Portland Portfolio

P O R T L A N D P O R T F O L I O

Experiencing Sustainable Design alexa russell | iar 432

ARRIVAL

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T he Airbn b :

T h e N eigh borhood: Ir vington

When we pulled up to our Airbnb after arriving in Por tland, we were all in a we. The Spanish Turret house was beautiful and we were beyond excited to stay there. The house was built in the 1920s and was very well preser ved. The house was actually designed as two separate apar t ments, we stayed in the second floor apar tment. The neighborhood it is located in is Ir vington, a historic nor theast section of Por tland. The neighborhood began in 1887 and is home to the largest collection of Queen Anne, Ar ts and Crafts, and Colonial Revival style houses in Por tland. Ir vington is now par t of the National Register of Historic Places. We walked past many astonishing homes to and from our airbnb. We were located a few blocks from NE Broadway St, which is where we walked to most days to catch the bus or grab some food.

The proximity to these essentials was really helpful and gave us a taste of the way of life in Por tland; easy access to transpor tation, food, sidewalks, ect.

On our second day in Por tland, we decided to take advantage of the bus system and head to Cannon Beach. This town is located on the coast of Oregon and is about 1.5 hours away from Por tland. We were hesi tan t to go because we would have to spend all day there due to the bus back to Por tl and arriving at 7pm, but we took our chances and didn’t regret it. The walk along the beach was breathtaking w ith the larger then life rock formations standing tall in the ocean. Also, not to mention, so many happy dogs. The town of Cannon beach was quaint and pretty much one long road. We walked around all day with no plan in mind, stopping at local shops and admiring the neighborhood s. I also had the best iced latte I’ve ever tried, so that was a plus. All in all, Cannon Beach was a great excursion before beginning our class trip.

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CANNON BEACH

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VESTAS BUILDING

On our first day of class, one of our activi ties was to visit the Vestas Building and tour Thesis Digital (located inside the building).

Vestas, a wind-power company, bought the building in an unusable, run-down condition with the determination of transforming the structure into a sustainable office space.

The transformation of the building in turn helped restore the historic Pearl District and create a greener city. A large atrium was cut through all floors of the building to allow extra sunlight into the spaces. The atrium was also designed to allow, in the case of a fire, smoke to rise to the top and escape through smoke fans in order to prevent it from becoming trapped. Another fascinating aspect of the building design we were shown was the underground rainwater collection system, that provides a majority of the water the building needs. The building also uti lized an under floor HVAC system, which increases air flow and is far more energy efficient. This is something I had never heard of before, I came to realize many other buildings in Por tland utilize this system. Additi onally, “night-flush� windows were used to help control the temperature inside the building. This form of passive cooling is used in order to improve thermal comfor t, which was an impor tant aspect to the redesign of the structure.

EXTRA STOPS We also stopped at Blu Dot, a furniture design company, which I used in a office design project last semester. I loved the desi gn of the showroom and enjoyed seeing pi eces I admired, in person. We also stopped at Pow ell’s Books, which is one of the largest bookstores in the world. Althou gh I don’t read too much, being here made me want to be a reader.

Every corner you turn, more rows of books appeared. I could have definitely spent a lon g time here.

PORT OF PORTLAND

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The Por t of Por tland, which is connected to the Por tland International Airpor t, oversees air activity and transp or tation, as well as marine activities. The building was designed by ZGF and is LEED cer tified. The three floors to the office space were designed to represent sky, water, and land. The photo to the far left shows a par t of the space that is open to the public, where community members can sit in on meetings.

This was interesting to see after learning about how Por tland strives to include the community in deci sion making. The building also houses a lot of locally made ar twork, which fur ther ties into the communi ty . On the lower level exists a “living machine,� which was desi gned to collect and conser ve water by treating it with microbes found in the soil. Additionally, the building has an eco roof, with visible bee hives that someone tends to. As far as the office design goes, I personally loved it. It was interesting to see newer office space trends put to use, such as open concept workspace design. It was great to see this space after designing an office space la st semester.

REBUILDING CENTER

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The rebuilding center was one of my favorite tours. Beforehand, I was not too interested in this tour because I imagined something like the Restore, but it is far better. The center was built in 1998 and is 53,000 sq. feet full of materials. Everything was so well organized, but in an inspiring, ar tistic way. T here were many examples around th e warehouse that showed what could be done with old materials. It was very clear that the people working and volunteering there were passionate about the purpose of the center: giving life to old material, inspiring others to create and build, sustainability, and community growth.

“Empowering the local community to be sustainable” “The Rebuilding Center provides choice”

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SERA ARCHITECTS

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WASHINGTON PARK

This small hike is what sold me on Por tland, with the easy access to such a beautiful place and the proximity to downtown. I felt as though I was transpor ted into a different world within a matter of 15 minutes. This was a great taste of what Por tland has to offer regarding outdoor space available to the community.

JAPANESE GARDENS

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The Japanese Gardens were truly beautiful and are something I wish I had access to all of the time.

I felt so at peace here and greatly appreciated all of the small details and thought-out design. The 12 acres of land house eight different garden styles unique to Japan ese culture. The gardens were de signed in 1963 with the purpose of providing the people of Por tl an d with a place of sereni ty and also to grow healing ties with Japan after WWII. The gardens were to also bring environmental awareness to the community, which is very apparent due to the thriving natural life.

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LEVER ARCHITECTURE

Out of the three firms we vis ited, Lever was by far my favorite. Their use of sustain ably grown timber was fasci nating to learn about. I also enjoyed learning about the techniques in which they use the lumber. For example, their building was constructed using large timber pieces that fit together like puzzle pieces, which mad e construc tion time much quicker and efficient. These large pieces were constructed using cross laminate timber, which cre ates greater strength. The way in which they spoke about their materials made it clear that they were truly pas sionate about sustainabl e design. Additionally, their work stood out to me and inspired me.