Sunday, March 17, 2024

Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet: R

 
Romania Building, Franklin Boulevard side (my photo)

This is the next in my Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet series of blog posts, the focus of each being a landmark building here in Eugene. Many of these will be familiar to most who live here but there are likely to be a few buildings that are less so. My selection criteria for each will be threefold:
  1. The building must be of architectural interest, local importance, or historically significant.
  2. The building must be extant so you or I can visit it in person.
  3. Each building’s name will begin with a particular letter of the alphabet, and I must select one (and only one) for each of the twenty-six letters. This is easier said than done for some letters, whereas for other characters there is a surfeit of worthy candidates (so I’ll be discriminating and explain my choice in those instances).
This entry’s selection begins with the letter R, for which my choice is the Romania Building.
 
Romania Building
The Romania Building at 2020 Franklin Boulevard is perhaps Eugene’s best-known (if not best-preserved) example of 1950s-style “Googie” architecture. Its elliptical plan, sweeping “potato chip” roof, and once expansive glass walls are characteristic of the futuristic Googie designs—many of which employed gravity-defying cantilevers, bold geometric shapes, and vibrant colors—that exuberantly celebrated the car-centric culture of the era. Located as it was and is at the east end of Franklin Boulevard, the building functioned as a gateway and symbol of the city’s rapidly expanding transportation infrastructure and commercial development upon its opening in 1960. Though its original dynamism is a thing of the past, current plans promise new life for the forlorn structure.
 
The firm of Balzhiser, Seder, and Rhodes designed the showroom, initially for the Lew Williams Chevrolet dealership. The late Grant Seder served as the building’s principal designer. Grant intended its curved form to be reminiscent of the energy of automobiles in motion, rather than as Eugene’s own faddish take on the Googie style. The design team considered various structural solutions (including a tension structure suspended from a perimeter compression ring), ultimately settling upon a relatively conventional and economical system that nevertheless managed to realize the striking aesthetic they wished for.

Lew Williams sold the business to Joe Romania in 1969 (Joe was general manager of the dealership under Lew). What grew to become the Romania group of car dealerships was a force on the local scene when I first arrived in Eugene in 1980, and it remained so up until the time the Romania family sold the land and buildings its Chevrolet dealership occupied to the University of Oregon in 2005. Since purchasing the strategically important location, the university repurposed the 4.0-acre site for storage and parking use, with the former showroom serving for a while as studio space for its Product Design program.
 
Romania Building, east end (my photo)

As of 2011, the showroom has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the listing, the display pavilion “served to attract customers driving along Franklin Boulevard with its modern, futuristic, and aerodynamic design.” Notably, the dealership was the first to be situated outside of Eugene’s downtown core, which no longer can boast any such businesses.
 
An interesting tidbit I wasn’t familiar with is that the showroom was an addition to a former Coca Cola bottling plant, as opposed to the facility entirely being purpose-built as an automobile dealership. As the NHRP listing details, Lew Williams converted the bottling plant into the dealership’s service center, later adding a paint shop, body shop, and collision repair center office in quick succession to the building. So adaptive reuse is part of the dealership’s history, and as I will address next, will be part of its future as well.
 
The UO solicited proposals from developers in 2019 for exploration of a potential public/private ground lease arrangement that would include, among many other features, the preservation of the historical integrity and Googie style of the former dealership showroom commensurate with its placement on the NRHP. The goal was to strike a balance between honoring its past and embracing future opportunities for growth.
 
The university selected the proposal presented by Project^, a Portland-based developer whose Eugene portfolio includes the nearby Skybox, Courtside, and K14 student apartment buildings. The proposal for the Romania site by Project^ aims to retain the iconic features of the Romania Building while revitalizing the surrounding area. As a development partner, the UO would lease the land to Project^. The university’s continued involvement would underscore its commitment to enhancing the campus and its neighboring communities. In this scenario, the Romania Building holds immense potential as a catalyst for the property’s transformative change. By preserving its architectural heritage and integrating it into a modern urban development, we would be able to celebrate the Romania Building’s past while embracing the future.
 
