A Promising Start

I was pleasantly surprised this past Wednesday by the first of the public engagement events hosted by the City of Eugene as part of its process to imagine a new Eugene Town Square in the heart of downtown. The venue was Whirled Pies Pizzeria & Bar, which comfortably accommodated the large and enthusiastic community turnout (my guess is a couple hundred people of all ages attended the kickoff meeting). The mood was joyful, the presentations by City of Eugene Urban Development Manager Will Dowdy and members of the design team led by Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning were informative, and the question & answer period was spirited. Free pizza and cookies added to the festivities. If this “Imagination Lab” was any indication, the Town Square project is off to a promising start. 

I enjoyed the display boards documenting the past of the Town Square site (which encompasses the current Park Blocks and the “butterfly” parking structure), especially those including historical photographs I’d never seen before. I likewise appreciated the “dot exercise" (a de rigueur fixture of such events) allowing me to vote for what I think would make the new Town Square memorable, useful, and right for Eugene. 

People want to know their participation will influence the shape a project ultimately takes. For the design of a future Eugene Town Square, this means the City and the Cameron McCarthy team must be committed to incorporating public input. I know they are. They are not merely seeking buy-in to an already predetermined outcome. In addition to hosting the first Imagination Lab and other public engagement events, they are purposely being transparent about the process and the project’s progress. Their vision for Eugene Town Square is one that will be co-created with the community, a plan that honors all voices, recognizes and values diversity—a place rooted in what everyone wants. 

A challenge for the City and Cameron McCarthy is to ensure citizen involvement genuinely is inclusive. As I wrote back in 2012, public planning processes do have their pitfalls. While well-intentioned, they tend to gloss over inevitably complex issues that cannot be adequately addressed by even the most comprehensive public consultation efforts. And despite the earnest efforts of public agencies like the City of Eugene, certain constituencies are invariably underrepresented. 

I suspect the vast majority of those present Wednesday evening at Whirled Pies were there because they choose to be engaged and have the wherewithal to be so. Regrettably, there are others who cannot afford to attend and be heard at the meetings to which they’re invited. They may lack the time to participate because by necessity they work two or more jobs. They may not be fluent English-speakers and so may feel unwelcome or uncomfortable. They may not have the means to conveniently travel to the meeting site. Conversely, some are simply too indifferent to care about the future of downtown Eugene and feel they have better things to do. This is unfortunate. 

Another hurdle is the planning for a new Eugene City Hall, whose fate is now hitched to the Town Square project. The troubling record of cost overruns and lack of transparency associated with the City’s past attempts to build a new symbolic seat for itself hovers like a menacing cloud over the current effort. Undoubtedly, there is a fair share of the public who are skeptical about the City’s ability to execute anything in a timely and fiscally responsible manner. Gaining the confidence and support of these people—overcoming their distrust and cynicism—is necessary to realize a Eugene Town Square that truly represents the entire community. 

Meaningful community input is essential to a project as important as Eugene Town Square. The City of Eugene and Cameron McCarthy are making it easy for everyone to express their opinions. They’re hosting additional public engagement events, the next of which will include the presentation of initial design concepts. In addition, there will be online surveys (the first is here), so you can participate in the design process even if you cannot attend the public meetings. Your voice matters so be sure everyone hears what you have to say!

(All photos are by me)

Let’s Design Eugene Town Square

The City of Eugene invites everyone to attend the first of three planned community design events for the Eugene Town Square Project. This first “Imagination Lab” will take place this coming Wednesday, May 22, at Whirled Pies in downtown Eugene.

The goal of the project is to develop design concepts for a permanent, all-season home for the Farmers Market, a new City Hall, and improvements to the Park Blocks, including a vibrant Eugene Saturday Market. As I wrote last September, the Town Square concept is an organic outcome of a multiplicity of factors, not the least of which was a serendipitous share of dumb luck. Rather than separately regarding a new City Hall, a covered Farmers’ Market, and the Parks Blocks, the project team hired by the City (led by Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Planning) will be able to approach the three elements with coherence and a compelling vision in mind. If done right, Eugene Town Square will be something so intertwined and whole that it is difficult to imagine how it can be considered or function well as discrete elements. A combined project magnifies the prospect of a generative design process that emphasizes their interrelatedness and ensures every building increment will form a greater whole, which is both larger and more significant than itself.

