A grid of KOIN interview screen captures (Brian Libby)
BY BRIAN LIBBY
The Architectural Heritage Center's exhibit "The Artistic and Eclectic Will Martin: Selected Works, 1957-1985" is a wonderful look at an architect and his career, from Martin's signature work, Pioneer Courthouse Square, to a number of other architecture projects and proposals as well as artwork, including a lot of compelling visuals, particularly architectural renderings. But one aspect of the exhibit that most caught my attention because it featured the voice and face of the man.
When Pioneer Courthouse Square was under construction, Martin sat down with KOIN reporter Mike Donahue for an interview right there on the site. He talks about the design competition, the evolution of his team's design, the political fight to get the square built, as well as his upbringing and training as an architect. The talk, playing on a video loop along with some additional audio of Martin talking about the design, lets Martin speak in his own words.
Of course Martin died tragically in 1985, so he never had much of a chance to show what else his firm could do after the square commission. It's too bad, because any number of other major cultural buildings and public spaces might have been on the offing. But it also robbed so many people in the local architecture community of a chance to know Martin as a person. I recommend going to the AHC and watching the video for that reason: it's not just what he says but the chance to see him say it, to pick up on his body language and demeanor. Martin was rather suave, and I think he knew it. It's fun to watch him answer a young Donahue's questions as his magnum opus gets constructed all around them.
One thing I continually find strange is just how few pictures there are of Martin, at least online. Search engines only bring up one photo of him drawing, many years before the square, or perhaps a cheeky promotional flyer saying, "Would you buy a brick from this man?" He definitely was no introvert, but he's a hard face to find, even in the AHC exhibit itself. That flyer is there, and so is a painting of Martin. But next to no other photos. That's part of why the video is so compelling.
For those who can't make it to the exhibit, or need some extra enticement to do so, following is a summary of Martin's comments. If nothing else, skip to the bottom and read the last question and answer, knowing Martin would only live one year beyond Pioneer Courthouse Square's completion.
The AHC video, provided by former partner John Matteson, first features Martin talks specifically about the Pioneer Courthouse Square design (and the move away from a covered conservatory, which Mayor Ivancie and some others preferred):
Martin: "Prior to this quick scheme, there were probably another half a dozen schemes that all had some merit but were not totally acceptable to all of this.
One day, about a week and a half prior to the completion date, the entire team sat in a room and evaluated what we had done to date and decided it was the wrong way to go. The reason was we had far too much structure on the site, and probably the cost would be completely out of line. It was too complex, and what we did have was probably not adequate for a conservatory in terms of scope and size: to make it work in the true sense of a conservatory. So in about 20 minutes I came to the board and scratched this [design] out, retaining the stoa idea that we previously developed with a column system on each street, Yamhill and Morrison, which relayed to the light rail transit systems.
Competition model of Pioneer Courthouse Square (University of Oregon)
We retained that, we retained the amphitheater idea. We also retained the idea of a terraced plaza, because of the grade change from Broadway and Morrison down to the corner at Sixth and Yamhill. So this curved form here was a new idea. The idea of the fallen arch or the tipped arch to create an opening to service the underneath part of the space was also a new idea. What building we were going to develop then took place at this corner, again as a kind of café, aviary, semi-conservatory thing with a tower, an elevator and all that.
Everyone bought the idea from this sketch except for [graphic artist] Bob Reynolds. Bob Reynolds bought it temporarily, and then when he went home he called me a couple hours later. He said, ‘Will, if everyone wants to go ahead with it, that’s fine with me. But would you do me a favor?’ I said, ‘Sure, Bob, I’ve only known you for twenty years and have the highest respect for you. What do you want me to do?’ He said, ‘I want you to redesign it in thirty minutes: to cleanse your mind, simplify it, and see what you come up with.’ So I did just that. I eliminated the elevator tower, the aviary, the café, and what was left of the conservatory, and wound up essentially with the scheme that we submitted. Bob came in and looked at it and said, ‘That’s it. Let’s go.’ So off we went."
And then comes the KOIN interview .
Mike Donahue: You took some criticism that almost killed your plan. I remember reading the headlines in the newspaper: “Pioneer Square Plan Is Dead.” What did that do you personally?
Will Martin: Well, it was the most shocking headline I’ve ever seen. It was a terribly sobering thing after all the hours and months and sweat and blood that we put into the thing. It seemed like a terrible thing to have happen. I think that my first response was to run and scream. But then I sat down with my partners and the people that worked with me on it, and we decided which way we would go with it, and sort of got it back on its feet. Now it’s a reality.
As an architect, though, in a political world you do have to make amends, compromises, to the political concerns.
I think all architecture is a compromise, and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. There’s no such thing as a perfect building. The site itself can be a compromise. But compromises can be turned into very positive affairs. They can actually add…[unable to discern]. It actually depends on how you define compromise. If it’s a compromise in terms of giving away something of the design that’s really important, then that’s wrong. That’s immoral and it’s unethical. But if it’s a compromise to nature or a compromise to use, or something of that effect, then I can take the idea of compromise as a very positive thing.
