The Architect's Questionnaire: Doug Minarik

Doug Minarik (Minarik Architecture)

BY BRIAN LIBBY

It's been a long summer, with another wave of rising Covid infections, all-time-record heat, and wildfire smoke clouding our skies. And with a succession of writing assignments following a slow pandemic, my posts to this blog have been too seldom lately. I apologize for that, but there are several new posts on the way.

Over Portland Architecture's 16-year history, one of my favorite ongoing series as been the Architect's Questionnaire, where we learn about local practitioners' inspirations, mentors, key career moments, and cultural passions. And for much of this year I'd been meaning to invite architect Doug Minarik of Minarik Architecture to become our next guest.

I got to know Doug while writing a Dwell magazine article about the Springwater Trail Residence, a beautiful and impressively resilient residence overlooking the nature preserve and pathway of the house's name. It boasts a solar panel-and-battery combination that allowed its owner to keep the heat and electricity on during last winter's massive ice storm. There's an ADU upstairs that increases urban density and allows a revenue stream. And at one end of the boomerang-shaped house, hiding an exterior stairway, is a wall of latticed wood that I particularly enjoyed: it makes the simple Monopoly-like house sing. But that's just the start of Minarik Architecture's work. From houses to rehab to even bridges, I like their style.

Educated and beginning his career in Montana, Doug Minarik first came to Portland in 2008, where he spent three years at SRG Partnership and then two years at Works Progress Architecture, before founding his own firm in 2013.

Springwater Trail Residence (Brian Libby)

PORTLAND ARCHITECTURE: When did you first become interested in architecture as a possible career?

DOUG MINARIK: Touring hill towns in Greece was where I realized architecture was the right career choice, something clicked, architecture was much more than drafting plans for a house. That Greek trip was during my 4th year of architecture school. Up until that point, I enjoyed college, was good at both math and drawing and loved the studio projects, but I didn’t appreciate the full potential of architecture as a career.

Where did you study architecture and how would you rate the experience?

Montana State University. At 18, I was much more intrigued with the abundant outdoor activities surrounding Bozeman. I started in engineering but transferred to architecture after a semester. I lucked out in that MSU has a wonderful architectural school and I could get to a ski hill in 15 minutes. Being surrounded by such an amazing landscape instilled an appreciation for how buildings engage with their surroundings. My opinion that architecture is more about creating places rather than objects came from spending a semester in Greece and Italy, and school trips to NYC, Seattle and Portland. It was a great experience and I’d encourage anyone to pick a school in a place that supports your lifestyle and hobbies.

What is your favorite building project that you’ve worked on?

I’ve spent the last 15 years working with an amazing team of developers, engineers, contractors and other architects restoring the seven-acre Pea Cannery complex [in Bozeman, Montana, with Comma-Q Architecture] into retail, restaurant and office spaces. It has been incredibly rewarding seeing the land and buildings that had long expired their original use, be revitalized, get filled with people, become a community and be given a new purpose for the next 100 years. A close second is the Bridger Canyon House [also in Bozeman]: amazing clients and an amazing contractor (Archer Construction).

Before and after at the Pea Cannery (The Cannery District)

Who has been an important mentor among your colleagues?

John Harrison, a now-retired principal from SRG. In my brief time working with him, he made a number of comments about practicing architecture that continue to resonate. He had a matter-of-fact approach to the profession that prioritized quality, not taking short cuts, and upholding the integrity of a design.

What part of the job do you like best, and as an architect what do you think you most excel at?

I love getting lost in layers of trace, drawing by hand over and over until diverse project goals start to align and come into focus as a single idea. I am ultimately a left-brain thinker and ‘creativity’ is a careful meticulous process rather than a spontaneous one. I suppose I excel most at distilling an idea down to its core contributing elements.

Bridger Canyon Residence (Audrey Hall)

What are some Portland buildings (either new or historic) that you most admire?

Kengo Kuma’s Japanese Garden Cultural Village is at the top of the list for craft, detail and how it creates space with the landscape rather than be an object in the landscape. On the east side, I don’t know its origins, but there is a gem of a building from the 1960s near our office where NE 19th dead-ends at I-84. I’ve stared at it a number of times admiring its clarity of design and material detailing.

What is your favorite building outside of Portland and besides any you’ve worked on?

The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver by Allied Works, especially in context with its neighbor [the Denver Art Museum].

Is there a local architect or firm you think is unheralded or deserves more credit?

Fieldwork Design & Architecture. They could always use another shout-out given their consistently great work.

What would you like to see change about Portland’s built environment in the long term?

Require all new apartments to be built for a minimum 100-year life span.

How would you rate the performance of local government like Prosper Portland, or the development and planning bureaus?

We’ve had mostly positive interactions with individuals at the city. The early assistance opportunities, combined with the potential for reviewer continuity during permit review has added a refreshing level of collaboration, necessary to get a project approved. However, from what I can tell, there is a high level of dysfunction when it comes to making productive decisions related to the permit-review process and design guidelines. The actual permit-review process at an administrative level is arduous at best and the design guidelines are forcing buildings to be caricatures of place. For example, the archaic cornice requirement in the design guidelines: it is doing nothing but forcing cheap, tacked-on style.

Minarik Architecture's Lewis & Clark College Howard Bridge (Lincoln Barbour)

Would you rather live in a South Waterfront condo, a craftsman bungalow in Laurelhurst, a warehouse loft in the Pearl, or a mid-century ranch in the West Hills?

I lived in a craftsman bungalow near Laurelhurst for 12 years, which was wonderful. I love gardening so I’d try the mid-century ranch as long as it was within walking distance to a bakery and a park.

Who is a famous architect you’d like to see design a building in Portland?

Jeanne Gang for a downtown Portland building. Byoung Cho if it were a nice infill project in an eastside neighborhood.

Which would you rather be responsible for: an ugly LEED platinum building or a beautiful contemporary energy hog?

Yikes, I think if those were my choices I would pivot to a different profession. I have too many questions: What makes it ugly, and what makes it beautiful? Which is most adaptable to changing uses? I think beauty (the simplistic, non-stylized kind) has greater potential to stand the test of time. So, if it is an energy hog today, it seems much easier to improve in energy performance than an ugly LEED building which will get torn down sooner. Once torn town, we can hang the ugly building’s LEED certificate on the renovated modernist building.

Name something besides architecture (sneakers, furniture, umbrellas) you love the design of.

Bikes: I love riding them, staring at them, tinkering with them.

What are three of your all-time favorite movies?

I have a horrible movie memory. I also have two young daughters so Pixar movies cloud the memory. However, neither are movies, but The Wire and HBO’s recent The White Lotus are both outstanding. For a third, The Triplets of Belleville.