Downtown Portland Postmodernism Walking Tour
An introduction to the Architecture and Urban Design Trends of the 1970s to 1990s
Join Docomomo US/Oregon for a walking tour through Downtown Portland, where we’ll be looking at how architects and designers of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s were both influenced by and reacted against the modernism of the postwar era. We’ll look at everything from iconic structures such as the Portland Building and the KOIN Center, to lesser known apartment buildings on the South Park Blocks.
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Stop #1: Pioneer Courthouse Square
Address: 701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97204
Year Completed: 1984
Architect / Designer: Will Martin, Doug Macy, and others
Description: Known as “Portland’s Living Room”, Pioneer Courthouse Square rectified a major urban planning issue—while Downtown was well served by parks, it had no central square that could serve as a gathering place for Portland.
The idea for a plaza on the site dates back to 1969, when the Planning Commission voted down a proposal to build a multi-story parking garage that would replace the two-story parking garage located on the block. The winners of a 1980 design commission were a Portland based interdisciplinary “group of rabble-raising architects, writers, and an artist”, including architect Will Martin and landscape architect Doug Macy. Prior to construction of the square, the design team helped build support for the idea by painting the design onto the roof of the parking structure.
Pioneer Courthouse Square opened to the public in 1984. The square uses a warm red brick, similar to that used on the then-new bus mall. Many of the bricks are inscribed with the names of donors who helped make construction of the square possible.
Design features include a semi-circular amphitheater with stepped seating; freestanding classical columns with a rose order; a fallen column on Morrison St; a Tri-Met ticket office accessed via a bridge over a fountain; a milepost sign to cities around the world; chess tables; the KGW Studio on the Square, which occupies what was formerly Powell’s Travel Store; and a wrought-iron gateway salvaged from the Portland Hotel that once stood on the site. Starbucks has operated a store on the square since 1989—its first in Portland—after two restaurants, Le Pavillion and Trapani Pasta, failed.
In 2005 the Project for Public Spaces listed Pioneer Courthouse Square as the third best square in the US or Canada, after Jackson Square in New Orleans and Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
Links:
Portland’s vibrant downtown gathering space since 1984
Pioneer Courthouse Square and the legacy of Will Martin
2005 North America’s Great Public Squares
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Stop #2: Hilton Portland Hotel
Address: 921 SW 6th Avenue, Portland, Oregon, 97204
Year Completed: 1962 | Remodeled 1994(?)
Architect / Designer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (original) | Stanton & Associates (remodel)
Description: The 1962 Hilton Hotel was the first large hotel built in Downtown since the Heathman Hotel in 1927. For three years the 22-story building was the tallest in the city, until the Harrison Towers eclipsed it.
The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill-designed building is classic International Style architecture, with a simple massing and a regular grid of windows on the guestroom tower. The original concrete podium was however much criticized for its lack of engagement with the street, with a fortress like design that didn’t include any windows at the sidewalk level.
The podium was remodeled in the 1990s to designs by Stanton & Associates of San Francisco. The remodel included recladding the podium in granite with alternating color bands. Design elements such as the arched canopies, pilaster, cornices and an octagonal pitched roof of the new ballroom were described as “silly” by then Oregonian columnist Randy Gragg. “The new, pedestrian-friendly pedestal relates to its top like a pair of plaid dress slacks to a striped tank-top”, he wrote in a 1994 column after the project went in front of the Design Commission for approval.
Links:
Hilton Portland Hotel - Wikipedia
Hilton Portland - Stanton Architecture
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Stop #3: 1000 Broadway
Address: 1000 Broadway, Portland, Oregon, 97205
Year Completed: 1991
Architect / Designer: Broome, Oringdulph, O'Toole, Rudolph, and Associates
Description: Built on the site that was formerly home to the art deco Broadway Theater, 1000 Broadway was the first high rise office building constructed by Portland cinema magnate Tom Moyer. From 1991 to 2011 a four screen cinema operated in the basement of the building. Remnants of this cinema are still visible today, in the projecting sign and marquee at the corner of SW Broadway and Main; the cylindrical ticket booth; and the recessed street level arcade, designed to protect cinema goers waiting to buy tickets from the rain.
Nicknamed the “Ban Roll-On Building”, 1000 Broadway’s most prominent feature is the shallow dome at the top of the tower. Writing in the Oregonian in 1991, critic Randy Gragg noted that some unnamed local architects “lament that the dome, which historically has signified the grand spaces of government or the church, has finally been emptied of any meaning at all by postmodern's nab-any-form-for-any-function pluralism.”
A substantial remodel of the ground floor is planned, which will replace the arcade and long-vacant cinema with new retail spaces.