Will the Pioneer Square that we see be the one that you wanted to see? Do you feel like it could be better in Will Martin’s eyes?
Well, these things can always be better, I suppose. There’s nothing perfect in what man creates. But I’m extremely happy with the way that it’s turned out. We’ve worked with a number of people from the city, the Portland Development Commission, our own people and so on, and we have not changed the square substantially at all. It’s still essentially the same scheme that we won the competition with. And I feel real good about that.
Pioneer Courthouse Square fundraising flyer (Architectural Heritage Center)
And you should feel good winning a national competition. You’re the local boy. Do you feel that was an advantage or disadvantage being from the Portland area?
I think it was a tremendous advantage. I doubt if I have any more talent than the other contenders. But I live here. I’ve lived here for 20 years. I was able to come up here at 2 o’clock in the morning and see what it was like, what the lighting qualities [are throughout the day]. I was here one night in the cold freezing rain. And the sense of Portland, the sense of what the people are all about: I had an advantage.
It’s a people-oriented square. It’s not a park, I understand. Some people confuse that.
It’s very much a people-oriented square. The difference between park and square, in my opinion—and I think it’s very valid, here—is that a square is an open space where people can engage in a number of different activities. A park is usually what we consider a space that has trees and lots of water and grass and that sort of thing. Portland has an abundance of that. But cities like Sienna and Bologna and the Italian hilltowns have what they call a piazza, a square. It’s a safety valve of use for people. And it tends to be an open, simple kind of space where a variety of activities can take place.
We’re not in Europe. We’re in the Pacific Northwest. Do you feel it will fit here as well?
Well, let me elaborate.
We did get involved with the question: what is an American square? You think we’re different from Europeans, and I agree: we are. We love to be entertained. Television is a very important American invention, as is radio and so on. Movies are a great source of entertainment. So we’ll have a family room. And I took the cue from there: maybe Portland should have a downtown living room, or a downtown family room. And essentially in architectonic translation, that’s what it is. It’s a place to be entertained. Or if you want to entertain someone you can do that also. Hopefully you’ll be able to come here on almost any day and be entertained in one way or another, just watching people, for example.
Let’s talk about Will Martin the human being. Here you are, a lover of classics, an appreciator of Roman and Greek architecture, yet you were born the Ozarks. Somehow those two don’t seem to jive, at least on the initial look. How did you come from the Ozarks to where you are now?
Actually I look at my childhood background as being a good contributor to what I’m doing now. Life was simple. I dealt with the natural forces. I became a lover of nature. Living on the farm, my father taught me the joy of hard work, my mother taught me the beauty of poetry and music, and it was probably the best training I’ve had. So in that case, I think it was a great preparation for what I finally decided to do, which was to become an architect. I had a scholarship to travel to Europe when I was a student, in 1955. That had a strong influence on what I did for the rest of my career.
What were some of your favorite things you saw in Europe?
Oh my, they were numerous. You can imagine a kid of 25 years old seeing Rome for the first time, for example. When I walked into St. Peter’s [Cathedral], I couldn’t believe it. It was so overpowering, and so immense, and so incredibly wonderful. I traveled through England and France, through Italy. I remember the last day, when I was in Paris, before I came home. It was autumn, and there’s no light like the autumn light in Paris. I went down to the cathedral, Notre Dame, for the last time, and stood in front of her like she was some great lady in the beautiful autumn light filtering down from the trees onto the building. I’ll never forget that image as long as I live.
They say that polticians like to be in office when a major edifice is constructed so that their names can appear on the cornerstone. Is there a certain amount of ego satisfaction in your work as well? That this type of thing, a landmark or a structure, would be raised that Will Martin designed?
Well, I think by all means if anyone’s honest at all about these things, I’m sure. We define Albert Schweitzer as one of the greatest giving people that ever existed. I think Albert Schweitzer—not to diminish him—did what he did because it was an ego trip, primarily, and he had to get tremendous gratification out of doing it personally or he wouldn’t have done it. Probably it’s the means and the end that really counts, in this ego trip we all go through. I used to be young and arrogant, or more arrogant: very much caught up in what I was doing and believing that it was probably the best thing that was being done. I’m not so sure of that anymore, and I believe now that if we are not people-oriented, if we don’t design for people, then we’re missing the whole bit. And believe me: the greatest excitement of all is dealing with human problems.
We recently won the interview for the School for the Blind for the State of Oregon. It’s a very exciting and, as you can imagine, a very human-oriented piece of work. I’m just dying to get into it. We did the Holiday Center over on the east side some eight years ago. It was probably the most rewarding project I’ve ever worked on, except possibly Pioneer Square.
Is this your crowing achievement, or will there be more to come? What is Will Martin looking for in the future? What are you going to try do do? Same kind of thing? More Pioneer Squares elsewhere?
Well, most of us really don’t really want to admit it’s our last or our crowing achievement. There’s always the next project to look forward to. There may be more open spaces of this type to design. I think it’s going to be a strong success and may have some influence on future work of this type. The old saw is that you don’t reach your optimum design capability until you’re about my age, which is about 50. I’m not sure if I’ve reached the peak yet or not. I’d like to think that there’s a lot more to come yet.
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