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By BOB KEYES, Staff Writer Maine Sunday Telegram Sunday, April 1, 2007
AUDIO SLIDE SHOW
Portland's Lost Sites
OTHER ARCHITALX ACTIVITIES
Each year, Architalx hosts a lecture series in the auditorium at the Portland Museum of Art. This year's theme is "How We Live." It's a riff on the state's motto, "The Way Life Should Be," said Architalx president Kyo Bannai. "Seeing so many changes and developments in progress in this city made us think about the different ways we inhabit our built and natural environments, and how changes within these contexts affect the way we interact with our surroundings and with each other," she said. She hopes the lecture series explores a range of interpretations on the "How We Live" theme, from how a waterfront park changes a city to how society responds in the wake of natural disaster.
This year's speakers:
6 p.m. Thursday, Allison Arieff, former editor of Dwell magazine and a leader in the modern pre-fab housing movement.
6 p.m. April 12, Chris Reed, associated with a Boston-based strategic design and planning studio that is known for it landscape and urbanism projects.
6 p.m. April 19, Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, former editors of an architecture magazine published in Madrid.
6 p.m. April 26, Lawrence Scarpa, principal of Pugh + Scarpa, a California design and planning firm known for its innovative and culturally responsible work.Doors open at 5 p.m. for all lectures.
ALSO
A COMMUNITY DISCUSSION GROUP will meet at 6 p.m. May 3 at One Longfellow Square. Will Gatchell, a member of Architalx and local architect, hopes the discussion will encourage successful contemporary design that integrates and complements existing and historic environments. "The intent of this event is to create a road map that navigates the existing obstacles to innovative design in Portland," he said. "Those obstacles include site conditions, financial return, political climate, social demands and aesthetic consideration."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit www.architalx.org
We pass them every day, in our vehicles and on foot, barely giving them a second glance in the blur of the moment.
At most, perhaps we wonder how they came to be -- what sort of urban-design decision led to a vacant lot on prime downtown real estate, or how city planners allowed a building to jut out into a busy sidewalk?
A new and purely fanciful exhibition at Aucocisco Galleries in Portland asks us to think about a half-dozen underutilized or abandoned spots on the Portland peninsula, and to re-imagine their potential.
Organized by the local nonprofit volunteer organization Architalx, "Lost Sites" celebrates the daydream potential of these taken-for-granted dots on the urban landscape. The exhibition consists of architectural drawings, models and mock-ups, submitted anonymously, by professionals and amateurs.
The exhibition asks us to ignore the practical impediments and come up with ideas solely for the sake of the idea.
"Part of the purpose of this project was to encourage residents to think about their neighborhood instead of just reacting to what's already out there," said Petra Fogie, who chaired the Architalx exhibition committee. "What we really want to do is create a dialog. I hope it will cause people to consider what is being built and participate more in community advocacy for the city."
The "Lost Sites" exhibition is among three interrelated events this spring, hosted and sponsored by Architalx. The triad also includes the group's annual lecture series at Portland Museum of Art, which begins on Thursday, and a community discussion group, which will convene in May at One Longfellow Square, formerly the Center for Cultural Exchange.
"Lost Sites" begins the discussion.
The six sites, from west to east across the peninsula, are:
n The empty lot at 627 Congress St., next to Geno's nightclub.
n The alley and narrow space at 1 Congress Square, between the red-brick Schwartz Building at High and Congress streets and the WCSH-TV building.
n The so-called "glass box" at 500 Congress St., at the corner of Brown and Congress.
n The surface parking lot on Free Street, bounded by Brown and Center streets.
n The median strip on Franklin Arterial, from I-295 to Commercial Street.
n An empty building shell behind the Tackle Shop on India Street.
Some of the ideas are pure whimsy -- fun to look at, but entirely unrealistic.
One of the submissions suggests erecting a lighted sculptural wall on the existing Portland Museum of Art, extending out into its Congress Square courtyard, as a way of interacting with and reflecting the alley across High Street. Never mind that it will never happen -- I.M. Pei & Partners no doubt would object to such an addition to their thoughtful design of the PMA.
For the parking lot on Free Street, an enterprising individual drew up a plan for a hexagonal glass building, with wind turbines protruding up above.
Other ideas are more realistic.
One design calls for the tunneling of Franklin Arterial to restore balance to the neighborhood that was disrupted when the city constructed the high-traffic artery in the 1960s.
Above ground, Lincoln Park would be restored, along with the establishment of a community garden, youth recreation center and walking path linking the Back Cove with the East End.
In all, Architalx got about 20 submissions. About half appear to the work of professionals. The others are less refined, but compelling in their quirkiness.
Andy Verzosa, who owns Aucocisco, said a project such as this is good for his gallery, because it's inherently local, and good for the city, because it gets people talking about their neighborhoods.
"It fertilizes ideas and it helps to create a conversation and a visionary process," said Verzosa. "I love when you can solicit ideas from a broad constituency of folks and come up with ideas and plans. This allows a lay person to put in his two cents.
"It's like saying, 'If you won Megabucks and had $10 million, what would you do?' It's a fun way of saying, 'What if?' "
The exhibition enables people to express an idea, however raw or unrefined, without fear of it being shot down.
Gallery director Virginia Sassman said the project encourages people to pay attention to their everyday environment.
"Now, people will pause and look at these spaces instead of just walking past them," she said.
