City of Possibility runs for one more weekend downtown.
A single architectural model can represent hundreds of hours of work and hard-won solutions to complex design problems. It’s one reason organizers say an exhibit of architectural models has struck a chord within the Portland design community.
“A lot of the time, these end up just sitting around under desks or in closets,” says Portland architect Will F. Smith. “Which is part of why we wanted to get them out in the open.”
Happening for one more weekend downtown is City of Possibility, a pop-up event meant to showcase varied design views of Portland — as it was, as it is, and as it might have been. On display in disused office space in the Expensify Building on SW 5th and, across the street, the JK Gill building, are dozens of architectural models that offer a look at the blended history of Portland and the field of architecture.
The event was produced by PDX Design Collaborative and co-directors Smith, of the local firm DRAWINGS, and Portland architecture writer Randy Gragg, in partnership with numerous organizations and design firms.
Among the exhibits is an original model of the Michael Graves-designed Portland Building, which opened in 1982 and is considered one of the first examples of postmodern architecture. There are several works of Portland’s own Pietro Belluschi, including early masterpiece the St. Thomas More Church. Another highlight is a 12-foot, by 18-foot fir mockup of central Portland used for years by city planners to implement the 1972 Downtown Plan.
Models play an important role in the field of architecture. Model making is taught early in architecture schools, and it’s often one of the first tasks assigned to new associates. 3D models are an effective tool in visualization and experimentation though they have their downsides. They can be difficult and expensive to produce, which can give an edge to larger design firms with bigger budgets to make glittering models. And, as several models on display at City of Possibility demonstrate, physical models can be as abstract as a 2D rendering.
But two-dimensional — or orthographic — drawings are abstract in their own way, explains Smith. For one thing, 2D drawings only show one particular view of a project. This can cause designers to miss problems that can seem glaring when a design is mocked up in 3D.
“(Models) are the clearest way to confront the reality of the design,” says Smith.
Models are also hugely helpful in communicating a design to investors, project team members or the general public. “A floor plan can be hard to read or understand for some,” Smith says. “Whereas with a physical 3D model, it just is what it is. And I think everyone is able to engage with them, even the more abstract ones.”
Only around one in five projects that are designed ever get built, so lots of architectural models depict projects that never did get built. On display at City of Possibility, are other approaches considered for the Portland Aerial Tram and the 9-acre mass timber roof of the newly opened main terminal of Portland International Airport.
“There’s this huge backlog of projects that were really thought-through and contain unique ideas but that haven’t actually been built,” Smith says. “And the model becomes this little encapsulation of all that intentionality.”
Physical 3D models are less important today with fewer projects in the U.S. requiring a design at the bidding stage, and fewer projects awarded through design contests. Some firms today lean more on digital renderings than physical models. But large firms like ZGF Architects often have large dedicated model shops.
The exhibit features a virtual flythrough of upcoming major projects including Albina Vision, the OMSI District, the Broadway Corridor, Lloyd Center Redevelopment, and Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge. There’s a look at a major renovation planned for the 1932 Belluschi-designed Portland Art Museum.
“It’s pretty amazing that some of these models are still around,” says Kevin Muir, a retired Portland Public Schools teacher and architecture fan attending the exhibit on Friday. “They’re really works of art in themselves.”
With a number of events staged as part of the exhibit, the event has generated energy in the design community, according to Gragg. Though originally intended as a one-off, the success of City of Possibility has left partners wondering how best to capitalize. The pandemic killed Design Week Portland, and the Architecture Institute of America recently shifted from a Portland-specific to a statewide focus. Organizers say those losses occurred simultaneous to a surge in energy in the local design community, notably among a gifted millennial generation of architects now finding their footing with their own firms.
Everyone gets models, Smith says, even kids. An architecture in the classroom installation by the Architecture Foundation of Oregon shows imaginative concepts by grade-schoolers including a four-story taco shop (with a third-floor ice cream window).
“I really like the details they put on the people,” says Rosy Cron, 11, who visited the exhibit with her mom and grandmother. The fifth grader at Earl Boyles Elementary School says she’s more inclined to writing and reading than architecture. But she was captivated by the simple street scenes depicted in the displays.
“I like the little people walking by, and the cars going by. It’s like everybody has their own story going on,” Rosy says. “I like seeing a miniature version of Portland and it kind of makes me feel like I’m some kind of observer.”
A closing party will be held at 6 p.m. March 27. After the final weekend, many of the models will head back to the office. But some might bear a little more clout after their moment in the spotlight.
“I think a lot of people have been excited about the attention being paid to their work,” Smith says. “Often, when a project is done, no one really cares anymore. It’s like all the work that you did to design a project is kind of shuttered away. So I think this has given people a lot of inspiration to keep building new models,”
“And while they might be going back to people’s offices, I think they’re going to be front and center at the office in a way they weren’t before.”
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