How Architecture Works

I rode the train, as I usually do, when I recently traveled to visit my parents in Vancouver. One of the luxuries traveling by train affords me is time to read a book, often a title from my collection I hadn’t entirely completed reading before. In this instance that book was Witold Rybczynski’s How Architecture Works. As Amazon’s editorial review states, How Architecture Works “. . . answers our most fundamental questions about how good—and not-so-good—buildings are designed and constructed,” and is a revelatory “grand tour of architecture today.”

Subtitled “A Humanist’s Toolkit,” the book provides both laypersons and architects who’ve lost their way with a conceptual framework for thinking about the experience of architecture. According to Wikipedia, Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and underscores a concern for their relationship to the world. From a humanist perspective, this suggests architecture is best considered and appreciated through experience. Rybczynski asserts the most useful entry into architecture is provided not by theories or abstract concepts—let alone rules—but by learning from the canon of built works. In doing so it becomes apparent that while all architects address similar problems—aesthetic, practical, urbanistic—they may arrive at a variety of successful solutions.

For anyone interested in a non-ideological discussion of architecture, How Architecture Works is a great primer. The book is very easy to read, but certainly not dumbed down. It provides a toolkit—ten essential topics of architectural concerns—which helps the reader understand what architects are trying to do when they design buildings. Rybczynkski presents these topics (Ideas, The Setting, Site, Plan, Structure, Skin, Details, Style, The Past, and Taste) by way of anecdotes and a relaxed manner that prevent the book from becoming overly didactic. Notably, How Architecture Works includes an extensive glossary providing a dictionary of arcane architectural terms that are knowable by design professionals and historians but may be unfamiliar to the uninitiated.  

I’ve enjoyed reading Rybczynski’s books and articles for many years. Besides How Architecture Works, I also own The Most Beautiful House in the World (1989) and The Biography of a Building: How Robert Sainsbury and Norman Foster Built a Great Museum (2011). I eagerly anticipate his too infrequent blog posts, each of which is reliably pithy, matter of fact, and even-handed.

He is a frequent contributor to ARCHITECT magazine, and has written in the past for The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Saturday Night, and Slate. He also taught architecture at McGill and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Urbanism. From 2004 to 2012 he served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Importantly, he practiced architecture professionally, so he knows how buildings are designed and built.

Like me, Rybczynski spent his formative years in Canada, he in Montreal (though born in Edinburgh, Scotland) whereas I grew up in Vancouver. Despite the undeniable historical, geographical, and cultural differences between Quebec and British Columbia, I think we share a trait that betrays our mutual Canadian-ness: a pragmatic conservatism that shapes our perceptions of what we consider to be good design. As Rybczynski said in his review for ARCHITECT magazine about a new book on the subject of Canadian modern architecture, “Canadian architects have tended to steer clear of polemics and extreme theories, and have avoided showy architectural effects. Partly this is a question of national character, but mainly it’s just too cold.”

My American colleagues and friends may not entirely understand, but the “national character” of Canadians is a real thing. Canadians enjoy the luxury of not living in the center of the storm and therefore benefit from an outsider’s perspective. They (we) do see the world differently. Canadians are more internationalist than Americans, and less individualistic. The common good is important to Canadians; this extends to an idealistic belief that buildings should be of demonstrable benefit to society and that a civic culture builds cities. There is also no core Canadian identity, which translates to a loose plurality of beliefs. Accordingly, more so than their American counterparts, Canadian architects generally understand for a given design problem there may be multiple, equally suitable results.  

This pragmatism underlies Rybczynski work. He writes:

“As someone who has practiced architecture, I find it difficult to excuse technical incompetence in the name of experimentation, or to overlook functional deficiencies for the sake of artistic purity. Architecture is an applied art, and it is in the application that the architect often finds inspiration. I confess to a partiality for those who face this challenge squarely, rather than withdraw to hermetic theories or personal quests.”

His Canadian upbringing aside, I simply find Rybczynski’s style of prose engaging and eminently readable. Unlike the books authored by some architects—which can literally be exhausting to read—I always find his writing accessible and interesting. He isn’t prone to writing manifestos or diatribes. He’s not a polemicist. That said, he doesn’t shy from staking out provocative positions or calling others out when warranted. For example, he contends in the book’s introduction that "the rationalizations of architects are usually unreliable, intended to persuade others rather than to explain." As architects, we should allow our work to speak on our behalf, which—if it is good—will speak to everyone. We should let architecture emerge from the act of building, recognizing that its spirit is expressed through our mastery of a coherent visual language.

