Tag Archives: architecture

PART I: Tropical Modernism in a Multicultural Context at the Docomomo US National Symposium

Tropical Modernism was showcased, explored, and celebrated at the sixth annual Docomomo US National Symposium in late September 2019. Docomomo US/Hawaii chapter hosted, and as the current Docomomo US/Oregon chapter president I had the opportunity to experience all things tropical and modern in Oahu, Hawaii.

Honolulu (2)-pmapdx

For those unfamiliar with the mouthful that is Docomomo (documentation for the conservation of the modern movement), it’s a national (technically international) non-profit dedicated to the preservation of modern architecture, landscape and design. At the Oregon chapter we take this mission a bit further by including art from the core era of modernism and one of the most controversial architectural movements: post modernism. But let’s get back to the oasis that is Oahu. First, if you have the opportunity to visit this island – DO IT. It is a multicultural, dense cosmopolitan city yet rural surf-town, absolute food heaven, post-war architectural wonderland where tropical resort design began, all rolled into one island that has weather far superior than what we ever get in the state of Oregon. Why do we all live in the cold and rain?!

The symposium kicked-off with a welcome reception at the Outrigger Canoe Club. The building is situated right along the Waikiki coast and was designed by Vladimir Ossipoff in 1941. Ossipoff had a prolific Honolulu-based firm, Ossipoff Snyder Architects. A common theme I was unware would take a central role throughout the symposium was about tropical outdoor/indoor living, or better known as lanai.

honolulu-beach

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
University of Hawaii at Manoa hosted the first day of symposium presentations at Jefferson Hall. While there are several mid-century buildings across the campus, Jefferson Hall is an architectural gem among them. Completed in 1963 and designed by Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei with Young & Henderson. Jefferson Hall was the last building constructed of the East-West Center (EWC) campus. The EWC helped put Hawaii on an international stage, connecting Asia and the West. Jefferson Hall in particular “combines the austere symmetry of the New Formalism with hints of Chinese traditional architecture to convey the links between Asia and the West envisioned by the center’s multiple champions and founders.” (1.)

HAWAII OVERVIEW – from traditional architecture to mid-century modernism
Glenn Mason
Graham Hart

Bit perplexed that native Hawaiian architecture was breezed over and barely mentioned. The presentation began with thatched houses, then quickly jumped to the first Western-style frame houses being shipped to Hawaii in the 1820s. These were the type of structures the Missionaries were accustomed to. From there we learned that basalt quarries were developed in the 1880s, and the California Gold Rush really opened up west coast trade to Hawaii. For the first time Douglas Fir was shipped from the mainland to Hawaii. Mason then explained that while Hawaii had designers, they did not have architects, but architects from Australia or the mainland came to Hawaii and contributed to the beaux-arts and neo-classical styled structures. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that a regional style began to express itself in Hawaii, and across the mainland. Hawaii regional style elements include: double pitched roof, lanai, local materials, and an overhang roof.

Towards the end of the 1930s change thinking happens and international style references begins to be expressed in architecture. Hawaii sees an influx of younger architects from Europe that were schooled in modernist design. The late 1930s had a stream of construction on military bases (several designed by Albert Kahns office), but by the time of WWII, 99% of architects on the island went to work for the military. From the 1930s through the 1960s there is a shift in the architecture vocabulary in Hawaii. It begins with regional style with a hint of modern, then modern used to reinterpret regionalism. Modern architects of note in Hawaii from that era:

Vladimir Ossipoff
Peter Wimberly
Lemmon, Freeth, Haines, and Jones
Edwim Bauer
Alfred Preis
Johnson & Perkins

The shift in the architecture vocabulary in Hawaii continues from the 1940s through the 1970s. Now we begin to see the environmental influences on modernism, even though rural landscapes are being transformed into cosmopolitan centers with smaller, steep, tight sites or housing. Materials used for modern design now includes concrete, cast concrete, lava rock, coral, local woods, and aggregates. Modern architecture in Hawaii also embraces the natural environment. This is most reflective in architect’s obsessions with lanai. This obsession found its way from residential homes to large developments. The East-West Center (1962-1963) at the University of Hawaii Manoa, designed by I.M. Pei, is a phenomenal example of a monumental, institutional piece of architecture that embraced the lanai.

Jefferson-Hall-001

ASIAN INFLUENCES
Alison Chiu and Alissa Carson
Lorraine Minatoishi
Luca Guido

This group of presentations focused on different facets of Asian influences and how the contributions were interwoven in post-war architectural design throughout Hawaii. Lorraine Minatoishi focused on Japanese temple architecture influence of modern design post-war. There were distinct temple styles developed throughout their history in Hawaii:

Japanese Traditional Style (late 1800s – early 1900s)
Plantation Style (late 1800s – early 1900s)
Hawaii Eclectic Style (early 1900s – 1950s)
East-West Style (1918 – 1950s)
Post-War Modernism (led by second-generation Japanese architect Niser)
Post-War Traditional

Luca’s presentation took it a step further by discussing an obscure architect from the mid-century modern era, Bruce Goff, and how he also influenced local architects to Hawaii. I had not heard of Bruce Goff like most, but Luca Guido explained why this figure in the realm of modernism was obscured until now.

