TO THE EDITOR
Congress and president must be persuaded,
educated and convinced that there is more
value in a live, breathing tree than in a dead
one.
I further propose that the federal govern-
ment invest revenues to counties with federal
lands within their borders at a comparative
rate to past payments at their maximum for
the perpetual stewardship of this great re-
source as a form of carbon credits rather than
by timber receipts for cutting, and that coun-
ties who receive these investment funds be
charged with applying them to historical
uses, i.e. schools, public safety and roads and
bridges. Additional funds must be secured to
train workers and carry out this important
work.
Where might the money come from? The
Forest Service and BLM built all the roads
and other infrastructures for large timber
companies at taxpayer expense over the last
half century so that they could make a profit.
Redirect the funds from road building to
restoring the forests.
Our Oregon delegation, with support
from our local officials, could craft a proposal
that they could sell to the nation and on
Capitol Hill. We and future generations need
the trees!
Denny Guehler
Eugene
HIDDEN SCARS
Last week (8/30) you had an incredible ar-
ticle by James Johnston on the coastal range
logging situation. I do not see any response in
the current issue (9/6) and am surprised.
Perhaps it is too soon.
My home is in Yachats, and I drive often
to Eugene through the coastal range and pass
the visible clearcut landscape. I have also
flown over in a small plane and witnessed the
hidden scarred landscape. It is devastating,
and we must take steps to protect what is left.
I hope the lack of response was only due
to timing and that people will read that article
and write letters, make phone calls and send
emails. It is more important than most people
realize.
Thank you for doing such a fine job of re-
porting.
Rheychol Paris
Yachats
BY SCOTT WYLIE
Design Interplay
Historical buildings can be worked
into redevelopment
Within a commonly accepted framework — one that produces
lucidity and not anarchy — we can manipulate the nuances of
scale and style, of texture and color and of character and
individuality, juxtaposing them in order to create collective
benefits. In fact the environment thus resolves itself into not
conformity but the interplay of This and That.
— Gordon Cullen, The Concise Townscape, 1959, p. 12.
F
ar too much, the West Broadway historic preservation discussion is
shaping up to be an either/or tug of war. Too black and white, either re-
store/reconstruct entirely or completely wipe it away. In talking about
the ShawMed and Taco Time buildings — amongst many other buildings, per-
haps — neither alternative does responsible justice to our community.
To me, when it comes to built environments, the fragment, the segment,
the trace is often much more fascinating than is the whole. In the incom-
plete palpable there is mystery and something is left to the imagination.
Maybe the Taco Time building was the first brick commercial building in
Eugene. Wouldn’t keeping and incorporating some of the brick walls be a
natural thing to do? Wouldn’t incorporating some of the rusticated stone
facade, hammered stone lintels over doors and windows, or some of the
stone belt courses give us everyday and vivid insights into building pat-
terns of 1898? I find it interesting that this building is an exact contempo-
rary of the vanished old Lane County Courthouse and is in the era of old
City Hall — and that pyramidal tower-topping roofs culminated all three
buildings. Not in the category of preserving, but perhaps a contemporary
interpretation of the pyramidal roof could appear, once more, on the street
corner, enlivening the architecture with a hint of a Eugene building design
pattern. Indeed, inclusion of any one, two or more of the original building
elements could greatly animate any new matrix.
The ShawMed building is potentially even more interesting to me because not
only do we have fragments of Spanish Baroque/Moorish design, but we have an
exceptionally well-executed and completely intact interior by Will Martin, Portland
architect, when he designed the building remodel into the Norm Thompson store
in the mid 1980s. The interior is an unusually complete and magnificent revisiting
of Neo-Classical architecture of England of about 1800. Work based on deep de-
sign understanding and beyond creditable execution warrants preservation. And
that this structure was the original Farmer’s Market carries enormous weight in
community value. And, with its incredible intricacy, the exterior featuring of detail
done in 1929 would be amazing architectural color brought to light, tantalizingly
so in fragmentation.
8 SEPTEMBER 13, 2007
Buildings are going to be restored because their state of bygone days is well-
preserved. Others are going to be built from scratch. I think our community life
downtown should also have the enrichment of buildings which are not either/or
but are both/and. These are a vital part of the “collective benefit” of which Gordon
Cullen speaks at the beginning of this piece. That benefit is townscape. That ought
to be our townscape downtown, too!
The visuals I include here are good illustrations of fragmentary incorporation
of old places into new, and vice versa. This is a hallmark of the architecture of
Carlo Scarpa, whose work has enormously inspired me since I first visited Italy in
1970.
The picture showing the equestrian statue balanced on the concrete precipice
is of Castelvecchio, Verona. This a Medieval castle left largely intact and married
with new elements to create a Medieval art museum. This illustrates the composi-
tional success of fragmentary preservation in concert with new architecture. This
illustration may relate closely to the nature of architectural incorporation of por-
Castelvecchio, Verona
Venice University
tions of the 1898 brick Taco Time building (p .82, Carlo Scarpa, Taschen, 1993).
The prostrate doorway is at the entrance to the Architectural Faculty of Venice
University. This displays unusual transformation/transposition of a Classical door-
way into a planter and reflecting pool that is an optical illusion. It illustrates a
strategy for transporting interesting architectural detail into new contexts. Extant
fragments of the 1929 market (ShawMed) could be reinstituted as an interpreta-
tion of the original market exterior or used as architectural “anecdotes” used ex-
tensively in the new development. In addition, or alternately, castings could be
made of details and their uses multiplied (p. 168, Carlo Scarpa, Taschen, 1993).
Scott Wylie, M.A., is a Springfield artist and designer. His website is wylieaerie.home.att.net