4.08 Doors open at 5:30, Program 6:00 pm, Reception 7:30 pm
Design Portland, JK Gill Building, 408 SW Fifth Ave
With the city’s beloved and restored David P. Thompson Elk Fountain set to be reinstalled mid-April, City of Possibility and the Portland Parks Foundation invite you to an evening of all things Elk!
The Restoration: Maya Foty, Principle with Architectural Resource Group, offers an inside look at the masterful restoration and renewal – and the complications, time, and expense -- of bringing back a 125-year-old work of art and infrastructure.
The Film: Erika Bolstad’s “The Elk” documents the fall and the rise of the first of the city’s damaged monuments to return, and the only sculpture without controversy. She will share clips and background on her 29-minute film exploring the divided perceptions over why the elk went away and what it means for the dinged but refurbished symbol to finally return.
The Comic: T Edward Bak, cartoonist, and Shawna Gore, editor, will talk about the creation of “The People’s Elk,” a 24-page comic on the history of David P. Thompson and many rich expressions of free speech and changing culture that unfolded around the Elk over its century-plus time at the city’s center. The first copies of the comic will be available.
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Connecting South Downtown and Old Town Chinatown to the Waterfront
4.09 5:30 pm,Design Portland, JK Gill Building, 408 SW Fifth Ave
City of Possibility's "Downtown to the Waterfront" workshop series explores how these two very different neighborhoods can better connect
City of Possibility is pleased to present the draft findings of our workshops to re-envision two downtown neighborhoods' and their connections to Waterfront Park.
With the City of Portland's upcoming design competition to re-envision Waterfront Park, City of Possibility has convened a series of workshops, or charrettes, to explore how to better connect downtown to the waterfront -- to create a better park and spur more residential and neighborhood development in downtown.
The draft results of our first study--the Harvey Milk and Oak corridor--can be found here.
Now we turn to South Downtown and Old Town/Chinatown. Despite PSU, the Halprin Open Space Sequence fountain plazas and other major assets, South Downtown remains cut off from the river by 1960s-era roads and buildings. With its array of cultural institutions, older and new aid organizations, and the coming of the Steel Bridge skate park, Old Town/Chinatown is ripe for reinvention.
After meeting with numerous neighborhood leaders and organizations, City of Possiblity brought some 60 urban designers and creatives together with top city decision-makers to explore how these districts can become, in effect, waterfront neighborhoods where more Portlanders will want to work and live.
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Insights from 100 Places with UO Professor Howard Davis
3.03 6:00 pm.
Encounters with Architecture: Insights From A Hundred Places is a forthcoming book by Howard Davis, Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon. Experience the places that built a framework for Howard Davis’ approach to architecture, urbanism and teaching.
Then with guest panelists: a discussion on the impact Davis has had on the contemporary architectural practices of Portland and beyond.
The American Urban Botanical Garden: Catalyst for Community Revitalization
2.04 7:00 pm. @ Sanctuary Hall
Scot Medbury, President Emeritus of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden shares a recipe for success $125 million expansion of the garden.
Portland Botanical Gardens' (PBG) exhibition at Design Portland will kick off with a keynote lecture by Scot Medbury, President Emeritus of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. While at BBG, Scot Medbury led a $125 million capital campaign that resulted in a new visitor center, designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and several works of landscape architecture by Michael Van Valkenburgh. Since departing BBG, Scot's brought his expertise to a number of other botanical institutions, including Quarry Hill in Sonoma, the Center for Plant Conservation, and the Humboldt Botanical Garden. He is currently a Senior Advisor for PBG.
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Forest Young
1.29 6:30 pm.
Visionary design leader, creative director, and educator, Young focuses on the intersection of storytelling, universal design, and futurism. He is currently the Global Design & AI Resident at the renowned branding consultancy Wolff Olins and is an MFA Senior Critic in graphic design at the Yale School of Art.
"There is an urgent need for guardrails to ensure that future design isn't framed by a privileged perspective." — Forest Young
This lecture is FREE and open to all
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Transforming Harvey Milk and Oak
1.26 5:30-7:30 pm.
A cross-section of Portland's top talent in urban design, engineering, architecture, city planning and other creatives envisioned how tech, mass timber, urban play, and queer culture can join with the waterfront to create downtown Portland's next great neighborhood.
Join us to see the ideas generated so far and add yours!
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