RESIDENCES OF WIMBERLY AND COOK
Following presentations at the University of Hawaii and a self-guided walking tour of other mid-century campus resources, I chose to attend the Residences of Wimberly & Cook Tour. Pete Wimberly of Wimberly & Cook designed two residences situated above the Manoa Valley. Wimberly designed some of the most iconic mid-century modern buildings in Hawaii. Wimberly came to Hawaii in 1940, and post-war his career flourished. His designs embodied tropical modernism, spaces that blurred indoor and outdoor living. The residential designs we toured both featured indoor/outdoor living, natural cross-ventilation, elegant interior details and finishes, and a smart use of natural light. However, they were completely different in essence, aesthetic, style, and state.
Cook-Residence-PMAPDX
The Japanese style pavilion house was like walking into a meticulously cared-for time capsule. There wasn’t even dust on the book shelves that displayed artifacts collected and arranged by the original homeowner! However, there were a few signs of wear-and-tear on the interior Japanese style floor mats, kitchen cabinets along their frames, and slight dry-rot peppered across the original wood deck. Otherwise the home was pristinely maintained. Wimberly’s private residence across the street was a different story.

Wimberly’s private residence was constructed in 1945. This is an insane date for residential construction due to World-War II ending the same year, and the majority of architects/contractors in Oahu were working on military projects. With the Japanese style pavilion home, you enter by walking down slightly winding stone steps. With Wimberly’s private residence, you enter by climbing up stone steps that deliver visitors to a small landing, and then up more exterior stairs. The second set of stairs (wood planks suspended by cables) makes for a swoon-worthy entry sequence that looks like something Dwell or Architectural Digest would gobble up for a feature article.
Wimberly-Residence-PMAPDX
From the now faded red door, redish-pink painted wood paneled ceilings, decorative animal sculptures situated within the header above the door that leads from the dining area into the kitchen, to ornate light fixtures and various metal finishes throughout the space, Wimberly’s private residence utilized design elements that reflected the multicultural diversity of Hawaii. The residence is also quintessential mid-century design: natural cross-ventilation, sliding wall panels to completely open up or section off the main-floor living, dining and lounge areas, and a technological savvy (for its time) kitchen. From the perspective of how we design kitchens today, it is real sad and small, save for the to-die-for view of the lush tropical garden from the kitchen window over the sink.

Wimberley’s private residence also showed signs of being well lived-in, yet not maintained with any desired vigor. The wood framed windows on either side of the structure are rotting like the planks along the entry façade deck, and there are several cracked panes of window glass. Structural settling has made itself known, and the kitchen is retro in a manner no one would want for daily use. Most of the interior painted walls or ceilings have faded into softer hues of their original bold colors. And, when we visited, it looked as though someone was living there, yet possibly setting up an estate sale for interior items. There were some true mid-century interior design gems scattered in the clutter piled up from the floor I wish I could have packed in my suitcase for the return trip.

Hope you enjoyed PART I: Tropical Modernism in a Multicultural Context at the Docomomo US National Symposium! In Part II we will discuss the Hawaii State Capitol, and presentations on Historic Preservation in Hawaii and Tropical Resort Design.

Written by Kate Kearney, Associate.

1. Shen, Haigo and Irene. Tropical Modernism At University of Hawaii At Manoa. Docomomo US National Symposium, Oahu, Hawaii, September 2019.

Five Questions with PMA’s Summer Intern, Skyla Leavitt

This summer Skyla Leavitt had the opportunity to participate in a paid internship at PMA in our Portland office. In addition to working as an intern, Skyla is working at the University of Oregon (UO) in Portland as a Student Services Assistant. Her position at UO includes fielding emails from incoming students, organizing orientation and a field trip that the incoming class takes, and giving tours for both the architecture and historic preservation programs. Additionally, Skyla is the first and only student to pursue concurrent Masters in the Architecture and Historic Preservation programs at the UO Portland campus. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Architecture from The Ohio State University: Knowlton School of Architecture, a Masters of Architecture from the University of Oregon: College of Design in Portland, and is currently finishing her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Oregon: College of Design in Portland. It has been a delight to have Skyla working with all levels of staff at PMA on renovation projects for existing and historic properties.

Describe something new you learned while at PMA during your internship?
I came to PMA with some professional experience in architecture and a fundamental knowledge of historic preservation. However, in the 7 years since I have started this career path, I have somehow never learned Revit, let alone how Revit is used in conjunction with an existing building. I have been developing my Revit skill-set during my internship, and I think it has been particularly helpful to learn this program through the lens of preservation, as this is how I will continue to use it throughout my career. The use of 3D laser scans and point clouds, technology I had never previously been exposed to, has not only been interesting, but also eye opening to the ways this field is effectively utilizing technology.

What have you enjoyed working on while at PMA?
I have been allowed the opportunity to partake in a variety of work in my short time at PMA, which I am very grateful for! The process of carrying out condition assessments and documenting the current state of a historic building, as well as how we might address its issues, is very satisfying to me. I have also enjoyed developing enclosure details, which has exposed me to the numerous and specific challenges architects face when working on historic buildings.