I highly recommend reading How Architecture Works.

G.Z. Charlie Brown, FAIA (1942-2020)

G.Z. "Charlie" Brown, FAIA (photo from the ESBL website)

G.Z. “Charlie” Brown, FAIA passed away on February 15 at the age of 77. Charlie was ailing—he lived for many years with and was progressively weakened by Parkinson’s Disease—so word of his death wasn’t entirely surprising. Nevertheless, it’s always sad to hear such news. This is especially true when we lose someone who contributed so much to the advancement of the architectural profession as Charlie did.

Charlie joined the faculty at the University of Oregon in 1977, and by the time I arrived as a student in 1980 he already enjoyed a strong reputation as an accomplished educator and researcher on matters related to the built environment’s impact upon energy and resource utilization. Unfortunately, I did not take any of Charlie’s classes or studios because I had fulfilled the B.Arch degree requirements associated with Environmental Control Systems (ECS) prior to my studies at the university. 

Charlie achieved acclaim for authoring Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design Strategies, first published in 1985. Many today regard the book as a seminal text about the fundamental principles of passive design, with a depth of content and analytical rigor that has stood the test of time.

Notably, Charlie served as an advisor on the Global Warming project for the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress in 1991, and in 1988 he collaborated on a study investigating the impacts of climate change on the energy performance of buildings.

He founded the UO Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory (ESBL), serving as its director between 1985 and 2015. ESBL posted a heartfelt tribute to Charlie on its website, which additionally details his many achievements, the most notable of which may have been his ability to envision transformational ideas and also build a capable team dedicated to implementing them. As the ESBL post eulogized, Charlie “lived fearlessly, transformed lives, forever transforming architecture.” I did enjoy the good fortune to work with Charlie and ESBL on two of my firm’s projects: the Eugene Public Library main branch and the Lane Community College Downtown Campus. There’s no doubt the involvement of Charlie and his staff at ESBL added significantly to the success of both designs.

I don’t have information about when a memorial service for Charlie will take place and whether it will be entirely open to the public. AIA Oregon did say his family and the University of Oregon are putting together a remembrance in his honor and promised to keep us all informed. I’ll update this post when that information is available.

Train Stations of the Amtrak Cascades

I’m in Vancouver, BC once again visiting my immediate family but sadly also to attend a memorial service for an uncle (one of my father’s siblings) who passed away last month. As is now my custom when I travel to and from Vancouver, I made the trip by train, taking advantage of the Amtrak Cascades passenger service. As I mentioned on one of my previous trips, I simply find riding the rails to be the most pleasant way to go—less stress-inducing than driving or flying, and better for the environment. 

The Cascades line links communities along the 467-mile corridor between Eugene and Vancouver. According to Wikipedia, it is Amtrak's eighth-busiest route with a total annual ridership of over 810,000. (1) Train service between Seattle and Portland—which became the core of the Cascades route—was operated as a partnership by the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Union Pacific railways from 1925 to 1970, with the three railroads cross-honoring tickets on their Seattle-Portland routes. When Great Northern and Northern Pacific were folded into the Burlington Northern in 1970, the reconfigured partnership continued to operate the Seattle-Portland service until the creation of Amtrak in 1971. Service between Vancouver, BC and Seattle was provided via the Great Northern/Burlington Northern International, and between Portland and Eugene by Southern Pacific.

Today, there are 18 stops along the Cascades route. The rail companies built the now historic station buildings during the period when rail travel reigned supreme, between the late 1800s and the Great Depression. The buildings in the larger cities—Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver—are suitably grand and centrally located, serving as they did as a hub or terminus for several railroads. Though modest, the smaller stations possess ample character, and were equally anchors around which the towns grew during the first part of the 20^th century. The population of the town and projected ridership typically determined depot size, layout, and construction materials; detailing could be adjusted based on available materials and local preferences.

The point of this blog post is to feature the station buildings along the Cascades route; however, I’ll only describe the ones from Eugene to Seattle, as well as Vancouver’s Pacific Central Station. This is because I typically transfer to a “thruway” bus for the Seattle to Vancouver leg of my trips north and back. Amtrak limits the number of trainsets that travel the full distance, presumably because the demand doesn’t yet exist to warrant extending rail service for every scheduled Cascades run. Unfortunately for me, the scheduling of the trains that do make the full cross-border journey has never been as convenient as I’d prefer.

