Tag Archives: this place matters

2019 Modernism in America Awards

“Not all preservation advocacy efforts result in a positive outcome, but these efforts would never happen in the first place without one person carrying the banner, holding the megaphone, taking the lead, and Peter has exhibited that strongly in this case, and throughout his career.”
– Gunny Harboe, Docomomo US Director

Via DOCOMOMO US
An Advocacy Award of Excellence is given to Peter Meijer, AIA, NCARB, for his leadership and advocacy work related to the Portland Public Service Building (the Portland Building). As the founding President of DOCOMOMO US/Oregon, Peter and his architectural practice Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA) played a pivotal role in speaking up and advocating for the sensitive preservation of the Postmodern icon, designed by Michael Graves and completed in 1982.

In 2011, PMA wrote the nomination to add the building to the National Register of Historic Places, a serious undertaking, without being contracted to do so. Shortly thereafter the city began to consider making improvements after years of deferred maintenance and chose to move forward with a reconstruction plan that disregarded the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.

Despite opposition from PMA, local and national advocates, and a letter from the National Park Service stating the building would be “de-listed” from the National Register, the Portland Landmarks Commission nevertheless voted to approve the reconstruction plan. Faced with significant alteration of arguably Portland’s most important architectural icon, Peter pushed forward individually and appealed the decision. Portland City Council denied the appeal, essentially ending the effort. Peter remained dedicated to the cause throughout the entire process, despite substantial local professional risk.

Although the fight is now over, DOCOMOMO US/Oregon has not let the story go out of the headlines, continuing to document the ongoing dismantling of the Portland Building’s façade.

For the full list of 2019 MODERNISM IN AMERICA award winners, please visit DOCOMOMO US.

Preservation Month 2017

May is Preservation Month! Review ten (10) handy preservation resources:

ONE – We explore some factors and opinions on new construction in Historic Districts.
PMAPDX OSU Buildable Landarea

TWO – An iconic example of a landmarked building less than 50 years old.
portland-building-pmapdx-nomination

THREE – Visit Oregon’s SHPO website to browse historic sites, NR listings, & available grants.
Union Station Historic/Seismic Renovation

FOUR – Get to know your local architectural styles from the 1840s – 1970s.
Hillsboro J-B House

FIVE – Pledge your support for a rehabilitated VMC because this place matters.

SIX – How you can find a historic place in the state of Washington.
PMAPDX-planning

SEVEN – Tax Incentives for Preserving Historic Properties.
USCH Courtyard

EIGHT – Oregon’s Most Endangered Places via Restore Oregon.
PMAPDX modern survey historic photo

NINE – Keeping It Modern. An architectural conservation grants for 20th century buildings.

TEN – How Historic Preservation is Reviving America’s Communities.
Hillsboro_OrencoInventory

Portland Public Service Building National Register Nomination

Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA) nominated the iconic Portland Public Services building to the National Register of Historic Places. Known universally as the Portland Building, it is one of the most notable works by internationally-known master architect Michael Graves and is widely credited as the design that established Graves’s preeminence in the field.

The Portland Building is significant as one of a handful of high-profile building designs that defined the aesthetic of Post-Modern Classicism in the United States between the mid-1960s and the 1980s. Constructed in 1982, the structure is ground-breaking for its rejection of “universal” Modernist principles in favor of the bold and symbolic color, well-defined volumes, and stylized- and reinterpreted-classical elements such as pilasters, garlands, and keystones.

The building is notable for its regular geometry and fenestration as well as the architect’s use of over-scaled and highly-stylized classical decorative features on the building including a copper statue mounted above the entry, garlands on the north and south facades, and the giant pilasters and keystone elements on the east and west facades. Whether or not one judges the building to be beautiful or even to have fulfilled Graves’s ideas about being humanist in nature, it is undeniably important in the history of American architecture. The building is inextricably linked to the rise of the Post-Modern movement.

Memorial Coliseum National Register Nomination

Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA) conducted historic research and prepared the National Register nomination for Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. In 2011, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance.

PMA’s advocacy for the preservation of Memorial Coliseum earned the firm a role on the building’s 2011 rehabilitation design team. PMA provided drawings of the building overlaid with “preservation zones” highlighting historic character-defining features with low, medium, and high priority for preservation to guide the design team. PMA’s research and nomination enabled the City to take advantage of significant tax credits in the rehabilitation of the public structure. The Memorial Gardens and Timber Industry conference rooms features were included in the building’s interpretation and marketing plans.

When completed in 1960, Memorial Coliseum was a technological feat of engineering and operation unrivaled by any other large civic structure, and a fully-articulated example of International-Style Modernism. In addition to the glass curtain wall, Memorial Coliseum’s other features, such as the undulating concrete seating bowl, contribute to the significant social history of the building. The building is the only large-scale public arena glass-walled structure of the mid-century retaining its original design, materials, workmanship, highly urban context, and original relationship to nearby geographic features such as the Willamette River.