Has your internship changed your perspective on historic preservation, or working with existing resources?
I wouldn’t say my perspective has changed, rather that it has been validated. My internship has confirmed for me that I am in the right field and that I have found my niche, so to speak. I have always wanted a specialization, and new construction has never appealed the same way adaptive reuse or renovation work has. Preservation was a natural fit for me and sits well with my tendencies towards the nostalgic.

How will your internship experience influence your studies when you return to school?
When I return to school this autumn, I plan to write my Master of Science in Historic Preservation thesis about the intersection of architecture and historic preservation in practice, specifically the interdisciplinary negotiations and compromises that allow a building to maintain its historic integrity, while also achieving improved technical functionality and code compliance. I believe our ability as architects to successfully facilitate these conversations is integral to sustaining not only the physical longevity of a historic site, but also the relevance and importance it holds within the community by allowing it to serve users in new or improved capacities.

Do you have a favorite aspect about architecture or historic preservation?
I am very interested in building enclosures and how we marry modern concepts with historic practices when we make an intervention in a historic building envelope. Masonry in particular, as opposed to wood, fascinates me as it is both fragile and enduring.

BONUS: Anything fun you did in PDX this summer?
The highlights of my summer have been tubing down the Clackamas River, berry picking at Sauvie Island, attending a few concerts at the Moda Center, and hiking the Tom, Dick, and Harry Trail on a clear day when I could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Jefferson all at once. But I also just hang out with my cat, Olive, a lot!

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.

The History of PPS McDaniel (formerly Madison) High School

At the end of January, PMA was invited to give a presentation to students at Portland Public Schools McDaniel (formerly Madison) High School. “The History of Madison High School” turned out to be engaging for many of the students in two back-to-back social studies classes taught by Mr. Jason Miller, and fun for the presenter from PMA (Kristen Minor) as well. PMA is part of the multi-disciplinary team for the PPS McDaniel High School Modernization project.

Below are highlights from the presentation illustrating changes over time in the vicinity of the school, an area that is quite familiar to the students. Old photographs of a place remind us how radically our environment changes, even though it feels (especially to a high school student) that change is s-l-o-w. The presentation also covered basic facts about the school, including its design in the International Style, a subset of Modernism, and what that means in comparison to pre-war “traditional” architectural styles. Madison was constructed in 1957 and designed by the firm of Stanton Bowles Maguire & Church, who also designed Marshall High School in SE Portland a few years later in 1960.
PPS-Madison-HS-PMAPDX-Lecture
PRE-SETTLEMENT HISTORY
Much of East Portland, especially the northerly portions along the Columbia, was Chinook tribal territory. These peoples were decimated by diseases from contacts with European and American exploration, colonialization and fur trappers in the period between the 1780s and the 1850s. Oregon Trail pioneers began to come to the area to settle by the early 1840s. The Donation Land claim act of 1850 divided the western territories into quarter mile grid sections and deeded the land to individuals (up to 320 acres) and couples (up to 640 acres), as long as you would live on and farm the land. That’s why the distribution of land by the federal government is clearly visible in the grid pattern of streets of our western cities, with anomalies like Sandy Boulevard and Foster usually being remnants of older tribal pathways.

TRANSPORTATION
This image shows 82nd Avenue where it crosses Halsey in 1916, when the train tracks crossed the roadway at grade. This location is a little more than half a mile south of the school. In 1916, people were getting around by horse and carriage, streetcar, train, walking, bicycling, and for a lucky few, driving (Model T’s went on the market in 1908). By the mid-1920s most families were able to purchase a car, but people didn’t take them everywhere like they do today.

– Transportation –

LAND USE
These three photos, all looking north on 82nd Ave, are from the early 1930s. The lower right photo illustrates the 1934 construction of a viaduct for the train line, so 82nd could finally extend over the train lines. The upper photo shows early development along a segment of 82nd in the Montavilla area, with mostly houses visible along the roadway in 1932. By 1937, Portland re-zoned the entire 82nd corridor to be commercial or industrial, so all of these houses were later demolished or heavily altered. Finally, the lower left photo shows 82nd being widened in 1934, with the Madison school site at the left at the very top of the hill on the horizon. Large areas of land were still completely rural, either undeveloped or producing crops. By the 1920s and 1930s, most of the farms that had once been in this area (many originally owned by Japanese immigrant farmers around Montavilla) had given way to increased development.

– Land Use –

HOUSING BOOM
The same Halsey Street intersection in 1947 is shown at the center of the photo, with 82nd Avenue stretching almost up to the Madison school site (just off the upper right of the image). None of the major freeways had been constructed yet, so the gully still only carried long-distance train tracks. After the war, housing development really took off, which resulted in an immediate need for schools in the area.

