Streateries & Food Cart Pods

Claim 52 has extra outdoor seating thanks to the City of Eugene's streatery program (photo from the City of Eugene's Streatery Program web page)

The recent, unfortunate upsurge in COVID-19 cases here in Lane County once again threatens the viability of the local food services industry. Many restaurants and bars fell in the wake of 2020’s initial lockdowns. Others survived but have struggled to adapt under shifting public health guidelines and mandates. 

To its credit, the City of Eugene enacted (and recently extended) a temporary “Streatery” permit program at the outset of the pandemic, which allows café seating in the public right-of-way. With a permit, restaurants can expand their serving areas onto sidewalks and on-street parking spaces, facilitating social distancing in open-air settings. City planners have likewise supported growth of the local food cart scene, thereby providing foodies with a wider selection of COVID-friendly dining options. Both initiatives belie a level of flexibility we don’t normally associate with rule-happy city regulators. 

Streateries in Eugene include one located on Broadway between Olive and Willamette, and another on Fifth Avenue between High and Pearl streets. Both involve the complete closure of those sections of roadway to vehicular traffic. The outdoor seating opportunities provided by the participating restaurants and bars have proven popular, being well-used when the weather cooperates. The extra room compensates for the mandated indoor seating reductions. Masks are currently required in the streateries, but may be removed while seated at your table, as you eat or drink. 

Looking ahead, it’s easy to imagine streateries becoming permanent fixtures in our cities. Like “parklets,” streateries reflect a growing appreciation for the social benefits of recasting our streets as pedestrian-first environments, which include the opportunity to see and be seen, play a role in the urban theater, and simply live la dolce vita. 

The explosive growth of food cart pods in Portland in recent decades has been a phenomenon, contributing in no small part to the Rose City’s reputation as a woke, hipster haven. Portland is home to many hundreds of food carts, mostly clustered into pods scattered about the city. Eugene has followed suit, with several small food cart pods springing up in recent years, bringing added vibrancy and color to our increasingly distinctive neighborhoods. Characterized by their diversity and artisanal sophistication, Eugene’s street food entrepreneurs add considerable flavor to the public realm, both literally and figuratively. 

Friendly Garden food cart pod (my photo)

Food cart pods in Eugene are located at the Beergarden, by Oakshire Brewing, and at 3rd and Van Buren in the Whiteaker neighborhood. You’ll find the Graffiti Alley Food Truck Pod on River Road, and the Friendly Garden is a popular attraction on Friendly Street near W. 28th Avenue. Downtown Eugene is home to the Kesey Square Food Truck Pod, another pod at 8th & Olive, and of course food carts have been a decades-long fixture at the Saturday Market. 

While some may disagree, I find considerable aesthetic appeal in the ad-hoc, favela chic of typical food cart pods. They may appear improvisational and shabby, but their vitality is undeniable. Each cluster is refreshingly unique; there’s nothing about them one can possibly associate with placeless and polished brick & mortar restaurant chains. Invariably, food cart pods are a treat for the senses—colorful, aromatic, and vibrant—a far sight better than the enervating blight of surface parking lots they often stake claim to. 

3rd & Van Buren food cart pod (my photo)

The long-term, post-COVID socio-environmental and urban design implications of streateries and food cart pods merit study. There is increasing evidence pandemic-resilient urban strategies will permanently reshape our cities. Among these strategies, maximizing the potential of the public realm to be multifunctional, flexible, and adaptive is key. COVID-19 has spurred increased programming and repurposing of streets as streateries and parking lots as food cart pods, with results that demonstrate resilience and the ability to improvise during an emergency. Time will tell whether the pandemic will also bequeath a legacy dedicated to prioritizing the urban realm for pedestrians rather than vehicles. 

Every dark cloud has a silver lining. The availability of streateries and the proliferation of food cart pods as dining options during these uncertain times are consequences I think we can all relish.

Reopening the Office

 

Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash.

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter and brighter as the country cautiously emerges from life during a pandemic. The past year-plus has seemingly passed in the blink of an eye and yet been interminable. It has been tragic, and at once both memorable and forgettable. There is a sense of lost time, of lives placed on hold, and of opportunities forever missed. COVID-19 upended everything, necessarily placing strict limits on our behavior. For those of us fortunate enough to keep our jobs throughout this period, the disruptions have been a reason to rethink how we work. They have prompted questions regarding whether white-collar workplaces should change in response. 

My firm, Robertson/Sherwood/Architects, returned to in-office work on June 1. Prior to doing so, we disseminated guidelines to our staff based on the recommendations of state and local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These recommendations include measures intended to foster a clean and safe work setting, such as requiring employees to self-assess for potential signs and symptoms of coronavirus infection (regardless of the fact all of us are fully vaccinated) and discouraging in-office meetings with non-vaccinated clients and guests. 

Our guidelines do support continued remote work depending on personal needs. When it may make sense for me, I can choose to do so.   