Links:
1000 Broadway - Wikipedia
In downtown Portland, the Broadway Metroplex cinema at SW Broadway and Main has closed
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Stop #4: Antoinette Hatfield Hall (Newmark)
Address: 710 SW Main St, Portland, Oregon, 97205
Year Completed: 1987
Architect / Designer: Broome, Oringdulph, O'Toole, Rudolf, Boles & Associates | Barton Myers | ELS
Description: Originally known merely as the “New Theatre”, the Antoinette Hatfield Hall was designed as an expansion to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, which was acquired by the City of Portland earlier in the 1980s. Early concepts to create a visual link between the historic Rapp & Rapp-designed theater and Hatfield included what was described variously as a “bonnet” or “towering croquet wickets” over Main St. While these weren’t built, remnants of the idea are visible in the gateposts and special paving on Main St.
Writing in the Oregonian in 1987, critic Barry Johnson noted how the building responds to its varying context. “The way the building follows the geometries of the church—the roofline and peaks—makes it sympathetic to its neighbor on the block. The brickwork recalls the manipulations of the old Paramount [today the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall], and the two buildings meet happily along Main St. Inside, the lobby places visitors onstage themselves for a moment, and the theaters themselves are attractive and versatile.” In contrast, architect George McMath described it as “a bunch of pieces stuck together”
The New Theatre opened in 1987, with what the Oregonian reported as being “more than 10,000 people crowded into the area around the new hall on Broadway and Main Street for the free hourlong celebration, which featured performances from a capella do-wop music to opera.” The paper noted that the “highlight of the evening was high-wire artist Philippe Petit's dramatic tightrope walk between the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the new theater hall across Main Street. The feat symbolized the risk the city took in creating its dream of a Portland Center for the Performing Arts.”
Links:
Antoinette Hatfield Hall - Wikipedia
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Stop #5: Portland Bus Mall Stop
Address: 1003 SW 5th Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97204
Year Completed: 1977 / 2009
Architect / Designer: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and CHNMB [formerly Lawrence Halprin & Associates] | Hennebery Eddy (adaptive reuse of bus stop)
Description: The Portland Mall, now known as the Portland Transit Mall, was opened in 1977. It initially ran for just 10 blocks, between Burnside and Madison. Subsequent projects extended the Mall north to Union Station and south to Portland State University. The Mall was completely rebuilt between 2007 and 2009, in a style reminiscent of the original mall.
The mall predates Pioneer Courthouse Square, and used a similar red brick to the brick that would be used on the square. The design team for the Portland Mall include Lawrence Halprin, however the warm red color significantly contrasts with the concrete used in the Halprin Open Space Sequence completed a decade prior.
The 2000s remodel replaced all of the bus shelters from the original mall, however one shelter at SW 5th and Salmon was preserved as a coffee kiosk. The old shelters had a pill shaped plan with an umbrella like roof and a significant degree of enclosure. Those that replaced them, designed by ZGF Architects, have a much more minimal form and less enclosure—in part due to security concerns.
Links:
Portland Transit Mall - Wikipedia
Former TriMet bus stop shelter reopens as coffee shop
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Stop #6: The Portland Building
Address: 1120 SW 5th Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97204
Year Completed: 1982
Architect / Designer: Michael Graves
Description: In 1979 a team led by Michael Graves submitted the winning competition entry for the City of Portland's new municipal offices. Their proposal received national recognition, and, on its opening in 1982, became the first major completed postmodern building in North America.
Occupying a full block in Downtown Portland, the building is unlike anything around it, or that had came before it. Rejecting the 'less is more' ethos of the modern movement, the building is highly decorated, and makes numerous references to classical architecture. The facade is vertically divided into a base, a body section, and an 'attic', or head. A green tile-clad arcade runs along three sides of the building, and the most public functions are located at the ground level, including the permit center, restaurant and shops. Large decorative columns adorn each side of the building, with four-storey-high trapezoidal capitals above them on the east and west elevations.
The north and south sides have garland ribbons draped across the columns, intended as a classical gesture of welcome. The original drawings show these as more free and flowing; cost-cutting led to these becoming somewhat two-dimensional. In Modern Architecture Since 1900, architectural historian William JR Curtis described the building as having “renderings of a keystone and rustication stenciled onto what was otherwise a dumpy box with a shallow curtain wall”.
The statue ‘Portlandia’ is located over the main entrance to the building. The statue, sculpted by artist Raymond Kaskey, is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States—after the State of Liberty. Despite how well known the statue is, you won’t find depictions of it on tourist souvenirs, due to Kaskey retaining the copyright to the work.
While buildings are often not considered eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places until they turn 50 years old, the Portland Building is of such importance that it was nominated and accepted to the National Register in 2011; only 29 years after its completion.
The building had a number of deficiencies, including dark interiors, persistent water intrusion and even the risk of collapse in an earthquake. The building was reconstructed from 2017 to 2020, at a cost of $195 million. The reconstruction was controversial not just because of its cost, but also due to the number of changes made to the original design. These included completely recladding the building in a new skin that covered the original painted concrete; changing the dimensions of the tile at the base; enclosing the arcades on SW Main and Madison; and making changes to the composition of the building façade on SW 4th Ave.