During this trip north, I came across the Great American Stations website. Amtrak established the Great American Stations project in 2006 to educate communities on the benefits of redeveloping train stations, offer tools to community leaders to preserve their depots, and provide the appropriate Amtrak resources. The website is a treasure trove of information about all the stations Amtrak serves today, regardless of whether they’re majestic and richly embellished or unpretentious and spare of trim. Unless noted otherwise, the images included here all come from Great American Stations. I heavily borrowed from the website’s written descriptions, only lightly paraphrasing or editing as suitable. I encourage you to check out Great American Stations if you’re at all a rail afficionado—it is an essential resource on the subject.

 

Eugene Station

Eugene

Eugene’s brick train station is the third built on the spot: in 1908, with the city booming, local business leaders lobbied Southern Pacific to build the current depot. It is an amalgam of several styles, though primarily consists of simple forms and designed for utility. Its low horizontal appearance, wide eave overhangs, large wooden brackets, tall double-hung windows and diamond-paned dormers are reminiscent of the Craftsman style. The red brick construction and semi-circular bay window facing the track are characteristic of the Richardsonian Romanesque aesthetic. The city and the railroad shared the $40,000 cost of this project. Both the depot and the park that originally surrounded it were part of the City Beautiful movement of the early 20^th century.

Southern Pacific sold the building to the Jenova Land Company in 1993. The city of Eugene bought the depot and the office/bunkhouse in 2003 as part of a plan to develop a regional transportation center, subsequently overseeing a $4.5 million restoration. Workers repaired the exterior brickwork and trim, and gutted and renovated the 5,346-square-foot interior, installing tile floors, oak and fir trim, covered ceilings, new wooden benches and expanded restrooms.

Albany Station

Albany

The Southern Pacific Railroad constructed the masonry Albany station 1909. It is one of the oldest continuously used passenger rail stations in the United States. After purchasing the building in 2003, the City of Albany restored and expanded the facility, removing vacant commercial buildings, installing landscaping, constructing a new parking lot, adding period lighting, and providing a plaza and waiting area. A combination of federal, state, local, and Amtrak funds covered the initial $11.3 million restoration cost. The City rededicated the building on April 18, 2006.

In December of 2006, construction began on a 60-foot clock tower in the center of the roundabout at the depot’s Lyon Street entrance. The tower spells out “Albany” in illuminated letters and features two clocks donated by the Greater Albany Rotary Club.  

Salem Station

Salem

The Southern Pacific Railroad built the Salem station, opening it in 1918 as a replacement for a wood- framed Queen Anne-style depot constructed in 1888. Southern Pacific architect J.H. Christie designed the station, and Stebbinger Brothers of Portland built it for $25,000. The Neoclassical masonry structure conveys the idea of a “gateway to the city” with its double-height Ionic columns framing large, arched Roman windows. The central pavilion dominates with its 1,500 square-foot main waiting room. Originally, smaller wings to both sides housed ticketing, baggage, and a women’s waiting room. Decorative plasterwork, coved corner entries, and terrazzo marble floor patterns add to the elegance of the structure.

Famous visitors to the station included presidents Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding, future presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower, and former President Herbert Hoover. Many of these presidential visits occurred as part of whistle-stop campaigns during which the candidates traveled the country by train.

The 1999 Salem Depot Project—managed by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)—fully rehabilitated the 1918 depot. The project restored ceilings and architectural features, added a black marble ticket counter, and recreated two 30-inch globe chandeliers from drawings of the originals. Federal and State grants funded the $2.6 million renovation project. Later, in preparation for its centennial in 2018, the building received new paint inside and out; through paint analysis, ODOT determined the original color scheme.  

Oregon City Station

Oregon City

The Oregon City station opened on April 16, 2004. It is presently limited to a platform and shelter, though the city plans to move the old Southern Pacific depot building—currently used as offices—to the newer site to use once again as the passenger station.  

Portland Union Station

Portland, lobby view

Portland Union Station

Constructed in 1896, Portland Union Station has been in continuous operation since that time. Though originally built by the Northwest Pacific Terminal Company, the Northern Pacific, Union Pacific, and Southern Pacific railroads jointly owned the facility. The centerpiece of the Romanesque and Queen Anne architecture is the landmark 150-foot-tall tower with its four-sided clock. By 1922, every railroad passenger train serving Portland utilized Union Station. Today, Portland Union Station is situated in an area that boasts a variety of businesses and attractions, making it an ideal arrival and departure point for people interested in what the “’Rose City” has to offer. Portland Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Between 1927 and 1930, the station’s interior received a major redesign. Eliminating an entire mezzanine level expanded the main waiting hall. Italian marble was added to the walls and the floor. Dormers were added to the exterior to permit more natural light to enter the station. In 1948, the blue and gold neon “Go by Train” and “Union Station” lights on the exterior were installed and remain operational today.