The first two weeks since returning to the office have gone well. There has been a remarkable sense of normalcy about our day-to-day interaction and activities. In many respects, it is as if our banishment to working from home never happened. Was it all just a dream? 

I did have mixed feelings about transitioning back to days in the office. I found remote-working effective. I was unexpectedly productive. Connecting only virtually with my coworkers and other project collaborators was not a significant hinderance. My wife, who retired several years ago, certainly enjoyed my company throughout the day. If it were entirely up to her, I would continue to work from home, at least for part of the week or each day. 

On the other hand, my professional life had taken over my personal territory and time. The absence of structure and routine during my workdays hampered my ability to effectively manage my work-induced stress and anxiety. Looking back, it’s clear I failed to adequately set boundaries between work and life. If my computer was on and available, I was too—an unhealthy recipe for burnout. 

Since returning to the office my level of stress and anxiety has markedly lessened. Not so coincidentally, the persistent headaches that tormented me for months have largely abated since reestablishing the workday routine and clearly separating work from home life. The importance of that separation wasn’t clear to me before, but it is now.    

I am fortunate to live close enough to our office that heading home for lunch to visit my wife is a practical possibility, so this is part of my daily routine. Admittedly, these visits are rushed but physically leaving the office provides a useful break and opportunity for a mid-day mental reboot. 

Earlier this year I questioned whether COVID-19 has really changed the future of the office. I postulated the pandemic may have pushed us past a tipping point and the future of the office could be radically unlike what it was before. While many employers are eager to get their employees back on-site full-time, it is true a substantial number of others are considering extending remote work indefinitely or the possibility of shifting to a hybrid model combining in-person and at-home work. This latter group includes some of our clients, who have asked us to help them reimagine their offices as flexible environments capable of supporting a wide range of working preferences (such as hoteling and hot-desking). One thing is certain: the cat is most definitely out of the bag.   

If the early returns are any indication, Robertson/Sherwood/Architects will be among those employers who primarily embrace working in-office as opposed to collaborating virtually (while not precluding remote work). Given our current projects examining alternative work arrangements and my musings on the subject, there is some irony in our preference for doing things the old-fashioned way. Each business will come to its own conclusion about what makes the most sense, operationally and for its employees. Somewhat to my surprise, I think our choice to favor working together in our physical office is the right one for us.

 

Silver Linings

It may take us some time to fully assess the socioeconomic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many sectors of the economy have clearly suffered—the virus has been particularly cruel to the personal services, restaurant, tourism, and entertainment industries—but others have fared remarkably well.  Based more on my own observations and anecdotal experience than facts I can point to, it does seem design & construction activity in Lane County has been surprisingly robust. Indeed, if the shortages of skilled construction labor and high levels of bidding activity we are seeing are any indication, a combination of restarting and new projects continue to push a hot market to its limits. 

Much of the activity is associated with developments that were already in the pipeline when the COVID-19 outbreak first occurred. Last summer, I wrote about some of these “essential” projects and how things were continuing to plug along despite an overriding fear and uncertainty about the future. Since that post, I reported on the completion of The Market Expansion and the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Today, I’ll provide an update on another recently completed one of those projects, plus describe the current status of two of the new Eugene School District 4J schools funded by the 2018 school bond measure. 

The Midtown

The Midtown (still from Eugene Ballet Building Tour video)

One of the spacious new dance studios (still from Eugene Ballet Building Tour video)

The Midtown is newly finished, and stands as an outstanding example of a creative, mixed-use development. Maybe it’s just me, but the elapsed time from its inception though completion seemed much longer than might normally be expected for a project of this type. No matter, the wait certainly appears to have been worth it. In its completed form, The Midtown fulfills the vision of the developer (a team that included ADH Development, LLC, Paradigm Properties, and the Eugene Ballet) and its designers (Dustrud Architecture) Its presence injects vibrancy and will attract complementary developments to Eugene’s blossoming “Midtown” district. 

Despite being 7-stories in height (the residences on the upper floors commanding some outstanding views) and built to fill the entirety of its quarter-block site, I don’t find The Midtown to be an oppressive presence when viewed from Pearl Street or 16^th Avenue. Admirably simple in form, it possesses just the right amount of variation in color, scale, and detail. It is a background building, belying its importance as a hub for nonprofit arts groups. As I declared a couple of years ago, Eugene can well afford more buildings of its type, ones that comprise the urban fabric, shape the public realm, and collectively define the character of the community.(1)

Check out the Eugene Ballet Building tour below. The new home for the EB and the Eugene Ballet Academy is a dream come true for both groups: large, lofty studio spaces, capacious storage and set preparation rooms, and state-of-the-art video teleconferencing and recording facilities (permitting “visiting” choreographers to work with the dancers virtually) will allow them to fully realize their potential. 