– Housing Boom –

SCHOOL DESIGN AND EFFICIENCY
From 1945 to 1970, Portland Public Schools constructed 51 new schools! The district had to be efficient and smart about costs under all the pressure to create schools in such a short period of time. Modernism as a style, with its emphasis on functionality, repetition, and horizontality, worked well for the district to ensure that they could construct the most building area for the least cost. Schools were designed in standardized materials and in expandable forms, allowing maximum flexibility.

– School Design and Efficiency –

As McDaniel High School moves closer to its construction start date for the PPS Modernization project, it is worth remembering that the school is a highly intact example of the mid-century International Style design aesthetic, but that the new iteration of the school will preserve portions of this design. Students in the updated school will hopefully have an appreciation for both the changes and the past design, with a glimpse into the history of change at the school and in the area surrounding the school.

Written by Kristen Minor, Associate / Preservation Planner

Recycling Steel Windows: Is there a process?

PMA is leading the discussion to find a process to recycle steel windows.

Through our work of existing building restoration, PMA often encounters older properties with original steel windows. And more likely than not, we receive a request from the property Owner to upgrade those existing steel windows. Rarely does the request result from degradation or damage of the window system. Most often the Owners desire thermal and energy improvements.In order to achieve the desired improvements, while meeting code upgrades and other tenant improvements, replacement of the original steel windows is often the option of choice. And that is when the difficulty of recycling existing steel windows begins.
existing-steel-windows
STEEL WINDOWS 1920s – 1940s
In the 1920s through 1940s, there were a number of local and national steel window manufacturers. Steel windows were the preferred window system in both commercial and industrial buildings because of the simplicity of components, ease of installation, availability of product, size of window openings, and affordability of the product. Steel windows from every manufacturer typically used the same readily available extruded steel bar profiles: the “T” & “h” cross sections. The entire window assembly is characteristically composed of three materials: the frame, the glass, and glazing compound. Operable windows have added hardware. The steel sections of historic windows are still in use on today’s steel windows.

With such sparsity of components, and availability of an industrial steel recycling industry, why are steel windows not recycled? The answer is hazardous materials: lead paint and asbestos containing putty. Creating clean steel for recycling involves a two-step process. Once removed from the building, the steel windows must have the glass and glazing removed and the paint removed. Both the glazing and the paint must be disposed following hazardous material regulations. And that is the primary block to recycling. There are very few business established to remove hazardous waste from windows.
typical-steel-windows
CURRENT INDUSTRIAL PRACTICES
However, if we look at two current industrial practices, wood window restoration and carpet tile manufacturing, there is a basis for introduction of steel window recycling. Wood window restoration processes include the removal of lead paint and asbestos containing glazing putty. The industry has the capacity to use dipping tanks to remove the paint and putty on a large quantity of windows and then properly dispose of the waste. Modify the existing process to accommodate steel windows could be readily achievable. Manufacturers of carpet tiles revolutionized the industry by owning the recycling process from cradle to grave. Carpet tile manufacturers take back the tiles they manufactured for recycling and reuse. Steel window manufactures could do the same.

Currently steel window manufacturers purchase the cross sections from steel producers and do not become involved in the life span of the products they produce. If the steel window industry reassessed and evaluated their role in sustainable products, an opportunity to recycle existing steel windows would become available.

Here at Peter Meijer Architect, we are committed to lead the discussion with the design, build, and manufacturing community to find an economical solution to recycling steel windows. We believe that existing industries can be adapted to keep steel windows out of the waste stream and better utilize existing resources for reuse.

Written by Peter Meijer, AIA, NCARB / Principal

Pioneer Courthouse Seismic and Historic Renovation

As the second oldest federal building on the west coast and the third highest ranked historic structure in the General Service Administration’s portfolio, Pioneer Courthouse is a significant historic sandstone structure. Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA) acted as the Preservation Conservator hired directly by the General Service Administration to consult the construction team engaged in the base isolation seismic upgrade and historic renovation of the circa 1875 Pioneer Courthouse. PMA revised the means and methods associated with the preservation specifications, represented the Owner, and provided CA services on issues affecting the historic property.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Preservation in Action Award Pinnacle Award
Architectural Heritage Center/Bosco-Milligan Foundation, 2008

Craftsmanship Award
AIA Portland Chapter, 2006

Top Project
Daily Journal of Commerce (DJC Oregon), 2005

Transforming the Built Environment: What are our ethical responsibilities to communities as architects?

When stepping into the AIA Annual Conference at the Javits Center in NYC this year, I began to question the theme of the conference, a “Blueprint For Better Cities.” The expansive expo center sprawled out on three levels with thousands of booths promoting their products, from software to interiors to exteriors, but the one thing missing was representation from community groups or visible connection to the place of NYC.

Of course, the Javits Center adequately represents the grand nature of NYC amidst the building boom currently happening in Hudson Yards. It is hard to imagine anything but extravagant wealth when passing by the $150 million stairway to nowhere, aka the “Vessel” being constructed across the street. In a time of such great wealth disparity, what role do architects play in gentrifying our cities and creating safe public spaces for those without wealth and privilege? I believe architects continue to have a large impact on the growth of our cities and it is important to check our ethics as professionals on the impacts made in communities that may not be represented. The AEC industry seems to be expanding in exponential ways and defining our cities at a faster and faster pace, so conversations on equity and inclusion need to be brought to the forefront. Even though my first impression walking into the AIA conference at the Javits Center was not one of equity and inclusion, there were some great speakers bringing the conversation back to these important topics.