In 1987, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) purchased Union Station and 31 acres of former rail yards. A subsequent rehabilitation of the station restored the painted flower patterns of the waiting room’s ornate ceilings, reopened the 1920s era phone booths, and repaired the red metal tile roof. The most recent change in 2003 was the addition of a central plaza at the main entryway containing an island planted with local and native plants. The 2003 project changed access to the station, created a new street, and established a thruway bus boarding area. Union Station has anchored one end of the downtown Portland Transit Mall since 1994.

Vancouver, WA Station

Vancouver, WA

The Northern Pacific Railroad constructed the wood frame Vancouver, WA depot in 1907. It is rather unique in that passengers board north-south bound and east-west bound trains on different sides of the building. Passengers board the Empire Builder on the southeast side of the depot while the Coast Starlightand Amtrak Cascades trains are boarded on the northwest side of the facility.

Partial renovations of this facility were completed in 1988. Work resumed in 2008 when the Vancouver City Council contracted with Skyward Construction of Ridgefield, WA for an interior makeover, including electrical and mechanical upgrades and new finishes. The 2008 restorations repaired the existing wall plaster, refinished the original maple wood flooring, and provided custom-manufactured solid Douglas fir doors. The project also replicated the building’s interior wainscoting, bead board and trim patterns in the style of the early 1900s, down to the mortise & tenon joints.

Kelso-Longview Station

Kelso-Longview

The area that became Kelso, at the western foot of hills where the Cowlitz and Coweeman Rivers meet the Columbia River, was inhabited by people of the Cowlitz Tribe when European settlers arrived in 1855; members of that tribe still reside there today. In 1871-72, the Northern Pacific Railroad came to the Cowlitz Valley and built a short one-track line from Kalama to Commencement Bay that later became part of the transcontinental rail system. This line carried passengers and freight both ways on the east bank of the Cowlitz. At that time, the stop was called Crawfordville. In 1884, Peter Crawford, of Kelso, Scotland, officially founded the town of Kelso. It was a rowdy place at first, catering to local loggers and the lumber mills. In 1886, the Crawford family donated three and a half acres for a station house, and a small wooden structure was built.

The townspeople petitioned the Northern Pacific for a better passenger and freight depot in 1906. The company built the brick passenger and wooden freight depot, and the town held a grand opening reception on February 12, 1912. Although the interior of the building changed several times, the depot continues to serve the public under Amtrak’s banner.

Centralia Station

Centralia
The Northern Pacific Railroad opened Centralia depot in 1912. Spurred by the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad merger, the City of Centralia and the Washington State Department of Transportation (DOT) purchased the depot and began restorations in 1996.

The City hired an architectural firm experienced in historic restoration (Easters and Kittle of Issaquah, WA) to work on the deteriorated building, platform, and parking lot. The proposed improvements included seismic retrofits, HVAC upgrades, fire suppression, enhanced utilities, and better lighting. The first phase of construction consisted mainly of exterior work, and removed four tons of pigeon residue from the attic. Additionally, the project replaced dormers, installed a new tile roof, tuck-pointed the brick, and more.

The subsequent phase restored the interior, providing a new terrazzo floor, stripped and varnished woodwork, polished brass, and new tile. The restoration was completed in April 2002 amid celebrations of Centralia’s first annual Railroad Days event. The total project cost was $4.4 million with funding from the city of Centralia, the Washington State DOT (Rail Branch Division), the Washington State Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation, the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board, the Federal Highway Administration, and Amtrak.   

Centennial Station, Olympia-Lacey

Centennial Station, Olympia-Lacey
During the 1970s and 1980s, Amtrak passengers used a wooden shelter at East Olympia; however, this location was remote, lacked public transportation access, and only offered inadequate parking and no restroom facilities. The Amtrak Depot Committee formed in 1987 to search for a new site for the station, ultimately succeeding in securing the donation of a four-acre parcel in the Olympia suburb of Lacey from Thurston County.

The Amtrak Depot Committee built the Centennial Station in 1992. Architect Harold E. Dalke designed the building, donating his work. Though Dalke’s design for the 2,800 sf facility is reminiscent of a classic railway station, the Centennial Station features modern electronics and airline-style information signage, and monitors the platform and parking facility with video surveillance. It also features energy-conserving construction. The decorative corbels under the eaves, obtained from New Orleans, are 150-years old and made of solid cypress.