Eugene Ballet Building Tour (experienceballet.org)

North Eugene High School

Aerial view of the proposed North Eugene High School

View of proposed Commons

Construction of the new North Eugene High School will soon be underway in earnest on the site of the former Corridor Elementary/Yujin Gakuen Elementary School. The design by Rowell Brokaw Architects and Opsis Architecture features a centralized building layout intended to strengthen the sense of school community and aid in wayfinding and security, while also providing quality usable outdoor spaces. Overall, the 2-story scheme seems remarkably compact for a facility capable of accommodating an enrollment of up to 1,200 students. As is the trend today with the design of high schools, the architects were attentive not only to creating an efficient and cost-effective solution, but also to developing a positive community asset that minimizes impacts upon neighbors, features clear site circulation, and provides a safe, inclusive, and sustainable setting for education. Additionally, the new school will be capable of serving as an emergency shelter in the event of a natural disaster, with key areas built to an upgraded seismic standard among other resiliency upgrades. 

Lease Crutcher Lewis is the construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC) for the project. The new North Eugene High School will be ready to open its doors in fall 2023. 

Virtual Tour of North Eugene High School on Vimeo 

Camas Ridge Elementary School 

Aerial view of the proposed Camas Ridge Elementary School

Site Plan

I attended a virtual open house this past Wednesday evening to learn about the design of the new Camas Ridge Elementary School. Organized by District 4J and presented by members of the PIVOT Architecture deign team, the well-attended event presented both an update on the project’s progress and breakout sessions allowing participants to ask questions and provide feedback. 

This update was the second opportunity for the public to help inform the design effort. I did not attend the earlier design meeting, so I was eager to learn about the new Camas Ridge and compare its public engagement process with that employed by the Edison Elementary School project (which I was thoroughly familiar with as a part of the Edison design team). 

Presently, the Camas Ridge project is in the Design Development phase. PIVOT’s response to the specifics of the project—the educational specifications, its site, and the available budget—appears straightforward. The building will straddle its full block from north to south, while the associated outdoor spaces will terrace downward from the namesake ridge planted with camas along University Street to the school’s parking lot fronting the building, then to a zone of hardscape play areas on the west side of the proposed building, and finally to a level, grass-covered field accessed through a planted berm on its east flank. 29th Avenue will accommodate school bus drop-off and pick-up, segregating this traffic from parents’ vehicles. The two-story plan organizes classroom clusters, the cafeteria, gymnasium, media center, administrative offices in eminently logical fashion.

Construction work at the Camas Ridge site will begin in summer 2022 and the new building will open in fall 2024.  

 *     *     *     *    *

The pandemic has been devastating, but for those of us in the design & construction industries there have been silver linings. Architects, engineers, and builders have been busy. Will our good fortune continue? Perhaps. Many factors are in play, including pent-up demand, continued low interest rates, and the infrastructure stimulus plan. We’re not likely to entirely return to life as we knew it B.C. (before COVID). Undoubtedly, the success of future projects will rely in part upon a recalibration of what the marketplace and our communities demand. Possible trends may include an increased desire for flexible environments, more space for people (facilitating social distancing when necessary), repurposing of surplus office space for new uses that add value to our communities (think affordable and alternative housing options), and the development of pedestrian, parklet, and patio experiences in our outdoor public spaces.

Like we have in the past, we have learned and evolved when confronted by unexpected challenges, and we will do so again.   

(1)    The subject of my 2019 post was 5-over-1 buildings, whereas The Midtown is creatively comprised of 5 stories of wood-framed construction over a 2-story concrete podium.

 

Virtual Team Bonding

Photo by Meritt Thomas on Unsplash

It’s hard to believe it has almost been a full year since COVID-19 upended our lives. Most of us in the architectural profession have spent our working hours at home, safely social distancing and doing our part to control the spread of the virus. We are tethered to our offices electronically, collaborating virtually, and sustaining an impressive level of productivity. The fact we can function so effectively despite a crippling pandemic would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. 

From a business perspective, the obvious downsides of the “new normal” include the inability of coworkers to interact spontaneously, the challenge of sustaining rapport and trust, and generally being present and immersed in the office culture. Pundits have written volumes about the importance of maintaining engagement and bonds between colleagues during this time. Ideally, these connections between team members not only ensure work gets done but also boost morale and alleviate stress. 

Before COVID, the end-of-the-workweek “happy hour” provided one way for employees to unwind, connect in a setting outside of the office, and let their hair down. My office was no exception. We regularly partook in “Beer-Thirty.” Our custom was to call for “pencils down” at 4:30 each Friday, whereupon we would head off to one of the local watering holes for drinks and non-work conversations. The routine was our reward for working our butts off during the preceding week—a pleasant way to downshift and ease into the weekend. Some of the bonds we forged over the years are undoubtedly a product of our Beer-Thirty gatherings. 

