Portland, Oregon, is renowned for its rich architectural heritage, boasting iconic midcentury and postmodern structures. The city’s commitment to innovation is evident in its contemporary projects, such as the Portland International Airport by ZGF and the Portland Art Museum expansion.
The forthcoming exhibition, “City of Possibility,” offers an unprecedented look at Portland’s architectural past, present, and future. Spread across two venues, the Expensify Bank Building and the J.K. Gill Building, the exhibition features over 50 models of historic and contemporary projects in Portland.
The show is curated by PDX Design Collaborative, a group of local architects, artists, and educators. The collaborative partnered with several organizations, including the Portland Art Museum, Architecture Foundation of Oregon, and the University of Oregon College of Design, to bring the exhibition to life.
“City of Possibility” brings together the work of 40 architects, both living and deceased. The exhibition includes models of iconic buildings by renowned architects such as Pietro Belluschi, Michael Graves, and Arthur Erickson, alongside projects by contemporary practitioners like ZGF, Jennifer Bonner, and Works Projects Architecture.
A standout installation is a 12-foot by 18-foot fir model of Portland’s urban core, on loan from the Architectural Heritage Center. The model, built in 1971, was used to implement Portland’s 1972 Downtown Plan, a blueprint for the city’s renaissance.
Other notable exhibits include a conceptual model for a public market in Portland by Timothy Cook and a concept model of the C.A. Bright Tower by Robert Harvey Oshatz. The exhibition also features studies by Jennifer Bonner of MALL’s Blank House and modular studies by Waechter Architecture.
The exhibition will be accompanied by nine public events, including a discussion titled “Portland’s Next Horizon” on February 2, which will showcase seven projects shaping the city’s future.
“City of Possibility” will be on view through March 27.
Image Courtesy: archpaper.com