Redevelopment proposal by Project^.

I believe the Project^ proposal for the Romania site is proceeding (someone correct me if I’m mistaken, and it is instead stillborn). The rendering shown here hints at its large scope, which will entail a mixed-use development, the centerpiece of which will be the former automobile display pavilion, returned to its former glory, perhaps functioning as a restaurant. If the entire plan is realized, the project will be the type of neighborhood node improvement called for by the City of Eugene’s Walnut Station Specific Area Plan.
 
Safeguarding the Romania Building’s historical significance while embracing an opportunity for sustainable growth and development makes sense, so I’m hopeful the University of Oregon’s partnership with Project^ will move forward along the lines of the vision presented. This community hasn’t been the best when it comes to preserving its architectural heritage. With luck, the Romania Building will be fully restored and again be the captivating presence along Franklin Boulevard it once was.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

Complicity and Conviction: Steps toward an Architecture of Convention


I dusted off one of the old books from my collection this weekend. I originally found Complicity and Conviction: Steps toward an Architecture of Convention by retired architect and M.I.T. professor William Hubbard a challenge to read. By the time I purchased it in 1981, both Charles W. Moore and Bill Kleinsasser, among others, had lauded Complicity and Conviction. Charles regarded it as “the most illuminating and convincing description of what architecture is really about,” while Bill directly excerpted quotes for inclusion in his textbook SYNTHESIS. So, I was determined to give it another go, but I immediately struggled with it again.

If I understand Hubbard’s thesis correctly, Complicity and Conviction was his critique of contemporary architecture at the height of the 1970s-1980s modernism vs. post-modernism debate. Specifically, he perceived a failure of nerve within both ideologies, which imposed restrictive forms on individuals, ones shaped by extra-personal forces rather than evolving from human volition. According to Hubbard, this imposition not only threatened the creative essence of architecture but also the embodiment of essential human values in built structures.

The book’s central argument revolved around the need to rescue architecture from this failure of nerve stemming from the detachment between architectural form and human values. Hubbard proposed applying the notion of conventions to architecture, positioning them not as mindless habits but as pragmatic tools for giving concrete form to shared human values.

He explored three systems of conventions—games, typography, and the law—to illustrate how structured rules and conventions can embody human values. Despite the potential for these conventions to be different, Hubbard argued that society willingly accepts and gives complicity to them, convinced of their rightness. He extended these principles to propose strategies for producing architecture that actively engages with and reflects human concerns.

The Lawn, University of Virginia (photo by Phil Roeder, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Kresge College (photo by Ponderosapine210, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

To illustrate his point, Hubbard presented two building projects he considered successful: Thomas Jefferson's Lawn at the University of Virginia and Kresge College at the University of California at Santa Cruz by MLTW. Hubbard presented the two as tangible examples of how architecture can embody convention as a design strategy. Specifically, he analyzed how both share characteristics that embody  ideals, build upon an esteem for past works and conventions, and widen the range of ways we experience built forms.

The book’s closing chapter analyzed additional projects by renowned contemporary architects (among them Robert Venturi, Philip Johnson, Michael Graves, Richard Meier, and Peter Eisenman) revealing specific ways in which Hubbard believed their work both supported and challenged prevailing convictions about architecture.

The interdisciplinary approach of Complicity and Conviction, drawing inspiration from unconventional sources like scenographic architecture, typography, games, and laws, did nothing if not underscore the complexity of Hubbard's argument. For example, his correlation of the convention of games with architecture, emphasizing unconscious patterns in how individuals navigate built environments, was a useful and creative means to support his primary tenet.