Of course, under Lane County’s coronavirus restrictions happy hour cannot be the same as it was b.c. (before COVID). From the start, many businesses programmed virtual engagement activities to compensate for the loss of traditional morale-boosting practices, such as the office happy hour. My guess is these actions have proven especially useful for larger companies, where getting to know your workmates always required effort but even more so now. In a small, ten-person firm such as mine, camaraderie and confidence in one another are much easier to cultivate. It helps tremendously that most of us have worked together for many years. We know each other almost as well as we do our own families. 

So, what has Robertson/Sherwood/Architects done to stand in for our Beer-Thirty tradition? Despite the wisdom associated with purposefully nurturing our office culture (regardless of how well we know one another) we have done much too little. We did enjoy a very pleasant and successful virtual Holiday Party in December, which included participation by spouses, significant others, and some employees’ children; however, until this past week we had not scheduled additional group activities intended to reinforce our bonds as a team. 

Perhaps it should not be surprising that it would be our newest employee, Romina Rodriguez, who floated the idea of a virtual happy hour centered around party video games. We hired Romina in October—after the lockdown—so we have only gotten to know her virtually so far. This past Friday, she introduced everyone at RSA to the Jackbox Party Pack, which is a series of games played simultaneously on digital platforms by up to eight players (additional participants can watch the game through streaming media services). She surmised correctly that we had been neglecting the importance of social contact and the opportunity to have fun together. 

Romina had us play three games from the party pack: Fibbage, Guesspionage, and Quiplash. All three were highly entertaining, with hilarity in plentiful supply. Scoring is tracked automatically, allowing everyone to focus on playing the games. Apparently, I’m an apt initiate because I came out on top twice, winning soundly at both Fibbage and Quiplash. 

I used my desktop PC/laptop to play, but Jackbox games are also optimized for gaming consoles such as Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and even streaming devices like Apple TV or Amazon Fire. According to Wikipedia, Jackbox Games witnessed its sales jump up 1,000% in just the first three months of the pandemic shutdown, and its user base doubling from 100 million players in 2019 to 200 million by October 2020. It’s easy to understand the popularity of Jackbox now that I have played a few of the selections from its party pack. 

Playing Fibbage. Apparently I can't spell my own name correctly

Games are a fundamental way humans interact. They bring us together, offer immediate rewards, and encourage playful competition. They can also inspire out-of-the-box thinking and promote collaborative thinking. Importantly, they help foster a fun workplace and healthy connections between staff. The strength of a team’s bonds translates directly to improved performance. 

As distribution of vaccines becomes more widespread, there is a light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel. Until the world achieves herd immunity, everyone in our office will make a concerted effort to seek out and enjoy each other’s company, if only virtually. Team bonding is a critical ingredient for any organization but is especially so in the creative culture of architecture.

 

Has COVID-19 Really Changed the Future of the Office?

Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Notwithstanding the current uncertainties surrounding the rollout of the coronavirus vaccines and their slower-than-expected distribution, employers fortunate enough to have sustained their businesses during the pandemic are eyeing the future with a cautious optimism. For many companies whose primary working environment is the office, this optimism has been accompanied by reconsideration of the role of the traditional workplace. Has COVID-19 really changed the future of the office? Will we return to business as usual or has the pandemic pushed us past a tipping point that futurists have long predicted, one wherein the shared workplace becomes radically unlike what we’ve known before?

My firm has yet to confront these issues directly, but we will undoubtedly do so in the coming months. Most of our staff have been working from home since the enactment of the State-mandated workplace restrictions. I can’t claim to be speaking on behalf of my coworkers regarding how they’ve fared on a personal level since last March, but I do believe there has been little if any drop-off in our ability to serve our clients. I know I’ve been as productive as ever and probably more focused while working remotely when compared to my ability to perform while in the office. For me at least, remote work is effective and attractive for several reasons.

Foremost for me is my increased productivity and performance. Interruptions are fewer. For better or worse, I don’t engage in as many spur-of-the-moment meetings, and the video conferences I do participate in tend to be more focused and efficient. My workspace here at home is a separate room, so quiet is easy to come by. And as I mentioned previously, my VPN connection to the Robertson/Sherwood/Architects server and my new desktop workstation in the RSA office works well. I’ve added improvements here at home, including my powerful Lenovo Thinkpad laptop and the LED panel light (for video conferencing) I recently purchased. I still need a new, more ergonomic chair, but overall my home setup has served me very well.

Another benefit is the opportunity to interact with my wife throughout the day. She’s retired but busies herself with her hobbies. Before COVID, I typically would run home for lunch each day to spend time with her, but that always seemed rushed. We can now chat spontaneously whenever I get up for a break to stretch and give my eyes a rest. If good weather favors us and the mood strikes, we can choose to go for a walk together in the neighborhood for some exercise. Such opportunities didn’t exist when I spent my all-too-frequent ten-plus hours of the day at the office. Work and life are in better balance now, thanks to the flexibility working from home affords.

