Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 architecture includes a number of notable buildings, a wide range of styles, and a few notable pioneering architects.

The scale of many projects is relatively small, as a result of the relatively small size of downtown-Portland blocks (200 feet by 200 feet) and strict height restrictions enacted to protect view

Protected view

A protected view or protected vista is the legal requirement within urban planning to preserve the view of a specific place or historic building from another location. The effect of a protected view is to limit the height of new buildings within or adjacent to the sightline between the two places...

s of nearby Mount Hood

Mount Hood

Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon. It was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States...

 from Portland's West Hills. Although these restrictions limit project size, they contribute to Portland's reputation for thoughtful urban planning

Urban planning

Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....

 and livability.

Many older buildings have been preserved and re-used, including many glazed terra-cotta buildings

Glazed architectural terra-cotta

Glazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...

.

Portland is a leader in sustainable architecture and is known for its focus on urban planning. As of 2009, Portland has the second highest number of LEED-accredited

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....

 "green" buildings of any city in the U.S., second only to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

Architects

Well-known architect Pietro Belluschi

Pietro Belluschi

Pietro Belluschi was an American architect, a leader of the Modern Movement in architecture, and was responsible for the design of over one thousand buildings....

 began his career in Portland with the prolific firm of A.E. Doyle, leaving his imprint upon the city until the 1980s. Other notable architects and firms who have worked in Portland are Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...

 (SOM), Michael Graves

Michael Graves

Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....

, Cass Gilbert

Cass Gilbert

- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...

, Rapp and Rapp

Rapp and Rapp

The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp was active in Chicago, Illinois during the early 20th century. The brothers Cornelius W. Rapp and George Leslie Rapp of Carbondale, Illinois were the named partners and 1899 alumnus of the University of Illinois School of Architecture...

, Daniel Burnham & Co.

Daniel Burnham

Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...

, Kohn Pedersen Fox

Kohn Pedersen Fox

Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates , an architectural firm responsible for several world-renowned buildings, provides architectural, interior and urban design as well as programming and master planning services for clients in both the public and private sectors...

 (KPF), Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

, Richard Neutra

Richard Neutra

Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...

, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF) and Brad Cloepfil

Brad Cloepfil

Brad Cloepfil is an American architect, educator and principal of Allied Works Architecture of Portland, Oregon and New York City. His first major project was an adaptive reuse of a Portland warehouse for the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy...

 of Allied Works. Local architects that have had a large influence on Portland's architecture include Francis Marion Stokes

Francis Marion Stokes

Francis Marion Stokes , was an American architect famous for his works in the Portland, Oregon, area. Francis and his father William R. Stokes, formed two generations of a Portland design and architectural tradition lasting for over 80 years, from 1882 though the 1960s...

 and his father William R. Stokes (combined works include over 270 buildings from 1882 to the 1960s), the Victorian-era architect Warren H. Williams (architect of several surviving cast-iron buildings including the Blagen Block as well as the stick-gothic Old Church

Calvary Presbyterian Church (Portland, Oregon)

The Calvary Presbyterian Church, also known as The Old Church, is a Carpenter Gothic church located in southwest Portland, Oregon, United States, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.-External links:*...

) and Whidden & Lewis (architects of Portland City Hall

Portland City Hall (Oregon)

Portland City Hall is the headquarters of city government of Portland, Oregon, United States. The four-story Italian Renaissance-style building houses the offices of the City Council, which consists of the mayor and four commissioners, and several other offices. City Hall is also home to the City...

, the long demolished Portland Hotel

Portland Hotel

The Portland Hotel was a late-19th-century hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States that once occupied the city block on which Pioneer Courthouse Square now stands. It closed in 1951 after 61 years of operation.-History:...

, the Weinhard Brewery Complex

Weinhard Brewery Complex

The Henry Weinhard Brewery complex, also the Cellar Building and Brewhouse and Henry Weinhard's City Brewery, is a former brewery in Portland, Oregon. Since 2000, it and the neighboring A.B. Smith Automotive Building have been on the National Register of Historic Places...

, the Failing Office Building

Failing Office Building

The Failing Office Building is a building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 31, 2007. The building was built during the rapid growth in Portland's business district after the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in...

, several office buildings on SW 3rd Ave. and numerous residences).

Skyscrapers

The tallest skyscrapers in Portland (as of August 2008) are:

1. Wells Fargo Center
   Wells Fargo Center (Portland, Oregon)
   Wells Fargo Center is an office building located in Portland, Oregon, United States. The tower rises 546 feet with 40 floors of office space and three levels of parking below the surface...
   
    (546 ft./166 m., completed 1972)
2. US Bancorp Tower (536 ft./163 m., completed 1983)
3. KOIN Center
   KOIN Center
   KOIN Center is a , 35-storey, skyscraper in Portland, Oregon. The building, the third tallest in the city, was designed by the firm of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership and opened in 1984 at a cost of .-History:...
   
    (509 ft./155 m., completed 1984)
4. PacWest Center
   PacWest Center
   PacWest Center is an office skyscraper in Portland, Oregon. At , it is the fourth-tallest building in Portland. The 29-story building was designed by Hugh Stubbins & Associates of Cambridge, Massachusetts and completed in 1984....
   