If everyone’s hopes are fulfilled, Eugene Town Square will one day be a welcoming, safe, and festive place. It will be the City’s front porch and civic center, a beautiful spot to gather, play, and celebrate our community.

I’ll be at Wednesday’s Imagination Lab event and hope to see all of you there too. This is an opportunity to “co-create” a new public space, one that will impact the future of downtown for generations to come.

What:  Eugene Town Square Imagination Lab Public Event #1. Activities for all ages. Refreshments provided.

When:  May 22, 2019. Drop in any time between 5:00-9:00 PM. Presentations at 5:30 and 7:00.

Where:  Whirled Pies, 199 W. 8^th Avenue, Eugene, OR  97401

Cost:  Free

Sign Up:  https://eugenetownsquare.org/getinvolved 

I. M. Pei (1917-2019)

I. M. Pei (1917-2019)

Renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei died this past Thursday at the age of 102. Numerous media outlets(1) immediately marked his passing, extolling the substantial body of outstanding work he leaves behind after a truly lengthy career, which includes being awarded the AIA Gold Medal, the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture, and the Pritzker Prize. He may have been the last of a great generation of architects whose lineage can be directly traced back to the Bauhaus and the early years of Modern Architecture. Notably, Pei came to know Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius and instructor Marcel Breuer, first as a graduate student and then as a faculty member at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Pei and Breuer (and their wives) established a friendship that would last until Breuer’s passing in 1981. 

Pei embraced Gropius’ Bauhaus ethos but his professional work would evolve beyond it toward an aesthetic focus upon geometric precision and elegant monumentality. His most famous projects include the NCAR Mesa Building in Boulder, Colorado, the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Bank of China tower in Hong Kong, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Dallas City Hall, the Fragrant Hills Hotel in China, the Islamic Museum of Art in Qatar, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and Le Grand Louvre (Louvre Pyramid) in Paris.(2) Of these, I have visited the National Gallery East Building and the Kennedy Library. 

East Building, National Gallery (photo by Difference engine [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)])

I think the wedge-shaped East Building of the National Gallery is fantastic. Despite its sleek, icy geometries, the public warmly embraced the design immediately upon its opening in 1978. And nothwithstanding its severe abstraction, Pei’s design for the East Building belies the typecasting of Modern architecture as anonymous, placeless, lacking scale, and absent visual richness. It rose above the regulatory strictures of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation and provided the nation’s capital with a striking counterpoint to the sclerotic neoclassicism that had dominated the National Mall. I found it an exhilarating masterpiece of late Modern design and more than worthy of its acclaim. 

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston (photo by Fcb981, CC-BY-SA-3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/, via Wikimedia Commons). This is the only presidential library I've actually visited.

I was much less enamored by the Kennedy Library. In his otherwise glowing tribute entitled I. M. Pei: A Profile in American Architecture, art historian and architectural critic Carter Wiseman describes the Library’s geometry as “too obvious, as if the parts had been ordered from a Pei catalogue and assembled according to an instruction book.” Wiseman goes on to cite an “absence of spirit to animate the architectural flesh.” I found that absence palpable, which by contrast was present in abundance in Pei’s design for the East Wing. Pei himself admitted disappointment with the Library, citing the circumstances that barred realization of a superior design. 

I’ve never counted I. M. Pei among the architects and teachers I truly consider my influences. The affinity I do have for him is undeniably because he was an Asian-American architect (Pei was born in China, while I’m of Japanese descent). That kinship is as superficial as the fact that, like me, he was short of stature and bespectacled. In today’s world, one’s ethnicity or race shouldn’t necessarily matter when it comes to the profession of architecture, but they still do. It’s a bit sad and revealing that I feel instinctively bound to acknowledge his passing, not just because he was a great architect, but also for a reason that is quite literally skin-deep. Acknowledging this doesn’t diminish my respect for I. M. Pei and his achievements. His career and talents were truly transcendent.

