Blissful and Dangerous

 A simple round of errands becomes a nerve-racking test of humanity. At 2:30pm in downtown Portland, it began to snow… beautiful, irregularly edged, frozen white discs, swirling from the sky. Stunned and smiling, I stop in my tracks to stare into the snowy gray sky, mesmerized by the beauty. A few minutes pass, and I realize I am downtown for a computer class, so inside Pioneer Place I went. Afterwards, it is still snowing and accumulating! Uh oh! I hope I can make it home! I drive a 2- wheel drive Toyota pick up. Essentially, this is like driving an aluminum box. Don’t get me wrong…I love my truck but not in the ice and snow! A 10-minute drive became a 45- minute one, not bad considering. My tires slid across the slick roads every time I accelerated and attempted to stop. Traveling up hill, I was stuck without forward movement each time I accelerated. Thankfully, the car behind me was patient and must have understood my situation, as I heard no horns behind me. Lucky that I could stop my vehicle, I safely came to my next and last large, busy intersection before my house. Those trying to get onto the freeway, blocked those of us from traveling forward which caused already impatient drivers to begin honking, driving in front of one another, creating overall chaos. Luckily, I was driving so slowly that the 3 cars that ‘cut me off’ didn’t cause a collision. Safely at home, I snap a few pictures of the beautiful snow that I hope didn’t become dangerous for any of you traveling around Portland.

China Design Now

A recent visit to the China Design Now exhibit at the Portland Art Museum, left me feeling inspired and in awe of Chinese design. Walking beneath the 100 or so grid of hanging Chinese lanterns, I enter the museum.  As I continue upstairs, I see flashing red lights, hear streaming video and the voices of young children touring the exhibit. For a moment, the abundance of stimulus in sight and sound, brought a rise of irritation to my body and chaos to my thinking. Suddenly, it occurred to me that such over-stimulus (as I perceive and experience it) may very well be a cultural experience in many cities of China and my reaction to it is, therefore an inherent and important part of experiencing the exhibit. Calmly and excitedly, I continue walking through the exhibit. Graphic design, fashion, housewares and architecture from several Chinese cities illustrate the transition from traditional to modern influences on design. I found the examples of architecture most exciting. Communicated through photographs and architectural models, the brilliance of Beijing's architecture, such as in the 'bird's nest' from the 2008 Olympics, left me wanting to learn more about the minds behind them. China Design Now runs through January 17, 2010 at the Portland Art Museum.

The Power of Landscape Architecture

 A newly built landscape recently 'cropped up' on one of my walking routes. Legacy Emanual Hospital is increasing their footprint in an expansion project that includes interesting architecture and landscapes. I'm most excited about the colorful parking structure made of glass and orange steel and the 'landscape' between a pre-existing and new parking structure.

The landscape consists of a long pathway that moves through the space at an angle which narrows at one end. The narrowing of the path lengthens the perspective tricking the eye into questioning whether the building is on an angle or the pathway is. I love this sort of trickery. I often find the illusion of spaces as interesting as the spaces themselves...perhaps even more so. Well placed, large mossy stones punctuate both ends of the pathway.

At one end the stones are placed around a drain at the end of a long series of planting strips or 'water
filtration' strips. At the other, the mossy stones are sliced, polished and set into scored concrete. I appreciate the power that landscape architecture can have on my everyday experience as an urban dweller.