Staff writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
and watch the slideshow at presshersald,com : http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/audience/stories/070401lostsites.html
E-mail this page Reader Comments (below)
By BOB KEYES, Staff Writer Maine Sunday Telegram Sunday, April 1, 2007
AUDIO SLIDE SHOW
Portland's Lost Sites
OTHER ARCHITALX ACTIVITIES
Each year, Architalx hosts a lecture series in the auditorium at the Portland Museum of Art. This year's theme is "How We Live." It's a riff on the state's motto, "The Way Life Should Be," said Architalx president Kyo Bannai. "Seeing so many changes and developments in progress in this city made us think about the different ways we inhabit our built and natural environments, and how changes within these contexts affect the way we interact with our surroundings and with each other," she said. She hopes the lecture series explores a range of interpretations on the "How We Live" theme, from how a waterfront park changes a city to how society responds in the wake of natural disaster.
This year's speakers:
6 p.m. Thursday, Allison Arieff, former editor of Dwell magazine and a leader in the modern pre-fab housing movement.
6 p.m. April 12, Chris Reed, associated with a Boston-based strategic design and planning studio that is known for it landscape and urbanism projects.
6 p.m. April 19, Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique Sobejano, former editors of an architecture magazine published in Madrid.
6 p.m. April 26, Lawrence Scarpa, principal of Pugh + Scarpa, a California design and planning firm known for its innovative and culturally responsible work.Doors open at 5 p.m. for all lectures.
ALSO
A COMMUNITY DISCUSSION GROUP will meet at 6 p.m. May 3 at One Longfellow Square. Will Gatchell, a member of Architalx and local architect, hopes the discussion will encourage successful contemporary design that integrates and complements existing and historic environments. "The intent of this event is to create a road map that navigates the existing obstacles to innovative design in Portland," he said. "Those obstacles include site conditions, financial return, political climate, social demands and aesthetic consideration."
FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit www.architalx.org
We pass them every day, in our vehicles and on foot, barely giving them a second glance in the blur of the moment.
At most, perhaps we wonder how they came to be -- what sort of urban-design decision led to a vacant lot on prime downtown real estate, or how city planners allowed a building to jut out into a busy sidewalk?
A new and purely fanciful exhibition at Aucocisco Galleries in Portland asks us to think about a half-dozen underutilized or abandoned spots on the Portland peninsula, and to re-imagine their potential.
Organized by the local nonprofit volunteer organization Architalx, "Lost Sites" celebrates the daydream potential of these taken-for-granted dots on the urban landscape. The exhibition consists of architectural drawings, models and mock-ups, submitted anonymously, by professionals and amateurs.
The exhibition asks us to ignore the practical impediments and come up with ideas solely for the sake of the idea.
"Part of the purpose of this project was to encourage residents to think about their neighborhood instead of just reacting to what's already out there," said Petra Fogie, who chaired the Architalx exhibition committee. "What we really want to do is create a dialog. I hope it will cause people to consider what is being built and participate more in community advocacy for the city."
The "Lost Sites" exhibition is among three interrelated events this spring, hosted and sponsored by Architalx. The triad also includes the group's annual lecture series at Portland Museum of Art, which begins on Thursday, and a community discussion group, which will convene in May at One Longfellow Square, formerly the Center for Cultural Exchange.
"Lost Sites" begins the discussion.
The six sites, from west to east across the peninsula, are:
n The empty lot at 627 Congress St., next to Geno's nightclub.
n The alley and narrow space at 1 Congress Square, between the red-brick Schwartz Building at High and Congress streets and the WCSH-TV building.
n The so-called "glass box" at 500 Congress St., at the corner of Brown and Congress.
n The surface parking lot on Free Street, bounded by Brown and Center streets.
n The median strip on Franklin Arterial, from I-295 to Commercial Street.
n An empty building shell behind the Tackle Shop on India Street.
Some of the ideas are pure whimsy -- fun to look at, but entirely unrealistic.
One of the submissions suggests erecting a lighted sculptural wall on the existing Portland Museum of Art, extending out into its Congress Square courtyard, as a way of interacting with and reflecting the alley across High Street. Never mind that it will never happen -- I.M. Pei & Partners no doubt would object to such an addition to their thoughtful design of the PMA.
For the parking lot on Free Street, an enterprising individual drew up a plan for a hexagonal glass building, with wind turbines protruding up above.
Other ideas are more realistic.
One design calls for the tunneling of Franklin Arterial to restore balance to the neighborhood that was disrupted when the city constructed the high-traffic artery in the 1960s.
Above ground, Lincoln Park would be restored, along with the establishment of a community garden, youth recreation center and walking path linking the Back Cove with the East End.
In all, Architalx got about 20 submissions. About half appear to the work of professionals. The others are less refined, but compelling in their quirkiness.
Andy Verzosa, who owns Aucocisco, said a project such as this is good for his gallery, because it's inherently local, and good for the city, because it gets people talking about their neighborhoods.
"It fertilizes ideas and it helps to create a conversation and a visionary process," said Verzosa. "I love when you can solicit ideas from a broad constituency of folks and come up with ideas and plans. This allows a lay person to put in his two cents.
"It's like saying, 'If you won Megabucks and had $10 million, what would you do?' It's a fun way of saying, 'What if?' "
The exhibition enables people to express an idea, however raw or unrefined, without fear of it being shot down.
Gallery director Virginia Sassman said the project encourages people to pay attention to their everyday environment.
"Now, people will pause and look at these spaces instead of just walking past them," she said.
Staff writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:
and watch the slideshow at presshersald,com : http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/audience/stories/070401lostsites.html