DESIGNERS ADDRESSING EQUITY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
One session on Architectural Activism included a panel with Deanna Van Buren of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, Bryan Lee of Colloqate, and Michael Ford of Hip Hop Architecture. These designers are addressing equity in the built environment and setting new standards for the profession.

Byran Lee reminds architects to think about the communities’ cultures when designing and not to perpetuate systems of oppression. Architects have the ability to change the built environment and also be advocates for the communities in which they work. Laws that allow the victimization of marginalized communities need to be challenged. Public spaces which should be the democratic spaces available to all people are made unsafe to communities of color because of ambiguous laws around vagrancy and other systems of oppression. Understanding the needs of communities in which you are working in paramount. Architects can start by supporting marginalized communities through youth education, advocacy for groups with less priviledge, and equitiable policy and placemaking.

Michael Ford has been working on the youth education component of architectural activism. Hip Hop Architect facilitates youth camps that introduce design, architecture, place making through the expression of hiphop culture. The camps provide an opportunity for youth of underrepresented populations to learn about the architectural practice and reinvision the future of our built environment. A factor in the lack of diversity in architecture is lack of accessiblity to the field, and this program strives to provide that support to youth.

Deanna Van Buren talked of her work around restorative justice and restorative economics, exploring alternative to prisons and addressing the root causes of mass incarceration. Restorative justice is statistically proven to build empathy and decrease recurring offenses by 75%, while allowing for reconciliation and healing. Deanna reiterated that prisons are the worst form of architecture, created to express the harm that we are doing on another. Altnernatives presented were popup resources villages that provide services to isolated communities and peacemaking centers that use Native American practices for healing communities that have experience the trauma of violence and racial oppression.

Many speakers recalled quotes from Whitney Young Jr when talking about equity in the architecture profession, especially from his poignant speech regarding equity at the 1968 American Institute of Architects Conference in Portland. A well quoted statement was “[A]s a profession, you are not a profession that has distinguished itself by your social and civic contributions to the cause of civil rights, and I am sure this has not come to you as any shock. You are most distinguished by your thunderous silence and your complete irrelevance.”

LANGUAGE AROUND ETHICAL AND EQUITABLE DESIGN
I would argree that the profession as a whole still struggles with its social and civic contributions, even though there are some great leaders as mentioned previously. Currently, the trend in most large cities is gentrification resulting in loss of community connections and a huge housing crisis. Do the ethics of architecture speak towards our professional responsibilty to provide for the well being and safety for all within the communities in which we design for? In the AIA Code of Ethics, the only somewhat relevant bylaw I found was “In performing professional services, Members should advocate the design, construction, and operation of sustainable buildings and communities.” Perhaps the lack of language around ethical and equitable design is why it seems so lacking within the built environment. There needs to be a shift.

Large firms may promote their community work by supporting employees to volunteer a couple days of the year, or provide pro-bono design services. This approach is too compartmentalized and does not build the disruptive change needed to challenge systems of oppression in our built environment. These one-off gestures of pro-bono work can easily be perceived by communities as a savior complex instead of community building. The factors that push architects to design without community in mind needs to be resisted by the industry. Rather, more efforts need to be made so our ethical responsibilities to the public outweigh the profit driven interest groups’ needs that are currently prevalent in our industry. The sustainability movement has started to touch on some of our ethical responsibilities for healthier spaces, but these efforts are not preventing people from losing their homes, connection to place, civic amenities, and much more. There is much work to be done. To promote equity and inclusion for all when designing spaces, I believe we must work on our role as architects to listen, learn, be humble, engage, teach, and provide support and advocacy that serves the communities in which we are working.

Written by Hali Knight Assoc. AIA, Designer

Encuentro Conference Recap

Encuentro, meaning “encounter” or “gathering” in Spanish, has been a modern effort within Latin@ communities nationwide to encourage discussions on preservation in regards to Latin@ culture, heritage, and history. In April 2018, I attended the annual Encuentro Conference in Providence, Rhode Island on the Leonor Xochitl Pérez scholarship. This gathering was put on by a triad of organizations— Latin@s in Heritage Conservation (LHC), Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA), and Rhode Island Historic Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC). As an aspiring Chicana architect, my mission in attending this conference was to better understand how I can apply emerging preservation strategies to my own field of study.
pmapdx-encuentro-conference
Speakers at the conference told empowering stories of projects that they were working on in cities with the largest deeply-rooted Latino populations in the United States. A majority of these speakers came from various career backgrounds (archivists, lawyers, architects, preservationists, city planners, students, teachers, artists, and musicians) and hailed from communities in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, and California. They spoke about the industry that brought the Latino community to their city, the challenges that Latinos faced in seeking employment while also retaining their culture, and the tremendous resurgence and transformation that Latino communities have undergone in recent years. The two presentations that stuck most with me were one given by Zulmilena Then, an architecture student from Brooklyn who established Preserving East New York to speak out against the demolition of sacred buildings in her neighborhood, and another given by Layqa Nuna Yawar, an Ecuadorian Latinx artist who represents Latino heritage in the murals that he has painted on historic buildings in multiple countries.

