architecture

Portland metro area bridges — which connect multiple cities in several counties and are used daily by many of the region’s 1.5 million residents — have a vital impact on our region’s transportation. And yet, from replacing the crumbling Sellwood Bridge to doubts about Multnomah County’s ability to fund bridges as well as other vital services, governance questions about bridge ownership, operation, use and funding continue to plague regional progress.

Audio (play now or download): 

FF Audio 2010-07-30 PDX Bridges copy.mp3

Portland is widely known as a well planned, forward-looking city, yet members of the design professions are troubled by a sense that we have been resting on our laurels. On September 25, a panel of three American Institute of Architect Fellows will suggest that Portland devise an  excellence in design” initiative that applies to everything in the city’s “built environment” – from sidewalks to architecture; from public squares to  freeway structures.

Audio (play now or download): 

2009.09.25 Built Environment.mp3

In the mid-1960s, Portland experienced a revo¬lution in public space with plazas designed by Lawrence Halprin and Associates. On September 12, Charles Birnbaum of the The Cultural Land¬scape Foundation will put the plazas into the larger context of the Modern landscape movement in America as part of City Dance—a week-long series of events celebrating Halprin’s work—and will offer strategies for future stewardship.

Audio (play now or download): 

Sep 12 2008.MP3

Portland’s ascendance as a creative center has won worldwide attention. Continuing this development in a time of shrinking resources and expanding public needs will require leveraging some of Portland’s creative capital — creatively.

On Friday, April 20, Jason McClennan and Dennis Wilde join City Club to discuss green building and sustainability, the impacts locally and nationally and what they perceive to be trends in green architecture.

Audio (play now or download): 

pdxcityclub04 - 20-07.mp3