    (418 ft./127 m., completed 1984)
5. Fox Tower (376 ft., completed 2000)
6. Standard Insurance Center
   Standard Insurance Center
   The Standard Insurance Center, originally the Georgia-Pacific Building, is a 27 story office building in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1968, it currently serves as part of the headquarters of The Standard, the brand name under which Standard Insurance Company and other subsidiaries of StanCorp...
   
    (112 m., completed 1971)
7. John Ross Tower
   John Ross Tower
   John Ross Tower is a condominium skyscraper in the South Waterfront neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. It stands at a height of , the first building in the district to reach the maximum height allowed for development and Portland's seventh-tallest building. It is also the largest residential...
   
    (325 ft./99m., completed 2007)
8. Congress Center (98 m., completed 1980)
9. Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse
   Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse
   The Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon. It is named in honor of former U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield. It is used by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon....
   
    (318 ft/97 m., completed 1997)
10. ODS Tower
    ODS Tower (Portland, Oregon)
    ODS Tower is an 24-story office building in Portland, Oregon. At 308 ft. , it is Portland's tenth-tallest building. Although it is named for ODS Health Plans, critics displeased by the building have nicknamed it the "Odious Tower"....
    
     (94 m., completed 1999)
11. 1000 Broadway
    1000 Broadway (Portland, Oregon)
    1000 Broadway is a 24 story office building in Portland, Oregon. The distinguishing feature of the building is a series of rings that form a dome over the center portion of its roof. Because of this, the building is nicknamed "The Ban Roll-on Building" and "R2 D2".The architectural firm of Broome,...
    
     (288 ft./88 m., completed 1991)

Under construction:

• Park Avenue West Tower
  Park Avenue West Tower
  Park Avenue West, nicknamed PAW, is a high-rise building currently under construction in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. When completed it will stand at a height of 476 feet and become the third tallest building in Portland behind the Wells Fargo Center and the US Bancorp Tower.Park...
  
   (515 Feet, U/C March 2008)
• The Ardea (325 Feet, U/C 2007)
• The Alexan (230 Feet, U/C 2007)
• The Encore (175 Feet, U/C 2007)
• ZGF Tower
• Ladd Tower
  Ladd Tower
  Ladd Tower is a 23-story residential building in Portland, Oregon completed in early 2009. The construction of Ladd Tower caused the Ladd Carriage House to be moved from its foundation, returning in October 2008. Holland Residential manages the building, which also has commercial space on the...
  
  

Other notable buildings

Other notable buildings in Portland include:

• The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, a restored historic theater (formerly The Paramount) and accompanying Heathman Hotel
  Heathman Hotel
  The Heathman Hotel, in Portland, Oregon, United States, was built in the late 1920s. It stands out among the last remaining historical Portland hotels such as The Benson Hotel , Commodore Hotel , Imperial Hotel , and Governor Hotel .-History:The Heathman was built in response to the needs of rich...
  
  .
• The Benson Hotel
  Benson Hotel
  The Benson Hotel is a 287 room historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States.It is owned and operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts. It was originally known as the New Oregon Hotel, and is commonly known as "The Benson". It has a reputation as one of Portland's finest hotels...
  
  , an elegant, restored historic hotel.
• Pietro Belluschi
  Pietro Belluschi
  Pietro Belluschi was an American architect, a leader of the Modern Movement in architecture, and was responsible for the design of over one thousand buildings....
  
  's Equitable Building
  Commonwealth Building (Portland, Oregon)
  The Commonwealth Building is a 14-story commercial office tower in Portland, Oregon, United States, located at 421 SW 6th Avenue between Washington and Stark Streets. Designed by architect Pietro Belluschi, it was built between 1944 and 1948 and was originally known as the Equitable Building...
  
   was the first aluminum-clad building and the first to be completely sealed with an air-conditioned environment.
• Lloyd Center
  Lloyd Center
  Lloyd Center is a shopping mall in the Lloyd District of Portland, Oregon, United States, just northeast of downtown. It is owned by Glimcher Realty Trust and anchored by Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Marshalls and Ross. The mall features three floors of shopping with the third level serving mostly...
  
   mall, the world's largest mall when it opened in the summer of 1960.
• The Meier & Frank Building
  Meier & Frank Building
  The Meier & Frank Building is a fifteen story, glazed terra cotta building located in downtown Portland, Oregon, across from the northeast corner of Pioneer Courthouse Square. The building is the former flagship store and headquarters building for the Meier & Frank department store chain and has...
  
  - Meier & Frank
  Meier & Frank
  Meier & Frank was a chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought out by the May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.-History:Summary...
  
  's full-block, glazed terra-cotta flagship department store
  Department store
  A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
  
  .
• The Oregon Convention Center
  Oregon Convention Center
  The Oregon Convention Center is a convention center in Portland, Oregon. Opened in 1990, it located on the east side of the Willamette River in the Lloyd District neighborhood. It is best known for the twin spire towers which provide light into the building's interior and for housing the world's...
  