I was the only attendee from the Northwest, which prompted me to consider what might be different about my own community. Portland, Oregon, a relatively young city, experienced its first large period of development from the 1870’s to the turn of the 20th century during the Expansive Railroad Era. For comparison, older cities on the East Coast, and even on the West Coast in San Francisco, began an initial period of city development sometime in the early 19th century and have already undergone two turn-of-the-centuries transitions. Like many American cities, the majority of Portland’s architecture reflects the histories of European settlers and was often constructed at the expense of underrepresented African American and Asian neighborhoods. In part because Portland is so young, there wasn’t enough time for minority groups to establish a strong historical foothold before their homes were bulldozed. These events, while shameful for our city, are important and relevant when considering future preservation strategies.
marion-rosas-pmapdx-encunetro-conference
Portland is a younger city caught in the fast-paced nature of our modern-day technological and societal revolution. Modern construction technologies make it possible for Portland to keep up with the incoming wave of approximately 30,000 residents seeking new entrepreneurial opportunities each year. As we are all witnessing, Portland is undergoing another major period of development in present time. We see this daily in increased traffic and in the number of new housing projects that have popped up around town.

PRESERVATION FOR UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
Some preservation efforts involving underrepresented groups are occurring today in consideration of Portland’s past mistakes. The Bosco-Milligan Foundation/Architectural Heritage Center and City of Portland have joined forces to perform a survey of the remaining Portland buildings that reflect the preserve that the African American community held in our city’s history. Monuments have been established around the city to remember the Chinese and Japanese communities in Portland (i.e. the Japanese Gardens, Japanese American Historical Plaza, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, the Lan Su Chinese Garden, the new Chinatown/Japantown Historic District). Although city development has resulted in the gentrification of minority neighborhoods in the past, this is not a trend that has to continue, if we accommodate all groups in the construction that is occurring now.

After returning from Encuentro, I did some research on the history of the Latino community in Portland, wondering why I hadn’t seen any historic resources devoted specifically to commemorate the impact that the Latino community has had. I thought maybe, like other major cities on the West Coast, the Latino community had been pushed out. I am learning that the Latino community wasn’t necessarily oppressed in Portland’s development so much as it did not buy into Portland’s early industries as strongly as other minority groups.

According to city data, the Latino population is growing, appearing today in architecture through the appropriation of existing buildings. Some examples that I have seen of this around town are Latino restaurants (El Cubo de Cuba, Güero, ¿Por Qué No?, Pambiche, etc.) and the Milagro Theater on Stark that have repurposed previous apartment buildings, residences, and warehouses built in styles that are reminiscent of European culture (Queen Anne, Italianate, Colonial Revival, Beaux Artes, etc.). A few buildings that I’ve found have been constructed purely to further the Latino community and will hopefully serve as a record of history moving forward. One great example is the Portland Mercado, a food and grocery store cooperative that was constructed in 2015 in SE Portland to cultivate new Latino businesses. While other cities on the West Coast like San Francisco and Los Angeles are starting to devote museums (i.e. Chicano Park Museum and LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes) to communicate the historic influence of their Latino communities, Portland is just beginning to build edifices that support the incoming growth of the Latino community that is happening as a result of entrepreneurial opportunity now.

The most prominent question that I took away from Encuentro was this: How do we achieve the important task of remembering Portland’s story of initial development (including all groups that were present in Portland’s history) while still allowing for the creation of history within the city by emerging minority groups?
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Although Portland has a strong historical foundation, it is still a relatively young city with a great deal of history left to make. When looking at other older cities, I recognize how much can happen in a difference of 100 years, or even in 50 years (or even 20) considering the rapid technological revolution that is transforming our society today. There is a great deal of opportunity to learn from past mistakes because our city is still young, because there is a greater awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion today, and because we have the technology to build responsibly.

Written by Marion Rosas / Designer.

Residential Architectural Styles in the Laurelhurst Neighborhood

PMA is surveying and documenting the Laurelhurst neighborhood for a current project. Below is an overview of the typical residential architectural styles found throughout the neighborhood, with a brief introduction on its development.

Laurelhurst is a 442-acre residential neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, located thirty-two city blocks east of the Willamette River. Most of the neighborhood is in northeast Portland, with only the southernmost quarter, below E Burnside Street, in southeast Portland. César E Chávez Boulevard, originally called NE 39th Street, runs north to south, dividing the neighborhood into two halves. The original 1909/10 plat boundaries of the Laurelhurst neighborhood were generally bounded by NE 32nd and 44th Avenues, and NE Halsey and SE Stark Streets. Construction of the Banfield Freeway (I-84) has had a major impact on the northern portion of the neighborhood, separating the northeastern corner of the original plat from the rest of Laurelhurst.
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DEVELOPMENT
The development of the neighborhood was a result of the extension of city streetcar lines to the east side of the river, enabling a tremendous population increase in this area right before 1909. The layout and development of the Laurelhurst neighborhood was strongly influenced by the national City Beautiful movement. This social movement was initially a crusade for reforms in many facets of public and private life, pushing for food and water systems, schools, and cities to be more healthful and science-based in the period after the Industrial Revolution.