A reason why I continue to find Complicity and Conviction challenging to read was Hubbard’s tendency toward labyrinthine prose and profound convolution; here’s a case in point:

“But in order to use buildings in this way we must open up our attitudes about unconsciously enacted patterns. We must avoid both the putatively humanistic attitude that confers esteem upon any pattern that results from human action, as well as the seemingly scientific attitude that denies the worth of any pattern that is other than the one consciously intended by the actor. For when we make such blanket judgments beforehand, we abdicate our freedom by surrendering our capacity to make decisions to a standard outside the direct control of our will. What we want is the ability to stand as free critics of our own actions, to judge our own actions on the basis of our reaction to the consequences those actions are likely to produce. To do that, we need to know the unseen connections between what we do and what eventually happens. To disclose those unseen connections is, I think, the proper role of analysis. Analysis ought to arm us with that knowledge so that we can decide which of our actions we want to keep up, which we want to stop, even which ones we might want to adopt from other circumstances. But what standard of judgment can we use to make such decisions? Quite apart from finding a standard we can agree upon, what standard of judgment could avoid that surrender of the other, “beforehand” standards?”

You get the picture.

Complicity and Conviction is a difficult read, but it offers rewards to those who are willing to invest the necessary time and effort. It most definitely demanded my careful attention and multiple readings to fully grasp. Would I prefer that Hubbard’s writing style was simpler and more accessible? Yes, but perhaps having to actively participate in the process of understanding and interpreting the text was the point. Perhaps Hubbard wanted his readers to engage more thoroughly, rather than compromising the depth of his philosophical exploration.

On balance, Complicity and Conviction is a significant work because at the time of its publishing it did help prompt a reconsideration of the intersection between architectural ideologies and human values. Hubbard's dispassionate analysis of modernism and postmodernism's impact on architecture served as a valuable contribution to the ongoing discourse in the field. The book's exploration of unconventional perspectives, coupled with an emphasis on the influence of external domains, positioned it as a thought-provoking work within the realm of architectural criticism and theory.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Urban Growth Strategies: Homes & Jobs for 2045


I participated this past Thursday in the kickoff meeting for the City of Eugene’s Urban Growth Strategies project. The goal of the project is to identify the essential tools, actions, policies, and land required over the next two decades to support housing and living wage jobs in our community. Given the number of ongoing projects related to housing and economic development, City staff reached out to a broad list of housing and development experts, employers, and business owners to help inform the Urban Growth Strategies project’s priorities and outcomes. They saw fit to include me among those they invited to be a member of the project’s Housing and Development Working Group.

Our homes are essential for providing us with shelter, safety, gathering, and comfort. They are the foundation upon which any stable, livable community is built. As we know all too well, securing affordable housing in Eugene has become progressively challenging. The simple fact is an insufficient number of new homes have been added to Eugene’s residential stock in recent decades, which in turn has spurred a crisis of affordability. A comprehensive understanding of the problem is essential, and in turn the crafting of efficient strategies and policies that will optimize land use and address the desperate need for more and diverse types of housing.

The kickoff meeting introduced the Urban Growth Strategies project and its components. The meeting included the presentation of some eye-opening data regarding housing needs and the barriers to the provision of affordable housing in Eugene and Lane County.(1) Additionally, we reviewed the various statewide mandates related to urban growth, as well as recent policy work directed by the City Council.

Beth Goodman of ECOnorthwest explains the City's role in housing development.

The State of Oregon requires municipalities to provide enough buildable land within their urban growth boundaries to accommodate estimated housing needs for 20 years. Moreover, House Bill 2003 requires cities with populations greater than 10,000 to update their housing needs and capacity analysis every eight years, while HB 2001, known as the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis (OHNA), directed the Department of Land Conservation and Development to implement rules to increase housing production, affordability, and choice. On top of this, the Department established the Climate Friendly and Equitable Communities Program, which requires Oregon cities to comply with requirements for the establishment of compact, walkable development standards.   

Crucial to the Urban Growth Strategies project is an evaluation of whether Eugene's Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) will require expansion to meet land needs over the next two decades. The City’s technical analysis will provide insights into the current adequacy of land within the UGB and explore additional tools to address any unmet land needs. The project will help identify a supply of land for residential use for the next twenty years by integrating housing capacity analyses, residential efficiency measures, and the current inventory of buildable lands. Importantly, it will also help establish a 20-year supply of land for non-residential use, incorporating data from an economic opportunities analysis, employment efficiency measures, and urban land needs.

