variety of faiths from around the world. In this Architectural Heritage Center lecture, John Doyle will discuss the architectural styles, interiors, and decorative arts of Portland’s sacred spaces from the city’s founding to the present. Attendees will also learn how architects such as Warren Williams, Joseph Jacobberger, and Pietro Belluschi made significant contributions to this legacy. And of course, no program about Portland’s sacred spaces would be complete without including the Povey Brothers Studio and their famous stained glass windows. Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Saturday, March 24. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
One City/Many Futures: The Portland We Are Making (Part Three)
Buildings are rising everywhere. Streets are clogged. Maybe you’ve heard there is a new Portland Plan or that half a billion will be spent to “widen” I-5. How many bioswales and bike lanes are enough? How many highrises? There’s lots of talk about equity, but is anyone creating it? Is Lents the new Pearl? How do all the changes to Portland fit together? Do they? Through a series of discussions in March hosted by Randy Gragg, "One City: Many Futures" offers a panoramic view of the next Portland with an unprecedented line-up of the people and projects defining the city’s future: top city officials, developers, architects, and community activists shaping the places that we live, work, and play. This third installment, entitled "Greening Portland," features "The Big Plans" from Portland Parks and Recreation director Mike Abbate and Metrodirector of Parks and Nature Jonathan Blasher, Verde's Alan Hipolito and Desiree Williams-Rajee on a new park in the Cully neighborhood, Snohetta's Michelle Delk on her firm's master plan for OMSI and the Willamette Falls River Walk in Oregon City, Dangermond-Keane Architects' Steve Dangermond on a new gateway to Forest Park, the Bureau of Environmental Services' Dawn Uchiyama on going beyond bioswales, and the Human Access Project's Willie Levenson on bringing beaches to the Willamette riverfront downtown. Portland Armory, 128 NW 11th Avenue. 6PM Monday, March 26. $20 plus $2.03 service charge for those known as "Supporters," ($10 plus $1.53 service charge for general admission, $5 plus $1.27 service charge on a sliding scale format, free for students).
Historic Grand Avenue Tour
Along Grand Avenue, once the main commercial spine in the original and separate city of East Portland, lies an amazing mix of architecture from Italianate to Art Deco. Among the many buildings, including a few hidden gems, this Architectural Heritage Center walking tour will reveal the well-known Barber Block, a one-time mortuary, and West’s Block, the oldest building on Grand Avenue and home of the AHC itself. Tour begins at Architectural Heritage Center, 701 SE Grand Avenue. 10AM Tuesday, March 27. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
Critique Session: School for Deaf Children
Members of the Oregon chapter of Architects Without Borders, comprised of volunteers from the fields of architecture, engineering, interior design, and landscape architecture, have been working on a design for the School for Deaf Children in Les Cayes, Haiti. The project deadline is early June and the designers are seeking public feedback. Refreshments will be served. AIA Center for Architecture, 403 NW 11th Avenue. 6PM Wednesday, March 28. Free.
Pearl District Walking Tour - A Century of Preservation and 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. 10AM Saturday, March 31. $20 ($12 for AHC members).
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