In Search of Portland

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Pine Street Theater building Sep 23, 2019

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Completed in 1928 as a church annex, this Jacobethan-style building in Southeast Portland near Sandy Boulevard went on to host to some of the great names in music history during the 1980s and '90s, including Nirvana, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Sleater-Kinney, The Replacements George Clinton and Ornette Coleman. Our first interview features local musician Sean Croghan, a singer-songrwiter who graced the Pine Street/La Luna stage with acclaimed bands like Crackerbash. The second interview features restaurateur Ben Dyer, co-founder of the La Luna Cafe, one of many acclaimed food and drink tenants there today.

Hazel Hall House Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

Poet Hazel Hall was once called the Emily Dickinson of the West, and her acclaimed poetry of the 1920s was written from a house in Northwest Portland near 22nd and Burnside that even inspired many of her poems. In our first interview, we'll talk with University of Oregon emeritus professor John Witte, who edited a collection of Hall's poems published in 2000. In our second interview, we talk with the husband-and-wife team of textile designers living in the Hazel Hall House today and carrying on its spirit of creativity, Trish and Neale Langman.

Wieden + Kennedy Agency World Headquarters Sep 09, 2019

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Arguably Portland’s most acclaimed work of 21st century architecture, in 2000 the Wieden + Kennedy Agency World Headquarters transformed a century-old former cold-storage warehouse in the Pearl District and made its architect, Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works, the city’s most celebrated. Our first interview features Cloepfil reflecting on the building’s design process and his early career. In the second interview, longtime W+K veteran Danny Sheniak discusses the evolution of one of America’s top advertising agencies.

St. Francis Hotel Sep 02, 2019

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Demolished in 2001 but living on in celluloid, the St. Francis Hotel at 11th and Main downtown began its life in the 1920s as lodging for business travelers, then for decades was a single-room-occupancy destination for the down and out. But the building is probably best known as a location for key scenes in Drugstore Cowboy, the movie that launched the career of internationally-renowned Portland filmmaker Gus Van Sant. Our first interview features film critic Marc Mohan, who discusses Drugstore and Van Sant's continuing movie career. Then our second interview features affordable-housing advocates Bobby Weinstock of the Northwest Pilot Project and Merrell Baker of Home Forward, in an effort to better understand Portland's struggle to house its most vulnerable citizens.

Central Library Aug 25, 2019

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Perhaps the city's most beloved building, Multnomah County Central Library is not only a gorgeous work of early 20th century Georgian style by Portland's most acclaimed architect of the time but also a vital resource for a cross-section of citizens today. Our first interview features Philip Niles, author of Beauty of the City, the definitive biography of Central Library architect A.E. Doyle, who also designed a host of Portland landmarks. The second interview features Central Library manager Angela Weyrens, whose team serves hundreds of patrons every day.

The Armory Aug 20, 2019

Show notes

Dating to 1891, over its history the First Regiment Armory Annex (better known as simply The Armory) was been a place for military marching drills and target practice, a concert hall, and a beer-brewery warehouse. A 2006 renovation of The Armory gave birth to the Gerding Theater inside, headquarters for the city's leading theater company: Portland Center Stage. We talk with architects Stepen Domreis and Craig Mendenhall of GBD Architects about balancing historic preservation with ambitious sustainability goals, and with Portland Center Stage artistic director Marissa Wolf about the upcoming 2019-2020 season and how great theater is a melting pot of stories and ideas.

The Portland Building Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

With its massive Portlandia statue and wild Postmodernist architectural style — resembling a wrapped birthday present or a Rubik's Cube — the Portland Building is our most famous building as well as our most infamous. Architect Carla Weinheimer discusses her firm's transformative yet controversial renovation of this 1980s landmark. And author Bob Dietche tells us about the jazz club that once existed on this site, featuring legends like Duke Ellington and John Coltrane.

Mercy Corps building Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

Episode 3: Mercy CorpsOn Portland's downtown riverfront sits the headquarters for one of the world's leading humanitarian organizations, Mercy Corps. We talk with Hacker Architects' partner David Keltner of Hacker and Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer about how the building fuses 19th and 21st century architecture, and how to meet humanitarian and social-justice challenges in Portland, across America or around the world.

Lincoln Hall Jul 29, 2019

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Episode 2: Lincoln HallToday it's one of the city's most important performing-arts venues and part of the Portland State University campus, but this early 20th Century gem was once the high school attended by three legendary Portlanders: artist Mark Rothko, voice artist Mel Blanc, and poet Gary Snyder. We talk with art critic Jeff Jahn of PORT and Bora Architects' Michael Tingley about Lincoln Hall's past, present and future.

Portland Art Museum Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

Episode 1: Portland Art MuseumAn architectural landmark and art Mecca born in the Great Depression and continuing to expand, the Portland Art Museum was a make-or-break moment for the city's greatest architect, Pietro Belluschi. We talk withhis son, architect Anthony Belluschi, about this modest masterwork's timeless design. We also talk with the Portland Art Museum's curator of Northwest Art, Grace Kook-Anderson, about curating for Belluschi's museum and Northwest art means today.

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