Urban Design Courses Enhance Portland Communities
Portland’s achievements in urban design, public transit and regional planning have earned international acclaim. A creative spark for this continuing success comes from University of Oregon faculty and students who participate in urban architecture courses offered at the UO’s Portland Center.
Nearly 100 undergraduate and post-graduate students are involved in practical, hands-on study in a variety of projects that focus on critical issues in the Portland region. They typically serve part-time at local architecture firms and work hand-in-hand with city officials and neighborhood groups to help improve urban neighborhoods and post-industrial sites that need revitalization.
John Cava ’79, an adjunct associate professor of architecture, and his design studios have done work with Oregon Ballet Theater, the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and the Multnomah County Public Library. Most recently, his students have done thesis projects for a magnet high school for the arts, a Japanese-American cultural center and a natural history museum.
Reclamation and rebuilding of older industrial districts are the specialties of design studios run by Gerry Gast, who also directs the Portland Urban Architecture Workshop. The workshop links faculty members and students with public agencies and non-profit groups to provide assistance on public projects. Workshop participants recently completed a master plan for the Oregon Science and Technology Park, a joint effort of four cities – Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview and Wood Village. Under a grant from the Metro Regional Government Transportation Department, the workshop also studied transit-oriented development sites in the Portland metro area.
Jim Pettinari, director of the UO’s Portland Architecture Program, and his studios take on urban issues along the city’s light rail system. Housing and mixed-use development on the proposed north-south rail line in the Albina, Overlook and Arbor Lodge neighborhoods have been the focus of recent studio work.
Other areas of focus include:
• Architecture Professor G.Z. “Charlie” Brown’s work in the BetterBricks Daylighting Labs to use sunlight more effectively in building design;
• Hajo Neis and his studio’s work with the city planning staff on the Front Avenue Design Initiative;
• David Gabriel, adjunct assistant professor of architecture, and his partnership with the River Renaissance Group on the proposed water taxi system in Portland;
• And Suenn Ho’s assistance to Portland Chinese groups to build a horticultural center adjacent to the existing Chinese garden in Old Town.
“Our programs in Portland strongly connect our faculty and students to a thriving, exciting professional environment,” says Robert Melnick, dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. “The synergy between the academic and the professional realms creates rich opportunities and helps expand the boundaries of our profession.”