The station is currently operated by volunteers under the direction of the Amtrak Depot Committee. This dedicated group staffs the station for all trains, assists passengers with ground transportation, assists elderly and disabled patrons with train boarding and luggage, answers questions and resolves problems for travelers. A Thurston County Sherriff’s Office is also housed in the station.

 

Tacoma (current Amtrak station)

Tacoma Union Station

Photo by Steve Morgan [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

Tacoma Union Station

Rather than describe the current Amtrak facility—a competent albeit uninspiring design—I’m choosing to focus on its predecessor, the much more impressive Tacoma Union Station. Though no longer a working railroad facility, Tacoma Union Station is a particularly fine example of Beaux-Arts architecture, rehabilitated from 1990 to 1992 after its purchase from the Union Pacific Railroad. The building’s focal point—its ninety-foot-high central dome—still stands out on the Tacoma skyline. Clad in copper and adorned with cartouches, the dome rests on a central pavilion with large arched openings on either side. The exterior reinforced concrete is faced with multi-colored red brick set in a Flemish-bond pattern with a limestone base and ornamental detail. The entrance doors, of stained oak with bronze hardware, are recessed within the arch on the western elevation. A large window fills the arch above the doors.

Today, the rotunda houses a collection of glass by renowned Tacoma artist Dale Chihuly. Suspended from the ceiling, a 20-foot blue chandelier hangs, consisting of over 2,700 hand-blown glass globes. The facility is now used, together with nearby wings, as the federal courthouse. The Tacoma Union Passenger Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The station and its surrounding historic district have served as a focus for downtown revitalization since the 1990s.

Tukwila Station

Tukwila

The present Tukwila station was dedicated on February 18, 2015 and is served by Sounder commuter rail, Amtrak Cascades trains, and Sounder Transit and Metro Transit buses. It includes two concrete platforms, covered waiting areas, pedestrian underpass, bus transfer plaza, 390 parking spaces and bicycle storage racks and lockers. Artwork by artist Sheila Klein, incorporating steel, lighting, mirrored panels and shrubbery, creates a beacon for approaching travelers.

The $46 million facility replaces temporary structures that opened in 2000 and remained in use while the cities of Tukwila and Renton determined how a permanent station complex would best fit into long-term transportation and development plans for the area. 

Sound Transit provided most of the funding, but the project also received federal transportation grants. These included $4.6 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds disbursed through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), $1.5 million in FTA Fixed Guideway funds, and $7.4 million from the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program.

Seattle King Street Station

Seattle King Street Station, waiting room

Photo by ZhengZhou [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

King Street Station, Seattle

King Street Station is a crossroads for important downtown neighborhoods, including the Commercial, International, and Stadium districts, as well as world-renowned Pioneer Square. The Great Northern Railway built the station in 1906, replacing an earlier station located on Railroad Avenue (today’s Alaskan Way). Designed by the firm of Reed and Stem of St. Paul, MN, which was later involved with the building of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the station is composed of granite and red brick with terra cotta and cast stone ornamentation.

The building was part of a larger project that moved the railroad main line away from the waterfront and into a 5,245-foot long tunnel under downtown. Inspired by the bell tower of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, the distinctive clock tower is a Seattle landmark; it was the tallest structure in Seattle when it was built. In recognition of its design integrity and important role within local railroad history, the King Street Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Cosmetic renovations and modernization of services began in 2003. New platform and entrance canopies and brass fixtures were installed. Tall windows in the waiting room that were covered over in the 1960s were replaced by new wood frame windows, and now natural light floods the space. The interior makeover included the installation of new mahogany entrance doors and marble cladding, painting, and the restoration of its ornamental plasterwork.

In December of 2006, the Seattle City Council formalized an agreement to purchase the station from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway for $1. Later revised to $10, the City and the railway signed the contract on March 8, 2008. The purchase freed up funds for further restoration, and the city devised a four-phase rehabilitation plan to fully return the station to its original grandeur.