(1)    Here’s a sampling:

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48303529 
• https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/i-m-pei-and-the-asian-american-experience
• https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/blair-kamin/ct-biz-im-pei-appreciation-kamin-0520-story.html
• https://www.dw.com/cda/en/louvre-pyramid-architect-im-pei-dies/a-48769268
• https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/05/im-pei-dead-102-architect-history-cities-louvre-dallas/589672/

(2)    I traveled to Paris in 1979 but haven’t been back since the completion of the Louvre Pyramid in  1989. I would love the opportunity to visit Paris again and see the Pyramid in person, in part because of how much I enjoyed Dan Brown’s reading of esoteric symbolism supposedly embedded within Pei’s design in his novel The Da Vinci Code.

AIA Eugene 2019 Construction Craft Awards

2019 AIA Eugene Construction Craft Awards Banquet, May 8, 2019 (photo by Dylan Tibbetts)

It was a full house this past Wednesday evening in the University of Oregon’s Ford Alumni Center’s Lee Barlow Giustina Ballroom as AIA Eugene honored the nominees for and recipients of the 2019 Construction Craft Awards. The event was my profession’s opportunity to honor fine craftsmanship and recognize those considered by the jury to be deserving of special recognition. It was a wonderful evening that celebrated the best of the best.

The purpose of this long-running awards program, started in 1953 and last held in 2015, is to give special recognition to those individuals in the building industry who have mastered the ideals of their craft on a particular project or over the course of their careers. AIA Eugene honors the most deserving of these individuals with the presentation of a Construction Craft Award. The overarching purpose is to ensure the time-honored ideals of craftsmanship are sustained and passed along. The program’s success is dependent upon nominations of those individuals AIA Eugene members believe exemplify the highest standards of craftsmanship. 

The following is the list of the eighteen nominees for the 2019 Construction Craft Awards: 

• Alice McCann - Product Representative, Armstrong World Industries 
• Charlotte Curtis - Commercial Plans Examiner, City of Eugene
• Doug Edwards - Finished Woodworker, LJ Pearson
• Erica Ann Bush - Natural Plasterer, Day One Design LLC
• Evin Avila - Construction Superintendent, Ordell Construction
• Gordon Rea - Construction Superintendent, McKenzie Commercial Contractors, Inc.
• Jon McCoy - Construction Superintendent, Chambers Construction
• Jonathan Chandler - Metal Fabrication, Jonathan Chandler Metal Works
• Keith Perkins - Sheet Metal Worker, Smith Sheet Metal
• Kelly Huber - Metal Fabrication, Urban Lumber Company
• Leanne Tollerud -Cabinet Maker, Advance Cabinet Designs
• Obadiah “Ob” Buley - Ceiling Grid & Tile Installer, Haas Contracting, Inc.
• Robin Olofson - Cabinet Maker, Yankee Built
• Steve Baker - Sheet Metal Worker, Smith Sheet Metal
• Terry Green - General Manager, Rubensteins Contract Carpet
• Tim Jacobs - Construction Superintendent, Chambers Construction
• Tim Stephens - General Contractor/Carpenter, Frontier Builders
• Wilbur Burge - Construction Superintendent, 2G Construction

The 2019 Construction Craft Award nominees (photo by Dylan Tibbetts)

The awards jury—comprised of representatives from the design and construction industries, including past award winners—met for 3½ hours to consider the nominations. The deliberations involved reviews of 74 letters of reference and recommendations, and photographs of in-process and completed projects documenting the craft each nominee has brought to the projects he or she has worked on. The jury weighed each nomination on its own merit for the work presented and the endorsements included in each packet.

