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Re: “Saltzman Proposes 2 Weeks Off For Chasse Cops: Leonard Calls Saltzman "Parrot" For Police Chief”
Better to be a parrot for the police chief (like Saltzman is accused of) than being a parrot for Merritt Paulson (as Leonard arguably is), son of George W. Bush's treasury secretary.
Re: “Well Eff You Too, Travel + Leisure”
Tommy, do you recommend castration when the Viagra no longer works? That's what tearing the building would amount to.
Re: “Well Eff You Too, Travel + Leisure”
Actually, Matt and Graham, I would be against demolishing this building. People may think it's ugly, but it's part of Portland history. However, I would be very much in favor of a radical renovation. My suggestion would be to put a big atrium in the middle, so there's a lot more natural light. Besides the funny look of the building, it has a higher rate of sick leave for employees working there, because of the lack of windows.
Re: “Well Eff You Too, Travel + Leisure”
Actually in the piece the Portland Building is listed as the #7 ugliest world building, not #1. They merely used a picture of the building in the beginning of the article before going to the list itself.
That said, the Portland Building is admittedly QUITE ridiculous looking. My least favorite parts are the tiny windows and how awfully it interacts with the street on the ground level. Pity the retailers on the bottom of that building. And of course it looks like a wrapped birthday present on the outside with those fake ribbons.
At the same time, I'd argue that lots of buildings are worse than the Portland building. In the ugliest buildings list piece cited here, one expert they interviewed says the worst buildings are actually the bland, banal ones. I might have to agree with that.
I think of the Portland Building as a kind of noble failure. Unlike most Portland architecture, the design doesn't simply try to fit in and be a nice but forgettable work of design. Instead, the design by Michael Graves tries to be something great. It may fail - it definitely fails, actually. But I admire the ambition this building had and the newness of it when it was built.
This is actually one of Portland's two most architecturally significant buildings, because it was the first major postmodern building design in the United States. This building and the Equitable Building downtown (now called the Commonwealth) at 6th and Stark are the only two buildings that are in every textbook on the history of 20th century American architecture.
I liken the Portland Building to Andy Warhol's Brillo Pad boxes: silly and kind of ridiculous, but historically significant and full of color and fun. Granted, nobody had to work 40 hours a week in the Brillo Boxes, though.
Re: “Fancypants Architects Commemorate Pirate Town”
What makes architects "fancypants"?
Re: “Pollan Will Not Boycott Whole Foods”
I also agree wholeheartedly with Kiala that New Seasons is better than Whole Foods in almost every way. Portlanders, you don't need to boycot Whole Foods. Just choose New Seasons over them.
Re: “Pollan Will Not Boycott Whole Foods”
I see Pollan's logic, but I think it's flawed. By that rationale, Whole Foods could make a whole range of ill-advised moves and Pollan would still support them. I'm with the boycott.
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