  's twin spires are a prominent feature on the eastside skyline.
• The Pittock Mansion
  Pittock Mansion
  The Pittock Mansion is a French Renaissance-style "château" in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon, USA, originally built as a private home for The Oregonian publisher Henry Pittock and his wife, Georgiana. It is a 22 room estate built of Tenino Sandstone situated on that is now owned by the...
  
   is a popular tourist attraction.
• The Portland Building, by Michael Graves
  Michael Graves
  Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
  
  , the first major post-modern
  Postmodern architecture
  Postmodern architecture began as an international style the first examples of which are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture...
  
   building constructed in the U.S.
• The Mark Spencer Hotel.
• The Rose Garden Arena
  Rose Garden Arena
  Rose Garden, commonly known as the Rose Garden Arena, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is suitable for large indoor events of all sorts, including basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions...
  
  , home of the Portland Trail Blazers
  Portland Trail Blazers
  The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
  
  .
• Union Station
  Union Station (Portland)
  Union Station is a train station near the west shore of the Willamette River in the Old Town Chinatown section of Portland, Oregon, United States....
  
  , an active Florentine-style train station with a 150 ft. clock tower
  Clock tower
  A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
  
  .
• Pioneer Courthouse
  Pioneer Courthouse
  The Pioneer Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon, United States. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second oldest west of the Mississippi River. Along with Pioneer Courthouse Square, it serves as the center of...
  
  , the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest
  Pacific Northwest
  The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
  
   and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River
  Mississippi River
  The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
  
  .
• One of the largest collections of Cast iron architecture in the United States, primarily in Old Town
  Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
  Old Town Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods...
  
  . A classic example of such construction is the Grand Stable and Carriage Building, built by Oregon business pioneer Simeon Gannett Reed
  Simeon Gannett Reed
  Simeon Gannett Reed was an American businessman and entrepreneur in Oregon. A native of Massachusetts, he made a fortune primarily in the transportation sector in association with William S. Ladd...
  
  .

Bridges

Portland has many bridges:

Bridges on the Willamette River

• St. Johns Bridge
  St. Johns Bridge
  The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, USA, between the St. Johns neighborhood and the northwest industrial area around Linnton. It is the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of three public highway suspension...
  
   (1931, Suspension)
• Fremont Bridge (1973, tied arch)
• Broadway Bridge
  Broadway Bridge (Portland)
  The Broadway Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, U.S. It was the first bascule bridge built in Portland and the longest in the world at the time of its completion. It is the longest Rall-type bascule bridge still in existence.-History and description:The...
  
   (1913, Bascule
  Bascule bridge
  A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
  
   truss)
• Steel Bridge
  Steel Bridge
  The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries road traffic and light rail , making the bridge one of the most multimodal in the world...
  
   (1912, cars/1925, trains; Steel through-truss, double-deck lift)
• Burnside Bridge
  Burnside Bridge
  The Burnside Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.-Design:Including approaches, the Burnside has a total length of and a center span. While lowered this span is normally above the river. The deck is made of concrete, which contributes to its being one of...
  
   (1926, Bascule
  Bascule bridge
  A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
  
   draw)
• Morrison Bridge
  Morrison Bridge
  The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.The original Morrison Bridge was a wooden truss swing span bridge completed on April 12, 1887 as the first Willamette River bridge in Portland and the longest bridge west of the Mississippi River...
  
   (1958, Bascule
  Bascule bridge
  A bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic....
  
   draw)
• Hawthorne Bridge
  Hawthorne Bridge
  The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the oldest highway bridge in Portland...
  
   (1910, Through truss, vertical lift)
• Marquam Bridge (1966, Through truss)
• Ross Island Bridge
  Ross Island Bridge
  The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It carries U.S. Route 26 across the river between southwest and southeast Portland...
  
   (1926, Cantilever truss)
• Sellwood Bridge
  Sellwood Bridge
  The Sellwood Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It was Portland's first fixed-span bridge and, being the only river crossing for miles in each direction, is the busiest two-lane bridge in Oregon...
  
   (1925, Steel deck truss)
• Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1
  Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1
  The Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 or BNSF Railway Bridge 5.1, also known as the St. Johns Railroad Bridge or the Willamette River Railroad Bridge, is a through truss railway bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States...
  
  

Bridges on the Columbia River

• Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge
  Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge
  The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, or I-205 bridge, is a segmental bridge that spans the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon....
  
   (1982, Segregated concrete box girder)
• Interstate Bridge
  Interstate Bridge
  The Interstate Bridge is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 traffic over the Columbia River between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, in the United States...
  
   (1917/1958, Through truss, vertical lift)

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland

External links

• Skyscraperpage.com diagram of Portland's buildings by height
• PCC.edu: Guide to Portland's Bridges
• City of Portland's List of Historic Landmarks (Excel spreadsheet)
• Architecture Foundation of Oregon - Look Around Guide to Portland Architecture
• Bibliography of Portland Architecture and Architectural History
• Portland Oregon Architecture: An Architectural Map