While being nominated for this award program is a great acknowledgement in itself, in the end the jury agreed to confer six individuals with a 2019 Construction Craft Award. Accompanied by the jury’s commendation for each, the following are the deserving recipients:

Steve Baker

Sheet Metal Worker, Smith Sheet Metal 
As a lead journeyman/foreman for Smith Sheet Metal for over 25 years, Steve’s high level of skill and extensive knowledge of the sheet metal industry exemplifies what it means to be a crafts person at the top of their trade. He is highly skilled and experienced with many panel systems including a wide variety of metal roofing and siding products as well as modern rain screen cladding systems. He has proven himself to be extremely valuable in his ability to design and install complex sheet metal flashing assemblies, performing work that few others can with such skill. His attention to detail is unmatched.

Erica Ann Bush

Natural Plasterer, Day One Design LLC

With a background in architecture, and as an experienced contractor with a concern for the environment, Erica always comes through in providing high quality construction services in the green and natural building realm, and has consistently shown herself as competent, hard-working, and inventive. Erica is professional, knowledgeable, and always eager to explore ideas and ways of pushing the limits of natural construction. Her use of natural plaster in creative applications brings a high level of artistic craft and sustainability to her projects.

Charlotte Curtis

Commercial Plans Examiner, City of Eugene

During Charlotte’s 28 years of service to our shared community as a commercial plans examiner, she has reviewed a multitude of building permit applications, provided straightforward counsel when asked about the intricacies of the building code, coordinated project consultations with stakeholders, and guided first time permit applicants as well as seasoned design professionals and contractors through the City of Eugene’s building permit process with equanimity, confidence, and grace. She performed plan reviews for well-known and locally treasured buildings including Matt Knight Arena, Eugene Public Library, Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Innovation, Lillis Business Center, Hayward Field, and Ninkasi Brewing. Charlotte brings her smile and enthusiasm to every project she touches, and in doing so she has helped make the City of Eugene a friendlier place to design and build in.

Jon McCoy

Construction Superintendent, Chambers Construction 
Working with Chambers Construction for almost 30 years Jon has completed a long list of projects varying in size, scope, construction type, challenges, and complexity. He is friendly and welcoming to everyone on the project site, whether the owner, architect, plumber’s helper, or steel erector. His approachable manner allows him to know at any time what everyone is working on and when tasks should be completed, allowing for great communication and coordination between trades. He inspires others around him, is a true leader, a superb craftsman, and a trusted team player.

Robin Olofson

Cabinet Maker, Yankee Built

Whether residential or commercial construction, Robin brings skill, versatility, and ingenuity to everything he works on. Robin’s willingness to participate in the design process from the outset has been fundamental to achieve the level of creativity and customization that architects and clients alike are aiming for when it comes to the project’s custom built casework. His in-person involvement and attention to detail, from the first set of finish samples to the careful installation of casework components, has been essential to the success of many of his projects.

Gordon Rea

Construction Superintendent, McKenzie Commercial Contractors, Inc. 
Over a decades-long career that is not yet complete, Gordon has presented himself on one project after another as a picture of humanity. Whether new construction or complicated remodel work, Gordon approaches each assignment with great care, understanding of the scope and goals, and the thorough planning needed to complete each project, often in continually occupied buildings. He is respectful to the building occupants, and maintains open lines of communications with all involved. And he does it with a positive can-do attitude, and a great pride in accomplishing the work on time, under budget, and of high quality.

(L to R) My Robertson/Sherwood/Architects colleague Andy Drake, me, and 2019 Construction Craft Award recipient Gordon Rea.

Architect and designer Justin Allen delivered the evening’s keynote address. Justin is the Stott Visiting Professor in the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture & Environment. Though American, he now works in Berlin, Germany in partnership with Saskia Kaufmann and their firm AllenKaufman Studio.

Justin proved to be a most appropriate and thoughtful speaker for the Craft Awards program. He acquired his dedication to craft while working during his teens in his father’s tool and die manufacturing shop. The experience instilled in him an appreciation for precision and attention to detail. Following university, he worked with Steven Holl Architects in New York before moving to Berlin, where a longstanding tradition of artisanal craftsmanship is engrained in the culture. He and Saskia Kaufmann established their office with the goal of embracing art and fabrication in the context of architecture and design, and committing to the collaborative aspect of creating projects, objects, and subjects through a process of inspiration, imagination, and refinement.