Links:
Portland Building - Wikipedia
Portland Building - National Register of Historic Places
Quiz: How well do you know the Portlandia statue on her 30th birthday?
Portland Building is no longer historically significant
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Stop #7: KOIN Center
Address: 222 SW Columbia St, Portland, Oregon, 97201
Year Completed: 1984
Architect / Designer: Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
Description: The 35-story tower was intended to be the first phase of the two-and-a-half block Fountain Plaza development by Toronto based developer Olympia & York. The building has a stepped massing, reminiscent of New York’s skyscrapers of the early twentieth century. The massing was driven in part due to the need to accommodate the different floorplate widths needed for a television station, 14 floors of office space and 11 floors of condominium apartments.
On completion the building was controversial for blocking views of Mt Hood from the Vista Tunnel. In a July 1984 article titled “KOIN Center towers over city in mishmash of of styles, shapes”, Oregonian writer Alan Hayakawa described the building as “neither a crisp period piece of a convincing contemporary “take” on a past architectural theme.” In particular, he criticized the horizontal window banding, which he felt unsuccessful in comparison to the vertical expression of iconic skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building or Chrysler Buildings which “which Fountain Plaza unmistakably echoes.” He also described the glass boxes over the entry as looking like a “stack of telephone booths”, a line borrowed from San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen. He did however note that the building “meets the street very nicely”, with limestone that raises to the waistline of the retail windows and forms a trim around them.
Links:
KOIN Center - Wikipedia
Architect Of Convention Center , Other Landmark Portland Buildings Dead At 84
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Stop #8: Essex House
Address: 1300 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97201
Year Completed: 1991
Architect / Designer: GBD Architects
Description: Essex House was the second—and ultimately final—phase of Olympia & York’s Fountain Plaza development. The site was originally considered for a Four Seasons Hotel, which never moved forward due to concerns about whether Portland’s hotel market was over saturated. Construction on the 156 unit residential building began in May 1989 and was completed in 1991.
After an initial architect withdrew from the project, design work was completed by GBD Architects. The detailing on the 13-story brick building is somewhat restrained compared to that on the neighboring KOIN Center, but includes elements typical of era including the highly symmetrical facade arranged around a central entry with gate tower elements.
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Stop #9: Gallery Park Apartments
Address: 1436 SW Park Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97201
Year Completed: 1989
Architect / Designer: John H. Thodos Architect
Description: The seven story Gallery Park Apartments were built on the site of a parking lot, by developer Tom Mesher of Mesher Supply Co., a Portland supplier of plumbing equipment. The $3 million project received financial investment from the Portland Development Commission (now known as Prosper Portland) who stated that they wanted “to give the Park Blocks a more residential atmosphere”. They added that it’s “It's an excellent area . . . because of all the other cultural amenities.”
The brick building has an entrance on Park Avenue, with the floors stepped back at each level. This architectural move allows each level to have park-facing terraces, but also minimizes the massing of the building against the South Park Blocks. This massing approach became common in the ‘80s and ‘90s, as a reaction against larger development built in the preceding decade. It’s not however a particularly in older buildings either though; the 1931 Jeanne Mannor Apartment directly across the park are of a similar height but built directly against the park.
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Stop #10: University Park Apartments
Address: 1500 SW Park Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97201
Year Completed: 1987
Architect / Designer: Chilless Nielsen Architects
Description: The University Park Apartments were the first of three apartments on the South Park Blocks in a short period of time, as part of a concerted effort on behalf of the city to get more people living in the area.
Arranged in a “U”-shape around a courtyard open to the park, the developer stated at the time that the University Park Apartments were designed to be a “a sanctuary for the tenant in the midst of downtown”. The building includes a number of traditional elements, including the courtyard, individual roof gables, warm colored brick, and balconies on each of the 125 units. At the opening of the building, Portland Mayor Bud Clark described the building as “not at all alien”.
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Stop #11: South Park Square
Address: 1525 SW Park Ave, Portland, Oregon, 97201
Year Completed: 1988
Architect / Designer: Paul Bergner Architect
Description: While a much larger building than the Gallery Park Apartments, South Park Square also minimizes its massing towards the South Park Blocks. While the building rises 13 stories at the corner of SW 10th and Clay, it steps down to just 5 at the corner of SW Park and Market.
The development gained approval in 1986, by 5-0 vote of the Design Commission. The Commission was then relatively new, having been created in 1982 from the Design Review of the Planning Commission. “It has a good ‘people feel’ to it” said commissioner Mary Maxwell, while commissioner Rick Michaelson said it was the “the best I’ve seen since I’ve been on the commission”
South Park Square includes retail over two levels, with retail shops, cafes and small offices lining both the park and the elevated courtyard. Planning in the mid-century often encouraged separation of uses, however by the 1980s the benefits of mixed use development were much more celebrated.