Sunday, October 12, 2014

The Portland Building - Simon Ott


Having grown up in Oregon I've visited downtown Portland several times in my youth.  Most of my memories of buildings and spaces are vague but have a distinct feeling about them.  Portland is "THE" city of my life, the first large city of my experience and all other cities are therefore compared to it.  I know for a fact that I've passed by this particular building several times in my childhood I may have even been inside but the only memory I have of it is of the statue "Portlandia" in front of it.  

As it turns out, this is one of Portland's most famous buildings.  Designed by Michael Graves, it is considered the first major post modern building and was the launching point of the career of the architect.  Completed in 1982, it serves as the Portland Municipal Services Building and helped put Portland on the Architectural map so to speak.  It was met with much criticism and the design requirements placed upon Mr. Graves contributed to some of the issues that the building has had over the years.  I required extensive renovations only 8 years after opening due to cracks in the cement roofs over the food courts.  In 2006 a green roof was added in partnership with the Oregon State University with purpose of testing plant varieties and helping to heat and cool the building as well as manage storm runoff.  

 Portland is currently considering several options to update the building including demolishing it and starting over.  Mr. Graves has actually returned to Portland to propose renovations to the building and still considers it one of his children.  The next few months will determine the future of this building but regardless of what happens it has had its impact, even on the young version of myself.  As a quote by Architectural critis Paul Goldberger says "For better or for worse, the Portland Building overshadows other things. It is more significant for what it did than how well it does it. It had a profound effect on American architecture and brought a return to classicism that brought us better buildings."  

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