Working from home also means not wasting time commuting to our office downtown. Granted, my commute is/was quick by most measures, being only 2.5 miles or about ten minutes long with traffic each way. Regardless, that meant commuting consumed forty minutes of each workday, including the time I would drive to home and back for lunch. Additionally, the necessity of social distancing has strictly limited the number of face-to-face meetings with clients or contractors—these are now mostly confined to project site visits—further reducing the amount of my time behind the wheel and the wear and tear on my car, not to mention my contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. (1)

The most obvious shortcoming of the current situation is the toll it takes upon camaraderie and our feeling of being a cohesive team. Ensuring our collaborative work culture remains strong and intact is thus a priority. Whether we’re adequately addressing this need is an open question. Teamwork and collaboration are essential to the practice of architecture, as are spontaneous interactions and impromptu conversations.

The problem is particularly acute when it comes to onboarding a new employee, especially if he or she is relatively new to the profession. We brought on a new hire last fall, and she’s been a quick learner and great to work with. We do owe it to her to do everything we can to nurture her sense of belonging with Robertson/Sherwood/Architects. It’s in our best interest to check in with her regularly and provide continuing and regular opportunities for her to learn from the experience of everyone on our team.     

Sometime later this year after administration of vaccinations is widespread and the worst of the pandemic is behind us, working remotely will transition from being a necessity to a choice. Many companies may be eager to get their employees back on-site full-time, but many others may consider the possibility of shifting to a new hybrid model combining in-person and at-home work. According to a Gallup poll from last October, two-thirds of U.S. workers who have been working remotely during the pandemic would like to continue to do so. Of this number, 35% simply prefer working from home, regardless of the presence of a deadly virus. The new normal post-COVID will likely be one in which many employees will enjoy at least some flexibility with their work arrangements.

Conference Room design, post-COVID; click to enlarge (image from Steelcase.com)

A shift toward such flexibility has significant implications for the future of commercial offices. Initially, I believed these would include a lessened demand for new office space and cancellation of some projects currently in the pipeline because businesses envision staff continuing to work from home, even if only part-time. I imagined hot-desking and hoteling strategies wherein employees are not permanently assigned workstations or private offices gaining traction. Having since read several recent articles on the topic of the post-COVID-19 workplace, I now am of the opinion the need for central workplaces will not disappear anytime soon. Why? Even if fewer staff return to the office full-time, they will be spaced farther apart in response to what we now know about how infections are spread. So, a smaller number of employees may still occupy the same amount of space or require even more to maintain a safe personal distance.

As for the design of new office buildings, they are likely to incorporate wider corridors, advanced air filtration systems, an increased reliance on natural ventilation, occupancy maximums on elevators, touchless controls, and directional signage within common areas and office spaces.  

Though the demand for office space may not lessen, the reduced workday population in our cities will adversely impact the businesses that provide office workers with convenient goods and services, notably nearby restaurants and food carts. I can’t predict the other long-term implications, but I suspect the shakeout will not end simply with the retreat of the coronavirus.

Robertson/Sherwood/Architects’ current office space is long and narrow, and our workstations are adequately separated so we can maintain social distancing. We can also open windows to invite fresh air though our suite, and the majority of our “high-touch” surfaces can easily be sanitized. We have entertained the idea of finding ourselves a new office, one which showcases our design sensibility and cranks up our abilities a notch. If we do eventually move (or remodel our existing space), we’ll certainly think in terms of how the way we work is evolving and implement post-COVD measures that underscore the importance of feeling healthy and safe. Crucially, I expect we would focus on creating an office environment that reflects who we are. In this respect, our office would serve first and foremost as our cultural hub, essential to instilling a shared sense of identity. As our firm transitions to a new generation of leadership, clearing defining that identity will be critical.  

Despite the fact many of us enjoy working from home, the bottom line is we do also miss seeing each other in the office. As this linked article from Steelcase puts it so aptly, we miss “the intrinsic human experience of working together—face-to-face—in spaces that were designed specifically to foster the creativity, agility, and innovation that organizations need to be truly productive and grow.”

COVID-19 has been our wakeup call; we’re shaken by the realization that future pandemics are inevitable. The lesson we have learned is their deadly toll may be kept in check if we obey science and implement sound principles aimed at controlling the spread of pathogens. The pandemic has accelerated the evolution of our places of work toward a new paradigm. By separating us, COVID-19 has ironically compelled us to think deeply about why teamwork is so important. Coming together in the workplace to socialize and collaborate is the greatest purpose our shared offices fulfill.

(1)    According to numerous sources, the dramatic reduction in vehicle trips upon enactment of the lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders resulted in markedly reduced levels of air pollution attributable to a reduction in workers commuting (here’s a CNN report from last April). Since then, pollution has surged as cities around the world push to reopen even in the face of new, more virulent strains of the virus.

