World's Ugliest Buildings; PDX Featured
 

Awesome. Thank you Michael Graves!

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/the-worlds-ugliest-buildings/1/

Opinions and assholes... everybody's got one.

obviously this building has many traits that less than desireable. dark windows for the sake of the "image" in grey portland of all places, the garage pulling up it's skirt on the park - thanks for that! With that said though, at least the building put the architect back on the map for making buildings more than shelter. i hate it - don't get me wrong. At least it did show that architecture can aspire to a higher form of art. Now we just need better artists as architects - Michael Graves is not that. I wish he would have done one of his earlier designs that followed the New York 5.

I liked every single building on that list. Guess that says a lot about my taste.

It says your opinion is just as right as the opinion of those that penned the story. :cheers:

I was expecting this list to be full of obvious, but unfair, choices, such as Boston City Hall. So glad it wasn't.

Although, I wonder if po-mo is now so hated that it's due a revival? (shudder)

There's bad post-modern, sure, but there's also good post-modern, just like there's good modernism and bad modernism, good classicism and bad classicism, etc. - the all-encompassing hatred of post-modernism, on Skyscraperpage and elsewhere, has never made sense to me.

For what it's worth, seeing the Portland Building was one of the highlights of our trip to PDX (seriously) - we have always been fascinated by it, and consider it so weird and ugly that it's kind of cool. We genuinely enjoyed seeing it and snapping some photos.

I've never really been able to stand post-modernism, but I do like Pioneer Courthouse Square. But perhaps the reasons I like it are unrelated to its most postmodern touches (such as the Ruins-of-Rome-esque chess boards.)

What would you say are great post-modern buildings then?

The Graves building is a tragedy in that it cannot last. No matter if you like the building or not, it was designed with poor material choices and an inhospitable interior. It will either be completely redone or torn down at some point.

It will be a while before this happens, but I think you are right. I can see there being a push for either striping it down to its skeleton and restructuring it from there or just rebuilding the block entirely....much of that would depend on the structural integrity of the building, which was Graves first tower like building and from what I can recall, he did not take in account the added loads which caused some structural problems that had to be fixed.

It's not a popular sentiment at the present time (especially in mid-century obsessed PDX) but I prefer postmodern to modernist. Is all of it great, of course not, but the same can be said of any style. To each his own. That being said, the Graves building isn't great...but there are worse buildings in PDX, when you get down to it. Then again, even that is just a matter of opinion.
-S

Really venturing into unpopular territory on Skyscraperpage, I know, but...

...for example, I am a big fan of a lot of Philip Johnson's post-modern work. He did two buildings in Dallas that I think work very well - the Comerica Tower and the Crescent complex.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comerica_Bank_Tower
http://www.crescentcourt.com/
http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&lng=3&id=118246

Post Modern of Worth
 

I agree, Atomic. Also, I would have to say I really like the Harold Washington Library in Chicago...really striking, and the top floor is AMAZING. The Central library in Vancouver, B.C. is quite striking. 333 West Wacker Drive in Chicago is truly lovely, as are some of it's adjacent PoMo buildings along the river.

Delete....delete.. :)

I have always enjoyed Johnson's work, though I like him more for his honesty about his work. He never thought of himself as a great architect, but knew he was able to work with some of the greatest architects around. But when talking about Post Modernism, I think he was one of the few during that time that didnt over play it.

My hatred for post modernism has more to do with the theories that created it. I was fine with Modernism throwing all past knowledge aside for new technologies, but post modernism should of been a continuation of modernism and reflected what had been learned during the previous era and how it could be better handled...instead it was the whole day dream attitude about the way things were and symbolism that no longer held the same meaning that it once held.

Who here knows the Portland Building was meant to be seen as the "keystone" for the city? That was the building that was meant to make the city complete. Which all it really does is show its ass to the park....though I so wish someone would of brought that up during the presentation of the project.

Adapting the Portland Building
 

An interesting use for the Portland Building might be as an art museum...the building itself is an artistic icon (good or bad), it has a fabulous statue on it, and the lack of natural light would be a plus for a museum.

I've never been inside it, but I would guess the floor to ceiling heights would work against it being a museum. Not to mention the difficulties of achieving a climate controlled environment in a building that (famously) isn't even entirely watertight.

what floor to ceiling glass? I don't think you are talking about the same building. The Portland Building has punched windows with the darkest of dark windows. The redemption is that when you are inside and look outside, it looks grey and gloomy - like Portland 75% of the time, and then you go outside and "eureka" it is sunny...it makes you feel so good. or maybe it just makes you feel good to be outside the building?

^^^^
He said floor-to-ceiling heights, not floor-to-ceiling glass. Museums and art galleries require higher ceilings than you would find in a typical office building.