The multi-year station rehabilitation project cost approximately $56 million. Funding largely came through a diverse array of federal transportation grants obtained by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The project received $7.5 million in Bus and Bus Facilities grants from the Federal Transit Administration, $6 million in Transportation Enhancements grants through the Federal Highway Administration, and $16.7 million through the Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program to support the expanded passenger facilities and seismic retrofits. The balance of funding came from voter-backed bonds, the State of Washington, Amtrak, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Pacific Central Station, Vancouver, BC

Pacific Central Station, lobby (my photo)

Pacific Central Station, Vancouver, B.C.
Pacific Central Station is the northern terminus of the Amtrak Cascades route, for both its rail and thruway bus services. It is also the terminus for VIA Rail’s cross-country The Canadian. Designed by Pratt and Ross, the Neoclassical Revival design was completed in 1919 for the Canadian Northern Railway.

In 1993, the station was converted to a multi-modal transportation facility that includes intercity buses; it stands across Thornton Park from the Main Street/Science World Skytrain station. A bus concourse has been added in the rear of the building. Since the Amtrak Cascades crosses the border into the U.S., there is a customs area that passengers must pass through to board the train.

Pacific Central Station was dedicated on November 2, 1919, a day after the first trains began using the station. It was originally named False Creek Station and was designed by the architecture firm Pratt and Ross. The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991.

Amtrak service to the terminal was originally offered on the Pacific International from 1972 to 1981, when it ceased due to budget cuts. Cross-border service returned in 1995 with the introduction of the Mount Baker International, which was later folded into the modern-day Cascades brand.

On November 8, 2010, the Canadian government announced a CA$5.1-million plan to rebuild parts of the station, including refurbishing windows, masonry, and the roof of the building.

*    *    *    *    *    *

I’m hopeful people will increasingly come to appreciate the benefits and appeal of traveling by rail. I’m likewise hopeful train stations will continue to assume a central role in the life of the communities they serve. I’m optimistic, but I expect reliable, high-speed service will soon become the norm along the Amtrak Cascades corridor. When that occurs, the historic stations along the route will be assured of their continued importance, life, and vibrancy.

The Great Depression brought a close to most notable rail depot construction, the golden age of passenger rail travel having passed with the rise of the automobile and airlines. Thankfully, many of the stations from this bygone era remain standing for us to appreciate. The monumental spaces and architectural flourishes of the major buildings still induce craned necks and awe. The simpler, humbler forms of the smaller stations similarly charm new generations of rail travelers. All offer unique opportunities for renewal in cities and towns where prime real estate is scarce. They are pieces of history, treasures we should not lose or forget.

(1)    I'm surprised the number isn't higher; the train is often full during each trip I've taken. 

Architecture on the Frontline of the Culture War

U.S. Capitol Building - photo by Martin Falbisoner [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

The President of the United States wants to make classical Greek and Roman architecture the only state-sanctioned architecture for all future federal buildings, and he wields the power to make it so. Demonstrating again his penchant for chaos, President Trump is set to enact an executive order whose bigly overreach will be impactful to communities across the country. 

Predictably, many architects, architectural pundits, and the American Institute of Architects expressed alarm and outrage, roundly criticizing the proposed executive order as soon as it appeared. The AIA immediately issued a statement, saying it (and by implication its membership) strongly opposes uniform style mandates for federal architecture, averring that architecture should reflect our rich nation’s diverse places, thought, culture, and climates. And of course, it should. The problem is the widespread condemnation plays directly into the President’s hands. 

I suspect outrage from the architectural profession is precisely one response President Trump was hoping for. Whether he actually signs the executive order is now immaterial because simply drafting it has achieved much of the effect he sought. The President’s followers denigrate many of my colleagues in the architecture profession as members of a liberal “cultural elite.” Architects, while not politically homogeneous, do mostly fit the bill, and the AIA’s reflexive (albeit necessary) response to the proposed executive order only serves to sustain the narrative that we are out of touch with average citizens. 

Trump speaks to the resentments that galvanize his supporters. He does this by starkly delineating camps—you’re either with him or you’re not—and deploying a rhetoric of divisiveness. The wording of the executive order is meant to appeal to a specific audience, and only secondarily to a broader population who shares a disaffection for the examples of modern, contemporary architecture that fail to speak to them. For that primary audience, the executive order is yet another coded “dog whistle,” a thinly veiled appeal to those who long for an American culture they understand and relate to, to the exclusion or diminution of others that are not their own. He may not be the “very stable genius” he claims to be, but Trump and his handlers have masterfully harnessed his ego and instincts to nurture disturbing undercurrents.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with classical architecture as a style. A classical design can be as inept, ugly, and dysfunctional as any other building. It can also be astoundingly beautiful and entirely appropriate in the right context. Context aside, the problem with a mandated, state-sanctioned form of classical architecture is its historical connotations, particularly those we associate with fascist regimes. Hitler’s Nazi Germany promoted a variant of neoclassical architecture as an “authentic” expression of German identity. Benito Mussolini favored Rationalist Architecture, a monumental, very much stripped-down style as the official vocabulary of Italy’s National Fascist Party. Trump and others who advocate traditional, classical architecture derived from ancient European precedents as somehow authentically American ominously echo the nativist ideology espoused by some of history’s most notorious dictators. 