Each Oregon municipality has its own unique challenges when it comes to the provision of an adequate inventory of affordable housing. These include constraints on how accessible federal funding is, infrastructure and site development needs, the lack of development-ready tracts, neighborhood resistance and the threat of delayed processes and appeals, and of course national market factors (high costs for labor, land, materials, and financing). The City of Eugene’s role in housing development is restricted to public policy matters related to the use of land and infrastructure, as its influence on market feasibility is limited. Nevertheless, the development of favorable city policies is crucial to helping address the housing crisis.

The desired policy outcome is revisions to the Envision Eugene Comprehensive Plan (EECP) and draft amendments to the Eugene Code, including creation of new parcel-specific land use designation maps and new chapters dedicated to housing, compact development & urban design, community health, and community engagement. The revisions to the plan—that the Working Group will influence—will provide Eugene with a roadmap toward market stability and long-term systemic change.

I found the kickoff meeting encouraging. In addition to the valuable background information that provided me with a much-needed contextual understanding, the opportunity to discuss current barriers to housing production in breakout groups was very welcome. How can the City support production of more housing affordable to households with incomes at 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) or below? What about incomes in the 60%-120% range?

Two connected Point Access Blocks, showing unit diversity and typical vertical circulation. Source: Point-access block policy brief by Michael Eliason (Larch-Lab-PAB_Policy-Brief.pdf )

I am by no means an expert on affordable housing, but from my perspective as an architect, I see the building typology limitations baked into the current version of the International Building Code as a significant barrier to the production of more and varied types of housing. Specifically, the code does not allow multi-story “point access blocks” of more than three stories in height. Taller point-access block buildings—such as those up to six stories in height now allowed by the City of Seattle in its modified version of the IBC—are organized as compact plans around a single stairway and elevator core, as opposed to the dual-stairway and double-loaded corridor layouts typical of all new multifamily developments in Eugene. The benefits of point-block developments include the fact that they minimize the need for parcel assemblage, a process which increases costs and the time of development.(2) Whether the City of Eugene (or the State of Oregon) will implement similar code revisions to those adopted by Seattle remains to be seen, but doing so would undoubtedly improve the odds of meeting the housing affordability challenge.   

I plan to attend the full series of Housing and Development Working Group meetings. Future events will address gaps in existing housing policies, discuss potential strategies for housing production, and review draft revisions to the EECP. By prioritizing community input, technical analysis, and policy integration, the Urban Growth Strategies project aspires to shape a future for Eugene that is not only resilient but also responsive to the diverse needs of its residents. For your own opportunities to engage and contribute to this transformative endeavor, be sure to follow the project on Engage Eugene.

(1)    Among the more shocking statistics are that at 60% of the AMI ($53,460 per year), a family in Eugene can afford a monthly rent of only $1,340 or a home priced in the $134,000 to $160,000 range; however, the average monthly rent is $1,829 and the median home sale price is $479,500. Even households at 120% of the AMI are priced out of the Eugene market. The source for these figures is the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and are correct as of December 2023. 

(2)    Michael Eliason, an architect and urbanist based in Seattle, is the leading evangelist for and proponent of point-block housing in the U.S. In recent years, he has written extensively on the topic, as well as penning pointed critiques about the current state of multifamily housing development in North America. In response to a piece I wrote a few years back regarding 5-over-1 construction, he unleashed a flurry of tweets on Twitter (now “X”).

Sunday, February 25, 2024

1,000 Blog Posts!


Yes, it’s true! This post marks my one thousandth entry since I started SW Oregon Architect back in 2008. Though the accomplishment hardly ranks up there with the greatest of human achievements, I will pat myself on the back for my dedication to writing on a regular basis.

I embarked on my blogging journey with only modest goals. Initially, SW Oregon Architect primarily served as a means for me to communicate with the membership of the Southwestern Oregon Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (now the Eugene Section of AIA Oregon) on chapter matters during my tenure on the SWO board of directors. Since then, I have turned to a broad range of topics related to architecture and urban design, while maintaining a weekly writing cadence.