The Complex Effects of COVID-19 on Cities

Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash

 

Before COVID-19, most people couldn’t imagine how the outbreak would upend our lives. For many around the world, the pandemic has been horrific. They watched loved ones die or become debilitated by the virus or fell ill themselves. Others lost their jobs or suffered reductions in their hours of work and levels of income. Overall, the wide-ranging effects of the public health threat have been devastating, with unprecedented, adverse social and economic consequences. These effects include their influence upon the future of our urban environments.

 

This past spring, everyone adjusted as governments enacted lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders. Many were fortunate to continue working, albeit from home. One immediate result was a dramatic reduction in the number of vehicle trips in large population centers around the country. The Eugene-Springfield metro area was no exception. Traffic congestion during peak hours disappeared overnight, as did visible smog and air pollution. Our streets were cleaner, quieter, and safer.  

 

Perhaps, we thought, COVID-19 harbored a silver lining. Notable urbanists regarded the upheaval wrought by the SARS-CoV-2 virus as an opening for greater prioritization of paradigm-shifting policies favoring walking, biking and transit, and high-quality public realms. Perhaps, finally, everyone would open their eyes to the benefits of decreased reliance upon the automobile and the value of walkable, mixed-use developments. Perhaps real, rapid, and lasting changes would occur.

 

The reality is people reverted to their previous driving habits as the economy cautiously reopened through the course of the summer. If anything, some who had relied upon riding LTD buses or ridesharing for their daily commutes chose to use their cars instead out of fear of interacting with potentially infected individuals. Though my observations are purely anecdotal, I believe the volume of traffic on our streets has been on the upswing since early summer and is approaching pre-COVID-19 levels. More objectively, ODOT maintains statistics for observed statewide traffic on Oregon’s highways. While the statewide weekday average traffic volumes this past March were reduced by as much as 43% compared to the year before, as of late-August the average weekday reduction was only 9%.

 

In response to the virus, the Lane Transit District suspended collecting fares from riders to eliminate lingering between them and the drivers. To further lessen person-to-person exposure, riders enter the buses through the rear doors. Those measures notwithstanding, LTD also reduced service by eliminating some routes and cutting frequency along others to minimize its losses.

 

The pandemic will eventually be behind us; however, bus ridership may take years to rebound, if ever. This would be an unfortunate outcome of the systemic shock delivered by COVID-19. Even if the virus’s days are numbered, it may have essentially hampered future prioritization of funding for improvements to public transit infrastructure, such as further expansion of LTD’s EmX bus rapid transit network.

 

While public transit may be destined to suffer a lingering impact, it’s likely many companies will continue to accept or favor working-from-home by their employees, or at least allow more flexible work arrangements combining telecommuting with in-office days and staggered work times. Many of us able to work remotely have enjoyed positive experiences. A continued change in our work behaviors will influence the morphology of our cities (i.e. a move away from continued concentration of office space in downtown cores). Despite the current uptick in daily vehicle trips, it’s conceivable there will be a lessening in traffic as a shift toward a new and different “normal” for office work continues to evolve. It could be a future of car-dependency isn’t our fate and that “15-minute neighborhoods” and hyper-localization may be.

 

We’re only beginning to imagine the far-reaching effects of the pandemic. It has demonstrated how truly precarious an illusion of balance and normalcy is for something as complex and dynamic as an entire city, to say nothing of our entire civilization. Emergence within a complex system means it exhibits aggregate properties that are more than the sum of its constituent elements (thus looking for comprehensive solutions through a limited and singularly focused lens will always be fruitless). A complex system exhibits self-organization, non-linear dynamics, with each level within a given system following its own rules. The effect of interventions on outcomes in a complex system—let alone the force of something as disruptive as a pandemic—is largely unpredictable.

 

Though cities are big and complex, they are orders of magnitude more granular and adaptive than countries. In her prescient book Cities and the Wealth of Nations, Jane Jacobs posited that cities are the most active and important economic entities. Ample evidence increasingly supports her thesis. The Global Mayors COVID-19 Recovery Task Force regards cities as the “engines of the recovery,” believing investing in their resilience is the best way to avoid economic disaster. That said, returning to business as usual is not in the cards, especially as the urgency of addressing accelerating climate change and its ominous cascade of effects continues to mount. Cities are more apt than nations to effectively evolve and acclimatize (pardon the pun) to rapid changes in our environment.

 

COVID-19 has pushed us out of whatever comfort zones we occupied before its unwelcome visit. Moving forward, we will need to gauge our behaviors in response to what it has loosed upon us. How Eugene and Springfield adapt will be a function of how well the implicit rules that govern their ongoing progression toward desired future states perform in response to emerging system properties. Because so much of this cannot be foreseen, the key for planners and urbanists is to develop a practical understanding of the non-linear dynamics that lie beneath all complex systems. Doing so at a very basic, local level offers me some hope for the future we all will share.