In his article for Forbes, Juan Sebastian Pinto nailed it by characterizing the “stylization of politics [as] one of the most dangerous indications of totalitarianism,” and that “if anything should not have a style, it’s the architecture of the American state.” 

As the AIA noted in its plea to its members, design decisions should be left to the designer and the community, not bureaucrats, and not plutocrats in Washington, DC. All architectural styles have value and all communities have the right to weigh in on the government buildings meant to serve them. 

Wayne L. Morse Federal Courthouse - Photo by M.O. Stevens [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

Eugene’s own Wayne Lyman Morse Federal Courthouse would, of course, look much different if its architect had been obliged to design in an overtly classical idiom. While some consider the idiosyncratic courthouse as designed by Thom Mayne of Morphosis to be alien to Eugene, try to imagine a porticoed and pedimented marble edifice of equal size in its place. In my opinion, our federal courthouse is more authentic to Eugene as well as the American identity because it does reflect the freedom of thought and expression that are essential to democracy. 

This blog post is by far my most political to date. I don’t like dipping my foot into these waters, but it bothers me to see architecture weaponized to achieve political ends. It bothers me too to see people so distracted by the paralyzingly partisan and polarized discourse that has replaced informed debate these days. Architecture is important, but the Trump Administration is cynically employing architecture to advance a political agenda and distract us from actions it seeks to hide in plain sight, including a willful and criminal avoidance of its responsibility to address calamitous climate change, social injustices, the provision of affordable health care, and the ticking timebomb that is the federal deficit.

2020 Projects in the Pipeline

Full Gallery Space at Venue 252, January 29, 2020 for the Projects in the Pipeline meeting.

From an attendance perspective, the biggest event on the CSI-Willamette Valley Chapter calendar every year is the annual “Projects in the Pipeline” meeting. The 2020 edition last Wednesday evening was no exception as approximately 90 attendees packed the Gallery Space at Venue 252 in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. They came to hear presentations by representatives of four organizations who are poised to be especially active on the construction front this year: The City of Eugene, Eugene School District 4J, Williams/Dame & Atkins Development, and the University of Oregon. 

City of Eugene 

Representing the City of Eugene was Allie Camp, Development Investment Liaison for the City’s Community Development Division. Allie enumerated the numerous projects the City has on tap, which include the following: 

• Downtown Riverfront Park: Design work for the 3-acre park and 1-acre plaza on the site of the former EWEB maintenance yard is presently nearing completion. 
• Parks and Open Space lighting projects: New lighting is on tap for Alton Baker Park, South Bank Park, and West Bank path.
• Steam Plant: Read my thoughts about the future of the former Steam Plant here. 
• Town Square and City Hall: I’ve shared news about the Town Square project previously. The City selected FFA as the architect for the new City Hall project.
• Railroad Quiet Zone: Safety improvements and upgrades at train crossings have been in the works for a while and are now primed to occur this year.
  
• Pavement preservation projects: A total of 19 paving projects are scheduled to occur this year: 8 reconstructs and 11 overlays, with associated bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements.

Eugene School District 4J

District 4J’s Capital Improvement Program Manager, Carole Knapel, provided a status update for the various projects funded by the voter-supported 2018 bond measure:

• North Eugene High School: The $90 million project will result in a new home for North Eugene High School. It will be built where the building shared by Silver Lea/Corridor Elementary School and the Japanese-immersion school, Yujin Gakuen, presently sits. The District is relocating Yujin Gakuen to a portion of nearby Kelly Middle School, while Corridor will occupy a renovated wing of the current North Eugene High School, which will remain for this and other uses to be determined. Bidding for the contract to renovate NEHS to accommodate the relocated Corridor Elementary School will occur next month, with construction scheduled for this coming summer. The renovations at Kelly Middle School will likewise be bid in March with the work executed during the summer break. Rowell Brokaw Architects and Opsis Architecture are designing the new North Eugene High School, and selection of the construction manager/general contractor is in progress. Read more about the project here.
• Edison Elementary School: Now in design development, the $28 million project for a new Edison Elementary School will replace the historic but seriously deficient existing facility. My firm—Robertson/Sherwood/Architects—has teamed with Mahlum Architects to design the new building. John Hyland Construction is the construction manager/general contractor. Preliminary utility work, asbestos abatement, and demolition will begin this summer. Edison’s students will occupy the Willard Swing School while Hyland constructs the new building.
• Camas Ridge Elementary School: The third of the new building projects funded by the 2018 bond issue, the $26 million new Camas Ridge Elementary School, is not yet in design. 4J will issue the design services RFP this fall, and the CM/GC solicitation will follow next winter. 
• Gilham Elementary School Expansion: $6.5 million – Design RFP Spring 2020; CM/GC RFP early Sumer 2020 (new classroom neighborhood, new flex spaces, kindergarten classrooms remodel, new fencing, new ancillary gymnasium

Eugene Riverfront Development 
Jim Atkins, principal with Williams/Dame &Atkins Development (WDA), provided a detailed accounting of his firm’s plans for the much-anticipated Eugene Riverfront development. The proposed mix of uses will include market-rate housing, affordable housing, commercial businesses, restaurants, hotel, and open space. WDA plans to partner with affordable housing provider for development of no fewer than 75 affordable housing units (rent affordable for households at or below 60% of the area median income). Additionally, WDA will construct/operate a new public open space under the viaduct.

WDA and the City of Eugene will split the cost of installing the new neighborhood’s infrastructure. The development promises to create short and long-term jobs and generate new tax revenues that will benefit everyone in Eugene.

WDA will build the project in phases, in Jim’s words “organically and at the right pace,” with ultimate completion years from now. A key to the project’s success will be attracting people to live downtown. Jim believes the site’s unparalleled setting and the right mix of amenities will sell themselves, and he’s probably right. If all goes to plan, key elements of the development will be completed in time for the World Track and Field Championships in August 2021. 

University of Oregon 
The current construction boom on the University of Oregon campus is literally transforming the campus in remarkable ways. Darin Dehle, Director of Design & Construction for the university, provided a lengthy and detailed list of the various projects currently in progress, including those nearing completion, under construction, or in the planning stages: 

Projects scheduled completion in 2020:

• Klamath Third Floor Renovation – Renovated area approximately 25,000 sf; budget $22.9 million. Completion Fall 2020; the initial phase is already occupied. 
• Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Development – As I wrote when the project was unveiled, the Knight Campus will dramatically reshape the stretch of Franklin Boulevard it will front and herald the future transformation of the university’s presence along that heavily-traveled corridor. New building area approximately 173,600 sf); budget $213.5 million. Completion scheduled for July 2020 with initial occupancy in June.
• Millrace Drive Parking Garage (part of the Knight Campus project) – New 196,455 sf building; project budget is $22.5 million and project completion will occur in June 2020.
• University Health & Counseling Center Addition and Renovation – New 24,700 sf addition and 15,000 sf of renovated area. Project budget is $18.8 million, with completion projected to occur in April of this year. The addition was occupied last September. 
• Matthew Knight Arena Addition (coaches’ offices) – Under construction; target completion September 2020.

Projects going into construction during 2020: 

• PLC, Museum of Art reroofing
• Friendly Hall Elevator Installation
• Baker Downtown Center Freight Elevator
• Klamath Hall Standby Power upgrade
• Friendly Hall interior modifications
• Zebrafish Facility Expansion (CM/GC)
• Huestis Hall Renovation (CM/GC)
• Oregon Acoustic Research Labs (design-build)
• Housing Transformation Project (subcontractor bidding)

Systems Upgrade & Improvement Projects: 

• Potential mechanical projects: Baker Downtown Center, Pacific Hall North Wing
• Exterior repairs: Condon Hall Window Replacement
• Potential electrical projects: Willamette Hall Generator Replacement, various automatic transfer switches
• Chilled water storage tank
• Electrical infrastructure redundancy upgrades

Potential 2020 Projects: 

• Huestis Hall Renovation
• Knight Campus Phase 2

10-Year Capital Plan:

• Continued look at deferred maintenance
• Heritage projects: Deady Hall and Villard Hall (historic upgrade, systems replacements and improvements)
• Condon Hall renovation
• Hendricks Hall renovation

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People mostly attend the Projects in the Pipeline meeting to learn about what’s happening in the local design & construction sector and the prospects for grabbing a piece of the action. If the reports from our speakers were any indication, 2020 promises there will be plenty to go around.