It seems many of the prolific architecture-oriented blogs that flourished during blogging’s heyday (roughly the mid-2000s to the early 2010s) have become inactive, including several of those listed here on my sidebar. With the rise of social media and a concomitant reduction in attention spans, long-form blogging lost its appeal for some audiences, prompting many bloggers to abandon the platform in favor of alternative outlets for their content.

For me, blogging is not about garnering followers and page views, but rather about being an enjoyable and satisfying hobby. I do not intend to give it up anytime soon, especially now that I am on the glide slope toward retirement. Writing is good exercise for my brain. Regular blogging will support my cognitive health as I age, so I figure the more words I write, the better.

Assuming an average of 600 words per post, my cumulative word count has now reached approximately 600,000.(1) For some perspective, that is more than such prodigious works of literature as Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace (587,287 words), Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (561,996 words), and the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (481,103 words). If I continue blogging as I plan to, my word count will one day surpass that of the King James version of The Bible (783,137 words), if it hasn’t already.

While my musings across 1,000 posts do not rise anywhere close to the profundity of renowned authors, I occasionally surprise myself by generating a piece I’m particularly pleased with. This is mostly the case when I avoid being too guarded about expressing my thoughts on a subject. It has been good to stick my neck out on occasion.

To commemorate achieving this milestone, I offer the following selection of posts because they offer a sampling of my views on architecture and urban design. Consider this an immodest list of SW Oregon Architect’s “greatest hits." I invite you to randomly read a few of them if you have some time and missed the opportunity to do so when they first appeared (click on the title you select, which will appear in a new window): 

  1.  Architecture and the Culture Wars
  2.  The Timelessness of Libraries
  3.  Hyperlocal Identity:  A Strategy for Small Cities and Towns
  4.  Commonsense Architecture
  5.  The Worrying Absence of Housing Choice
  6.  Challenging Our Biases
  7.  Philosophy and the Metaphysics of Architecture
  8.  The Better Angels of our Nature
  9.  Oregon is Burning
  10.  Corner Stores
  11.  A Moral Obligation
  12.  Eugene and the Menace of the Black Swan
  13.  Architecture on the Frontline of the Culture War
  14.  Private Good and Public Space
  15.  Does Eugene really have an affordable housing crisis? Yes, but . . .
  16.  Light
  17.  Restoring the Related Wholeness of Notre-Dame de Paris
  18.  In Praise of 5-over-1 Construction
  19.  Looking Beyond 2019 (Way, Way Beyond)
  20.  We Shouldn’t Fear the Change Diverse Housing Types Herald
  21.  Riding the Rails
  22.  Morality and Architecture
  23.  Sunlight is a Powerful Healer
  24.  The Fine Grain of Cultural Diversity
  25.  The Obama Presidential Center
  26.  Architectural Record’s Top 125 Buildings
  27.  R.I.P. Zaha Hadid
  28.  Architecture is Awesome: #11 Sense of Place
  29.  The Pritzker Prize and Neural Nostalgia
  30.  The Future of Architectural Craft
  31.  Architecture is Awesome #6: Space
  32.  Debate and Discourse: Hallmarks of a Healthy Community
  33.  The Perils of Building Cheaply
  34.  Self-Actualization
  35.  Revenge of the Specifiers
  36.  Awe, Wonder, and Curiosity
  37.  The Pitfalls of Public Planning Process
  38.  Incremental Growth
  39.  Progress
  40.  Revitalization + Reinvention
  41.  Automobiles and Architecture
  42.  Monarchy and Architecture
  43.  Influences: Christopher Alexander & Peter Eisenman
  44.  What is Architecture?
  45.  San Francisco Walkabout
  46.  Influences: Frank Lloyd Wright
  47.  Ecopolis and the American Dream
  48.  Utopianism, Cynicism, and Sincerity
  49.  Authenticity
  50.  Eugene, Genius Loci, and the Butterfly Effect
The ride SW Oregon Architect has taken me on has been both humbling and invigorating. What began as a channel for communication with the local architectural community is now increasingly a repository for my personal thoughts, topical insights, and occasionally whimsical digressions. I look forward to continuing this adventure, exploring new topics, and—with good luck and health—reflecting again upon reaching the 2,000-posts mark.