Melancholy

Melancholy of a Beautiful Day, by Giorgio de Chirico (1913)

My fear of potentially contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus—fueled by unremitting media coverage of the pandemic and my own paranoia—is taking a toll, though it isn’t yet debilitating. Many would consider my overwrought concern to be unwarranted given the low numbers of COVID-19 cases here in Lane County, and I can’t entirely disagree. Still, an unwelcome and unhealthy level of visceral anxiety buzzes persistently under my skin. 

During a recent Zoom meeting, I tried to articulate the nature of my unease and realized how much it is tinged by a melancholy having little to do with the virus. This melancholy is not symptomatic of clinical depression nor does it reflect undue concern about the long-term prospects for my office(1); instead, it is equal parts a product of everything happening in the world today and also a reckoning of what I should consider important personally and professionally. Isolation does promote a measure of detachment and self-reflection. Where should I direct my attention during the time I have left? 

The late Aldo Rossi, a Pritzker Prize laureate (1990), imbued his architecture and his observations of the city with a sense of “immense sadness and the weight of history.” This translated to his belief that cities and buildings fundamentally serve as the collective memory of its people. In Rossi’s words, the city is the locus of the collective memory and that memory becomes the guiding thread of the entire, complex urban structure. Ideologically, Rossi was a post-modernist. Contrary to the “form follows function” tenet of the modernists, he asserted the autonomy of architecture wherein its meaning inhered in its irreducible, universal, typological forms. Thus, buildings are “towers” or “arcades” or “basilicas” rather than the uses to which they are put. The typologies of the forms are independent and constant and not entirely shaped by the functions people assign to them. 

For Rossi, the key was studying the city as an aggregation of monuments constructed over time. He strove to create structures immune to obsolescence—in effect, timeless architecture. The impetus of elemental typologies compelled Rossi to create drawings and design his buildings in a brooding, enigmatic manner reminiscent of the metaphysical art of Giorgio de Chirico. Common to Rossi’s architecture and de Chirico’s paintings are an overwhelming sense of melancholy born of memories one has but cannot entirely recall. Rossi’s 1979 Teatro del Mondo is a particularly evocative example of his work and this effect.(2) The building is hauntingly familiar and dreamlike. You’ve seen it before, but where and when? 

The Teatro del Mondo by Aldo Rossi (1979) (Photo attribution: CC BY-SA 3.0, https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3851609)

Architecture shouldn’t easily be lost to time. Rossi believed buildings and the cities of which they are a part should provide an order of things that allows us to experience the present as a suspended moment in the passage from the past to the future. 

“Time flies” and “life is short” are clichés but both seem increasingly true to me with each passing year. I’m no spring chicken anymore and my time is finite. Chasing immortality isn’t an option (yet). Accumulating memories but also moments where I am fully present and living life meaningfully are important. With age comes the ability to reflect but it has also afforded me perspective and, I hope, a measure of wisdom. If Aldo Rossi were here to speak today, he might advise me to refine my appreciation for the power of memories to shape the future. This means working toward architecture that is timeless rather than fleeting, selfless as opposed to ego-driven. Unfortunately, the exigencies of 21^st century development, design, and construction do not often lend themselves to the creation of enduring, ego-less architecture.  

There is a wistful sweetness to my melancholy. In my mind it is colored by sepia-toned and softly lit memories. I acknowledge my own impermanence—saddened by it and that of everyone I know and have known—but also appreciative of the passage of time and the imperative of being as observant a witness to life as possible while I remain able. We can aspire to create timeless architecture, but even the most enduring monuments are, like all of us, transient and impermanent. What is important for architects is to add to, build upon, and enrich the collective memory so it is sustained and transcends the earthly limitations of our buildings. 

(1)  Despite the impacts of the pandemic, Robertson/Sherwood/Architects has been busy; indeed, we just added to our staff to meet current project demands. As I mentioned previously, working from home has been effective. Everyone at RSA appears to be coping as well as can be expected with the strangeness of the new normal.

(2) I happened to be in Venice in November of 1979 and saw the Teatro del Mondo, just prior to the 1980 Venice Architecture Biennale for which Rossi designed it. Given his preoccupation with lasting monuments, there is some irony in the fact the floating theater was a temporary exhibit and not a permanent structure.

 

Essential Projects

Many “nonessential” businesses scaled back or suspended operations back in March when the magnitude of the COVID-19 outbreak became apparent. At the same time many states, including Oregon, deemed the construction industry to be “essential.” The pandemic has interrupted or delayed some supply chains (especially for materials sourced overseas), and the protocols and precautions necessary to protect construction workers undoubtedly have added extra time, effort, and cost. Generally though, builders have adjusted to the new normal and projects continue to plug along. 

The local jobs that broke ground before 2020’s unprecedented shutdown are now either well underway, nearing completion, or just recently completed. For readers who may not live in the Eugene-Springfield area, the level of current construction activity may come as a surprise. The following is just a sampling of the more significant examples. There are other projects I could have listed here as well; if I failed to acknowledge a particularly noteworthy one, feel free to leave a comment below. 

