For this second of our two-episode look at Portland's one-of-a-kind midcentury modern arena, we double down on the Coliseum's history as the original home of the Portland Trail Blazers, and explore the Coliseum's artistry. The first interview

Mt. Tabor Park

Aug 23rd, 2021 1h 38m

It is one of America's only urban volcanoes, but Mt. Tabor park is all about greenery, water and respite. Opened in 1909, it's one of Portland's earliest examples of the City Beautiful movement and Olmsted-style park design, which in the early

Pioneer Courthouse Square

Jun 23rd, 2021 1h 33m

It is known as the city's living room. Pioneer Courthouse Square is where Portlander's come to celebrate, to protest, to commemorate, and most of all to be together. The site's long history includes the city's first public building and, later,

Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Apr 13th, 2021 1h 34m

It is arguably the most architecturally unique arena in the United States, offering 360-degree views from its seats: a pioneeringly pristine midcentury-modern glass box born from the optimistic days of JFK and the NASA space program. It has ho

The Elk Statue

Feb 22nd, 2021 1h 20m

For 120 years it stood downtown between two park blocks. In 1991 it made a cameo in one of the most acclaimed films by Portland's favorite-son movie director, Gus Van Sant. In 2020, it was removed from its base and stored in a warehouse. Thoug

Centennial Mills

Jan 27th, 2021 1h 10m

This long-deserted flour mill complex along the Willamette River was once Portland's biggest economic engine, producing enough wheat to make Oregon one of America's biggest producers. For the past 20 years, it has stood empty, even as the Pear

Ladd Carriage House

Dec 29th, 2020 1h 8m

Situated prominently on Broadway, the Ladd Carriage House is an anachronism standing next to two glass towers: a 19th century outbuilding that was once part of founding father William Ladd's mansion. Today home to the Raven & Rose restaurant,

Block 216

Dec 15th, 2020 58m 18s

Over the past 125 years the city block at 10th Avenue and Alder Street has symbolized a changing city. Modest yet handsome early 20th century commercial and theater buildings gave way to midcentury parking lots. Then the block became an epicen

KOIN Center

Oct 7th, 2019 53m 54s

One of the most recognizable buildings on Portland's skyline, the KOIN Center helped revitalize downtown in the 1980s, but only after its South Auditorium District wiped out a neighborhood. In the basement is the TV station the building's name

Whitney and Gray Building

Sep 30th, 2019 54m 27s

This four-story brick former hotel building in downtown Portland's West End dates to 1910, but the restaurant on its ground floor, Jake's Famous Crawfish, goes all the way back to 1892. Its fresh-caught seafood as well as its wood-and-polished

Pine Street Theater building

Sep 23rd, 2019 59m 52s

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,

Hazel Hall House

Sep 16th, 2019 53m 30s

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 ta

Wieden + Kennedy Agency World Headquarters

Sep 9th, 2019 59m 8s

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

St. Francis Hotel

Sep 2nd, 2019 54m 13s

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 th

Central Library

Aug 25th, 2019 42m 21s

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 cit

The Armory

Aug 20th, 2019 54m 42s

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 Armo

The Portland Building

Aug 12th, 2019 53m 38s

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 Weinheime

Mercy Corps building

Aug 5th, 2019 53m 25s

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

Lincoln Hall

Jul 29th, 2019 50m 37s

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: artis

Portland Art Museum

Jul 22nd, 2019 46m 11s

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 withhi

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