Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 6, 1977)
Award-winning architects back older buildings By ROBIN SMITH Of the Emerald The Lane Community College Performing Arts Complex, Rubenstein’s Furniture Store, a Unitarian church and countless of fice buildings, clinics, banks and residences have one important factor in common. They were designed by the con troversial Eugenefirmof Unthank, Seder and Poticha, who talked about their office and buildings Tuesday evening in Room 101 of the EMU. The talk was the last of a series of lectures entitled “Architects on Architecture” presented by the student chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The trio have been active in “championing the rights of older buildings” and have put their money where their mouth is, not ably in the Smeede Hotel down town, the Granary building which houses their office and the Feed mill Restaurant and Bar, among other businesses. The Granary was a rundown mill storehouse which the Eugene Renewal Agency wanted to tear down. The architects thought the challenge “looked like fun” and what was once a machinery room became their office. However, Unthank cautioned againse people who are now try ing to make up for all the time when respect for older buildings was unheard of. “One has to accept a building for what it is — you can't just take any old build ing, deluding yourself that you can do something with it,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance and the build ing must be studied carefully be fore rushing ahead and saving it.” The slides shown during the lec ture represented a “number of projects over a considerable span of time,” according to Unthank. “We’ve had a lot of fun and hope fully we’ll pass on this fun to our clients," he stressed. Each of the architects has taught at the University, but they are perhaps best known by the general student body for their work on various University build ings, including the law school, the health center, the clinical services building, Bean Hall dormitory and the energy-efficient tennis and Otto Poticha and D.N. Unthank Pt«o by P«ny Gaskil handball courts (for which the firm won a National Owens-Coming Energy Conservation Award.) in fact, tho firm is the only one in the nation to receive this prestigi ous award twice: they won it again for their most recent work, the Lane County Public Services building. Unthank said of the lat ter, “you might say the heart of its energy system was a 200,000 gal lon water tank.” A local newspaper recently re ferred to the trio as “apostles of urban density.” Whatever the cur rent epithet, Unthank, Seder and Poticha have shaped much of Eugene’s built environment and are well known in the Eugene community if not for their many buildings, at least for their active roles in the city's planning, before and after they became partners in 1968. The talk, accompanied with slides, also dealt with the trio's origins. Otto Poticha explained how it started. The three of us, having been friends with a great deal of regard for the others’ work and skills, decided we wanted an office with the opportunity for a great deal of interaction. By all working in the drafting room to gether we had very few secrets,' he said. “But more importantly we could strengthen each others' weaknesses — it's been very suc cessful for us." Class releases historical building tour guide By ROBIN SMITH Of the Emerald Should a Eugene pedestrian bother to look beyond the bland facades of tract houses and office buildings that dominate the townscape, he or she might dis cover that Eugene has its share of unique examples of architecture from many different eras. At least that’s the premise of Brian Carter’s Architectural Media dass. The class of 15 students pub lished a tour guide supplement in this month’s issue of “Avenu,” the newspaper of the architecture and allied arts school, “with the intent to arouse a bit of curiosity,” and the "hope that you will take the time to inspect a few of these places," says Carter. The supplement, termed “a guide to some rather interesting buildings in Eugene,” is actually a conscientious effort on the class’s part to provide walking tours of five Eugene areas for anyone in terested in learning more about the architectural works around them. This is the first tour guide of its kind for the area. “We see this as the groundwork for future addi tions,” said Rick Kirkpatrick, a part-time assistant in the class. “There are of course areas we’ve left out—for example, Lane Community College — but basi cally it’s a start,” added Carter, a visiting professor of architecture from London. “It’s the kind of thing the city could really use.J see it as being just as useful to people outside the architecture school, if not more so.” The areas covered by the tours include the downtown-city center area, residential areas, govern EMU Cultural Forum presents Tom Waits Wednesday May 11 EMU Ballroom 8:00 p.m. U of O Students $3.75 Nort-Students $4.75 Tickets Available: EMU Main Desk and at Everybody's Records merit buildings, the Fifth Street area (including the train station), and the University. Each tour in the guide is graphically illustrated with an average of seven or eight buildings per tour, captioned with a brief description. They are all compiled in a handy one-page guide printed on the front and back, which can easily be pulled out of one’s backpack or coat pocket, Carter points out. Maps are also included for each area to help in location. A random sample taken from the guide shows some old familiar landmarks and some newer un familiar buildings. Included in the residential area section is the Shelton-McMurphy house, better known as the ‘‘cas tle on the hill,” built in 1888. Also included are the turn-of-the century wood-framed residences which now house the Indoor Gar den and Rainy Day Cactus plant shops. The Smeede Hotel — built in 1884 — is featured in the r downtown-city center tour, along with the South Park building, completed in 1975 and utilizing a heat recovery system storing heat generated during tie day. The tour erf Fifth Street and the train station area exemplifies Eugene's new-found interest in her architectural history — the guide points out that this area is Eugene's “Old Town.” The Palace Hotel, the other of the two remaining turn of the century Eugene hotels, and the Fifth St. Public Market — built in what was formerly an old chicken packing plant — have both recently been restored, according to the guide. Even the SWOMSI building, constructed in Georgian style, is expected to become a restaurant, the guide reports The first step in producing the tour guides is to draw up lists of the areas to include, was followed by research. Finally there was a massive “wrapping-up,” in which maps were drawn. "Rick (Kirkpat rick) shoehorned it into two pages,” commented Carter. “the funniest NEW COMEDY OF THE YEAR.” •Vernon Scott, UNITED PRESS mow ^\J\y SHOWING PIUIL NCWMIUa. SUIP A t HVtBSW. PtCTURt « TtCHNKCXOg«[R]-:: V 7ris i fc» p.«. I I 1cOONttJD-=Tj 12*S, 2*5, *55. 7 -W’ a *n