The neighborhood demonstrates the results of Portland’s early transit system that triggered the city’s expansion and enabled family life to be removed from the center of the city yet efficiently connected to the downtown hub of business and commerce. In this sense it was a true suburb, representing an idealized plan for residential living. The curvilinear streets were laid out with an eye for beauty as well as harmony between the structures and the environment. Laurelhurst remains one of Portland’s oldest intact East Side neighborhoods, and illustrates an era of tremendous suburban growth in Portland’s history, made possible by streetcar networks.

Economic Trends 1900 – 1970
The Lewis & Clark Exposition, in 1905, marked the beginning of a period of prosperity and growth for Portland. Portland’s population almost doubled in the single five-year period from 1905-1910, from 110,929 to 207,214 residents.[1] Laurelhurst’s population continued to increase until the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, when homebuying and development reached a low once again until just after 1940. This mirrored the trend across the United States during the Depression years, with a 95% drop in new home construction from 1925 to 1933. The 1940’s marked a period of major economic development, mainly due to advancements in the automobile industry. As a result of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921, the rising popularity of cars in the 1930’s, and the post-WWII recovery from the Great Depression, residents of Portland could live much further away from their jobs than they could even with the development of streetcars only thirty years prior. Suburban development and lifestyles became even more appealing. Portland experienced another period of economic decline during the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975. In particular, property values in Laurelhurst plummeted in the 1970’s, to below average at best, and often below the cost of affordable low-income housing in the city.
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ARCHITECTURE
Building restrictions maintained Laurelhurst’s reputation as a desirable neighborhood. The homes encompassed a controlled variety of architectural styles, so much so that a brochure was given to families upon purchasing a lot for the types of styles that were recommended for development. Recommended styles in Murphy’s promotional materials of the time included “Pure Italian, Japanese, Old English, Swiss Chalet, Colonial, New England, or Spanish Mission.”[2] This variety of architectural styles contributed to Laurelhurst’s reputation as a “neighborhood of character”; this aesthetic holds true as the majority of styles and examples in Laurelhurst retain their material and stylistic integrity.

A single block, located in the southeastern quadrant of the neighborhood between SE Ash and E Burnside, was developed by the Laurelhurst Company as a showcase for bungalows.[3] This block was named Fernhaven Court, called “bungalow fairyland,” and still has many of its original features today. Some of these 1915-1925 Fernhaven Court bungalows have a noticeable Japanese design influence. The block also has a twenty-foot alleyway through the middle, one of only two alleys in Laurelhurst.

In the southwestern quadrant, the west end of the block bounded by NE Couch, NE Davis, NE Laurelhurst Place, and NE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd was designed as “The Laurelhurst Group of Cottages,” nine homes laid out and designed by architects Ellis Lawrence and W.M. Holford with George Otten, landscape designer. Five of these were built by 1919, with a “central garden” divided by shrubs and specifying “service uses” screened by lattice. The homes, constructed by the Laurelhurst Company, are in English Cottage style.

Paul Murphy’s own house at 3574 E. Burnside, also designed by Lawrence & Holford, received accolades for its “picturesque” design in the July 1919 issue of “The House Beautiful.” By November of that year the house was named one of the ten best examples of architecture in Portland by that same publication.[4]
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Typical Neighborhood Architectural Styles
A majority (88%) of resources in Laurelhurst date between 1910 and 1932, and the architectural styles of the neighborhood reflect that majority; the first property owners of Laurelhurst were restricted in their choices for designs, which aimed to create a cohesive and more desirable neighborhood appearance. The most prevalent architectural styles identified in Laurelhurst are Craftsman (42%), Colonial Revival (36%), and English Cottage (19%). Some houses do have a combination of styles so percentages will add up to more than 100% of resources. Other identified styles from that era include Prairie School, Tudor Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Neo-Classical; later architectural styles observed within Laurelhurst include Minimal Traditional, World War II-Era Cottage, and Ranch.
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Prevalent Building Use and Typology
Across the United States from the 1890s into the 1920s as the ideal suburban home was being refined and developed, houses were becoming more technologically innovative and less formal in layout. Two principal house typologies emerged during this period, the bungalow and the American Foursquare. Both of these were often mass-produced and offered for sale by catalog. Bungalows offered an affordable house type for a family without servants. The typical bungalow is one or one-and-a-half stories, with a broad, shallowly-pitched roof and a wide open front porch across the full front or most of the front of the house. While bungalows can be in English Cottage or Mission Revival styles, they are most often associated with the Craftsman style and the California Arts and Crafts movement. A typical Foursquare is boxy and more vertical in form, usually two to two-and-a-half stories in height. A single-height porch runs across most or all of the front of the house, and the layout is generally four major rooms on each level. Like bungalows, Foursquare houses can appear in a variety of styles.[5] The Colonial Revival style predominates in some areas, but in the Pacific Northwest the Craftsman Foursquare is by far the most prevalent style.