Hayward Field

The new Hayward Field project has crossed the finish line, but no one’s taken a victory lap yet. The jaw-dropping design by the SRG Partnership will have to wait. The facility was supposed to host the 2020 PAC-12 Track & Field Championships, the 2020 Olympic Trials, and the annual Prefontaine Classic, but all have been canceled or postponed. Additionally, the IAAF has moved the 2021 World Athletics Championships—a primary impetus for the rebuilding of Hayward Field—to 2022. Until the day of the first meet arrives, we’ll just have to wait to see if the new Hayward Field rekindles the magic of the historic venue it replaces. 

Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact

The University of Oregon is staking much upon the success of the Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact, now approaching completion. If the project fulfills its promise, it will attract leading researchers and research dollars to the university, enhancing its prestige and stature.

Despite its importance and correspondingly significant budget, the design by Ennead and BORA isn’t as commanding a presence as I initially imagined it would be. Instead, notwithstanding its bulk and the presence of the heroic new pedestrian overpass, it cuts an otherwise unassuming figure along Franklin Boulevard. Its north side fronting the old canoe canal is more transparent and deferential to its setting. 

The Market Expansion

The Obie Companies’ $75 million 5^th Street Market Expansion appears to be on target for completion later this year. As it has taken shape, it’s clear the mixed-use design by Ankrom Moison will energize the Market District. Of course, this assumes traditional retail and leisure, and the attractions of urban living, rebound once the pandemic subsides. If they do, I predict downtown Eugene’s renaissance will finally shift into high gear. The Market Expansion will greatly add to the critical mass necessary to attract further commercial and residential development to the heart of the city. 

Market District Commons

Bergsund Delaney Architecture and Planning designed the Market District Commons for Homes for Good, Lane County’s housing agency and a prominent developer of affordable housing for low-income persons and families. The Market District Commons, like the neighboring Market Expansion, is a mixed-use project. It will include 50 affordable housing units plus commercial space. Homes for Good partnered with the Obie Companies to develop the project. The project appears to be tracking toward completion this fall. 

The Commons on MLK

Also designed by Bergsund Delaney for Homes for Good, The Commons on MLK will provide 51 units to house and support previously homeless individuals. 

Midtown Arts Center

With its concealing shroud, the new Midtown Arts Center is like a present waiting to be unwrapped. I’m looking forward to the big reveal, which should occur in a few short months. As I mentioned previously, Dustrud Architecture designed the Center to precisely be the kind of mixed-use project Eugene needs to meet its goals for compact growth. It will be the future home for the Eugene Ballet, providing it with space befitting a first-class dance troupe and instructional academy. Scale-wise, the bulk of the seven-story building isn’t overwhelming, though it does somewhat crowd the sidewalks and the adjacent street trees. 

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has hit the Eugene Ballet hard. The pandemic has forced the company to suspend its performance schedule and programs, including its summer Academy for aspiring dancers. If good fortune prevails, the Ballet may soon move into its new home, enriching the local arts scene as it resumes training, rehearsals, and teaching. 

UO Hamilton Walton Transformation

Quickly taking shape, Phase One of the UO Hamilton Walton Transformation project will provide residences for approximately 700 students when it opens a year from now. Two additional construction phases will follow, ultimately resulting in removal of Walton Hall to make space for 700 additional beds, and removal of Hamilton Hall to make room for a new “Humpy-Lumpy” outdoor space. Designed by Rowell Brokaw Architects with Mithun, the overall project is targeting LEED Gold certification. 

Autzen Stadium East Scoreboard 

Not a building per se, but a significant construction project nevertheless. Privately funded, the $12 million new east scoreboard will be the largest in all of college football when it is completed. Designed and fabricated by Daktronics (with local design assistance by Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Planning) the immense video screen will be 186 feet wide (wider than the distance between the sidelines of the field!) and 66 feet tall. Alas, with the cancelation of the 2020 PAC-12 football season, Duck fans will have to wait until 2021 to see the new scoreboard in operation. 

Several equally significant building projects are set to begin construction in 2021. These include the following: 

• Edison Elementary School
• North Eugene High School
• Eugene Family YMCA
• Eugene-Broadway Apartments (current Café Yumm at East Broadway and Hilyard Street)
• Eugene Downtown Riverfront Development
• Eugene Town Square

Despite the contagion-induced slowdown for the greater economy, construction activity remains robust here in the Eugene-Springfield market. I’m sure certain building sectors are suffering (for example, I suspect many owners or developers have cancelled or indefinitely postponed their retail, restaurant, and hospitality projects); nevertheless, the Governor’s designation of construction as an essential industry early on has lessened the consequences for many. The economic hardship of a severe recession may be in store for us, but for now building design and construction industry in Oregon—while utilizing best practices to avoid transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus—is showing staying power.

(All photos above are by me)