(1)    I am not going to bother to accurately tally my total word count. I may not make the most of my free time, but I do value it enough not to undertake the task. A 600-word per post average is a fair guess; if anything, this number might be on the low side.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

COTE Book TALK: People, Planet, Design


I attended the latest Committee on the Environment (COTE) book talk hosted by AIA Oregon back on February 8. The virtual presentation, produced by Island Press, featured author Corey Squire, AIA and his new book People, Planet, Design: A Practical Guide to Realizing Architecture’s Potential. Corey’s compelling presentation, along with the subsequent question-and-answer period moderated by AIA COTE Leadership Group member Lyndley Kent AIA, focused on the idea that successful buildings should not only be beautiful but also positively impact the community, the planet, and the people who use them.

 

Corey Squire is an architect and nationally recognized expert in sustainable design who has empowered multiple award-winning design firms to achieve high-performance projects across their portfolios. He lectures nationally on a range of sustainable design related topics and was a lead author of the American Institute of Architects Framework for Design Excellence, a resource that is actively redefining excellence in the built environment. Corey is presently an Associate Principal and Director of Sustainability at Bora Architecture and Interiors in Portland.


 

Corey Squire, AIA

People, Planet, Design is a guide for designing change, making the case for how every design choice affects the community, the planet, and the people who will use a given building. The book (which I have yet to read) aims to simplify complex ideas by providing architects with a framework for transforming their practices to meet the needs of a carbon-neutral future.

 

Fundamentally, Corey’s thesis revolves around the factors that empower high-performing architectural firms. He sees these as inextricably tied to the declaration of an urgent and sustained climate imperative, the consequent need to transform day-to-day professional practice, and in turn aligning and using external messaging to leverage support from peers, clients, and the broader populace. He believes some projects perform better than others precisely because the offices who designed them are thriving environments in their own right.

 

Helena Zambrano, AIA, furnished the illustrations used in the book.

To excel in sustainability, a firm committed to sustainability goals needs two things: 1) the right culture; and 2) the right knowledge. Corey asserts that our profession already has all the knowledge and technology it needs. If the right culture additionally exists within a practice, implementing a unified vision for design excellence through an understanding and prioritization of what matters is achievable.

 

One clear mechanism for reaching these goals is to redefine what design excellence means. It can no longer simply be defined by aesthetic trends or by the starchitects of our world. The impact of buildings is too great for the planet to withstand designs whose virtues solely lie in their idiosyncrasy. Instead, we need to define the right outcomes, align those outcomes and systems with effective design strategies, and create an environment—the right culture—within a practice to make them happen.

 

It really was this aspect of Corey’s talk that was my biggest takeaway. The vision thing lies at the crux of the matter for firms who want to do the right thing but do not know where to start. Under even the best circumstances, cultural change takes time and requires effort and patience. Firm leaders must be the ones to establish the necessary vision. They often know what they need to do. How to do it is the challenge. To date, there has been a notable gap in professional literature addressing this. I will reserve judgment until after I have read People, Planet, Design to gauge the extent to which Corey has bridged the gap.

 

I am hopeful the book directly addresses the challenges posed by the exponential growth of things we need to focus on when we design buildings and the limited time within which we are afforded to do so. The sheer volume of knowledge needed to align outcomes and systems with effective design strategies is overwhelming. I asked Corey whether he believes we can ensure that architects—all design professionals—can acquire the necessary knowledge within a reasonable period of development and experience. We all know students enter professional practice with woefully inadequate skill sets, so the problem seems particularly pronounced for the emerging generations of designers. Corey responded by saying his hope is that People, Planet, Design can be part of the solution by promoting a holistic approach to sustainable design that avoids the need for an exhaustive knowledge base. He believes the key is to provide every architect with a baseline understanding of what is important and with guidance about how to proceed when applying that baseline of information to every project.

 

As I said, I have not yet read People, Planet, Design, but hope to soon. If you’re likewise interested in the book, it is available for purchase directly from the Island Press or from Amazon in both e-book or hard-copy (paperback) formats. I am confident my time reading the book will be amply rewarded.