After WWI, the trend for single-family homes across the U. S. was generally smaller. A variety of period revival styles appeared in the 1920s as bungalows or period cottages. Most common were the English Cottage or English Tudor as well as Colonial revival styles ranging from Dutch, English, French, and Spanish. A period cottage is generally no more than one-and-a-half story, and has a small street–fronting façade but may extend back on its lot to create a long, narrow footprint.

Written by Kristen Minor / Associate, Preservation Planner with Marion Rosas / Designer

Download Laurelhurst Architectural Styles.

Footnotes
1. K. Zisman et al, Portland Oregon’s Eastside Historic and Architectural Resources, 1850-1938 (United States Department of the Interior, 1988, as amended 2012, edited by Timothy Askin and Ernestina Fuenmayor), E:10.
2. “Laurelhurst and its Park,” 22.
3. A bungalow can be described as a small house, low and broad in form, with a wide front porch and spreading eaves. They are most often Craftsman in style.
4. Rene Marshall, “In Portland, Oregon,” The House Beautiful vol 46, July 1919, 30-31 and Helen Eastham, “Best Examples of Architecture in Portland, Oregon,” The House Beautiful vol. 46, Nov 1919, 308-310, 336.
5. McClelland et al, 56.

Future Trends for Architectural Conservation

As part of the sesquicentennial celebration of Canadian Confederation independence, the National Trust for Canada and the Association for Preservation Technology International co-sponsored the largest joint conference of heritage professionals. Over 1,100 attendees from twenty countries attended the week-long event focused both on technical issues and heritage planning.

The shear size of the conference was overwhelming, but the host city, Ottawa, (APTI) was an ideal venue because of its position as the capitol city of Canada, the quantity of heritage resources, including the Rideau Canal World Heritage Site, and beautiful world class museums and parks.

As with all APTI annual conferences, the week begins with two day long workshops highlighting the craft of preservation. This year’s workshops included Logs & Timbers, Masonry Mortars, and Digital Tools for Documentation. Masonry Mortars has been offered several times over the last five years at APTI conferences and is always popular demonstrating the continual need to understand mass masonry walls, their performance, and specialized products and skills required to restore and preserve the walls.
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HOW ROBOTS CAN ASSIST WITH CONSERVATION
National Trust conferences, in both Canada and the United States offer many tours during the course of the conference and one of tours focused on robotics for heritage conservation. A conservation lab at Carlton University, founded after World War II and one of Ottawa’s public universities, has created a curriculum around the use of robotics to enhance the preservation craft of traditional materials. Conference attendees viewed a demonstration of a robotic arm manufactured in Germany, by the supplier of robotic arms to the automotive industry, with a custom built “hand” designed to hold stone cutting tools. As a demonstration, the Carlton University staff carved a block of sandstone scheduled to replace original material on the Canadian parliament buildings as part of a massive restoration effort. The demonstration was fascinating in the speed by which the robot carved the material with fine accuracy. Attendees were interested in the conservation aspect of the robot and asked about the stone cutting techniques and potential replacement of stone carvers.

Since the robot uses circular drill bits as cutting tools resulting in smoother finishes than traditional chisel cutting, some attendees were skeptical of the robot as a tool for capturing traditional stone techniques. As to the replacement of stone carvers, the response was straight forward: there are fewer and fewer trades personnel that know how to carve stone. The robot is envisioned as a method to allow traditional stone decoration to return to modern design.
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With seven separate tracks of Paper Sessions, it was impossible to take in the full offerings of the joint conference. The use of robots, technology, and computer software simulations continued throughout some of tracks of the Paper Sessions. Particularly interesting was hearing from archeologists in Italy and Chile that, unlike US archeologists, are involved in the documentation, history, and preservation of building materials. Using traditional archeological approaches to documentation and recordation, the archeologists combined their research, historic photographs, current images, on-site destructive testing in unique ways of explaining the chronology of construction and materials used.

Demonstrating the continued convergence of building envelop science with preservation science, many Paper Sessions focused on windows, energy retrofits, and the need to develop better science and research of traditional construction means and methods. One session on mass masonry walls hypothesized that mass masonry walls have a temperature ductility allowing them to expand during cold wet weather in order to accommodate the stress induced by freezing temperatures. One early study in the 1960’s documented the phenomena but without sufficient repeated testing. The engineer making the presentation asked for all those in the audience to create an accessible database of masonry performance in order to expand the collective knowledge base.
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THE FUTURE OF PRESERVATION LOOKS MODERN
One of the plenary speakers called on heritage preservation to continue leadership in the adaptive reuse of existing buildings, specifically mid-century modern structures, because of the huge environmental impact conservation efforts will have on global warming, waste reduction, and heritage values.

Attendance at APTI national conferences are a great way to gain new knowledge, converse with professional peers, anticipate future trends, evaluate current business practices, and interact outside day to day professional demands.

Written by Peter Meijer, AIA, NCARB / Principal