For Justin, the inclusion of both masculine and feminine perspectives is key to the evolution of craft in architecture and interior design. I found his emphasis on this point somewhat curious, as it seems the application of and appreciation for craft should be irrespective of gender. That said, the fact Justin is compelled to underscore the necessity of collaborations between male and female architects, designers, and craftspeople suggests we still have a ways to go before the design and construction industries will provide truly equitable opportunities for all.  

Justin Allen (photo by Dylan Tibbetts)

Justin quipped that while AIA Eugene architects enthusiastically fete the Construction Craft Award honorees, does the absence of a reciprocal awards program produced by construction craftspeople say something about what they think of architects? Joking aside, there’s no doubt in my mind the Construction Craft Awards program is one of our professional organization’s most important traditions. It’s essential we take the time to recognize the skilled, talented, and deserving individuals who make us and our projects look good.  

*    *    *    *    *    *

I talked to several of the nominees and award recipients before and after the awards ceremony, and to a person all felt truly honored to be there. More than anything else, I found hearing this especially gratifying because it points to how meaningful the Construction Craft Awards program is to our collaborators in the construction trades. The 2019 edition was a great success due to the efforts of the organizing committee, the jury, and most significantly all of the award recipients and nominees. Congratulations to all involved!

Ribbon-Cutting

SELCO Thurston branch ribbon-cutting ceremony, April 29, 2019 (all photos by me unless otherwise noted)

For architects, one of the most enjoyable and satisfying days of a project is when the ribbon-cutting ceremony takes place. Though lampooned for their tendency toward showering praise and honor upon non-participants (see the “Six Phases of a Project”), a ribbon-cutting ceremony is most often truly rewarding for everyone who had a hand in making the project a success. The event marks the successful conclusion of the construction phase and the commencement of the completed project’s life in use. The ceremony is an opportunity for everybody involved to celebrate a job well-done. 

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies find their origins in centuries-old wedding customs, which likewise symbolize new beginnings. In some European traditions, a ribbon placed over the door of a couple’s new home denoted the beginning of their life together. Today, it is a city’s chamber of commerce that often organizes a ribbon-cutting ceremony when a member business opens a new location. While ribbons tied together may symbolize the bond between a bride and her groom, the cutting of a ribbon signifies a business’ fresh start. 

Along with my Robertson/Sherwood/Architects colleague Andy Drake, I recently attended the ribbon-cutting for the opening of SELCO Community Credit Union’s new Thurston branch in Springfield. The Springfield Chamber of Commerce organized the event, which attracted numerous chamber members, local media, SELCO employees and board members, and several of the tradespeople who made the project a reality. 

Andy and I designed the extensive renovation of an existing 1990s stand-alone bank building. Our design response transformed the dated appearance of the former bank by applying a fresh, customer-friendly, and contemporary aesthetic that reinforces SELCO’s strong branding. The builder was McKenzie Commercial Contractors, ably led by Chad Blilie (project manager) and Gordon Rea (superintendent). 

The SELCO Thurston branch before its renovation . . 

. . . and after.

This was our first completed project for SELCO, who proved to be an exemplary client. SELCO’s management team afforded us considerable leeway to develop a design that would reflect its culture as a not-for-profit consumer cooperative and appeal to its broad membership. We’re looking forward to building upon our success with the Thurston branch renovation and the prospect of assisting SELCO with future projects. 

Another view of the renovated interior (photo by Andy Drake)

I am fascinated by many of the time-honored customs associated with buildings and construction. Groundbreaking and topping out ceremonies, burying of commemorative time capsules, and ribbon-cuttings are rich with symbolism and tradition. These rituals contribute significantly to our cultural fabric, memorializing the acts of building and occupancy, and imbuing them with social significance.