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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 4, 2009)
Black Sheep Gathering continues. See June 20. SUNDAY, 6/21 Prost8K, 8K run/5K walk, 8am, Oregon Urology Institute, Spfd. eclecticedgeracing2.com $15-$35. The Wiz Monroe Park Aug. 7 Greater Goods 515 High St 485-4224 g reater g oods o nline .com Father’s Day Family Challenge Course, ages 9 & up, 10:30am-3:30pm, Spencer Butte Challenge Course. 682-5329. $40, one child FREE per adult. grads & dads Obsidians: Dog Mountain, hike, 6 miles/3000 ft. 736-7498. Sign up at Eugene YMCA. Scandinavian Studies Potluck Picnic, with wreaths, folk dancing, Scandinavian music, 11am-5pm, Shelter 1, Alton Baker Park. scan@oregon.edu H A T S Go Skateboarding Day, demo equipment, hot dogs, prizes, more; helmets required, 3pm-7pm, Cal Young Middle School. 682-6321. $3. Summer Solstice Celebration, Norma Fraser, fi re dancers, more, 7pm, Sweet Cheeks Winery. www. sweetcheekswinery.com or 349-9463. $10. Peter Pan continues. See June 20. hemp wallets&bags Ems vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes continues. See June 20. Black Sheep Gathering continues. See June 20. MONDAY, 6/22 Ems vs. Salem-Keizer Volcanoes continues. See June 20. TUESDAY, 6/23 Oregon Bach Festival: Bach’s Circle ensemble with OBF performers, 7pm, Tower Theatre, Bend. $17, $22. www.oregonbachfestival.com or 541-317-0700. Grandkids Ice Cream Social, noon-3pm, Campbell Center, 155 High St. 682-5318. WEDNESDAY, 6/24 Obsidians: Roads End, hike, 2.8 miles. 541-994- 2337. Sign up at Eugene YMCA. Theme Swim: Jungle Day, 1:10pm-3:40pm, Echo Hollow Pool. 682-5525. $2.50 incl. lunch. THURSDAY, 6/25 2009 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with world-class runners, sprinters and more, today through June 28, Hayward Field, UO. www. tracktown.net or 346-4461. $15-$30 single-day; $65- $100 all-session pass. hammocks clothing f air t rade Imports t textiles Design Is All Around Us EYEING LOCAL ARCHITECTURE By Jerry Diethelm I t’s wicked fun to declare the built environment we live in here in Eugene, “rump ugly.” Was that the phrase? But turn that butt around and you’ll fi nd many worthy and admirable contributions. And not just buildings — as though design started and stopped with isolated objects. There are also many artful items, spaces and sequences that sparkle with memorable design moments. Here’s just a start: Downtown, take 10th Avenue from the Overpark in both directions. Look out from the rooftop, which is the only “park” and open space — unless you count holes — in this sector of the downtown. The views here are rooftop-garden-like in all directions. An idea for a new park? Next door, the Downtown Athletic Club is a classy remodeling of the old Ax Billy Department Store and National Theater buildings. Across the street, the Schaefers Building has an interesting stepped-concrete arch and some multi- colored brickwork in chevron motifs on the upper fl oor that are widely admired. Further on are the Atrium Courtyard, LTD Transit Station and Eugene Public Library, each with something special to offer. The three-story indoor Atrium courtyard with its fi g-tree café is a lofty and unique public service center as well as a surprisingly pleasing venue for intimate musical events. Across the street, the LTD Station delivers a dynamic cross-block layout of bus pavilions and features our two “great arches” of arch-itecture. The brickwork and windows of the new library are particularly fi ne, especially its stained glass John Rose windows. The sky-lit interior stairwell and two-story airy reading spaces at each end of the library overcompensate for the building’s odd Gothic tower and Quonset-hanger roof. At the west end of 10th are the Lincoln Street Townhouses with their calliope of colored chimneystacks. These and the High Street Row Houses next to Skinner Butte plus The Tate on Olive compose the best of downtown urban living. East on 10th Avenue is the four-story 10th and Mill Building, one of our best new downtown offi ce additions. Its careful detailing and high quality materials — tile panels, colorful brickwork, bronze windows and special fi xtures — set it above and apart from the usual commercial architecture of Eugene Some prefer the new U.S. Courthouse, but I still admire the EWEB Headquarters Building. I like the way it sits so gracefully just beyond the DeFazio suspension bridge along the downtown riverfront. Its bifurcated siting, which forms a gateway to the river, and its soft sculptural assemblage project an unmistakable civic signifi cance. It’s an elegant entry sentinel to our city center. Lillis Hall is certainly the best new building on campus. It completes the Memorial Quad and enhances the glorious campus sequence that is 13th Avenue. Step into the Lillis stepped-glass enclosed coffee bar in the entrance atrium and look out at the wind sculpture toward Dads’ Gates, or walk out the high glass entry doors that point past Ellis Lawrence’s JSMA and through the English oaks to the cherry-covered terrace of his Knight Library. Hope Abbey at the Eugene Masonic Cemetery is a must see while you’re still alive. The recently restored Abbey is a little known Lawrence masterpiece. Its historic cemetery setting is our best example of a native plant-oriented, “English country-style” resting place as attested to by many famous Eugene and Oregon pioneers. And for those of U still obsessing over the largest O that ever ducked a sign ordinance: That’s not a sign, it’s a war memorial. Just be grateful that our university wasn’t named Holy Cross. Jerry Diethelm is a Eugene architect and landscape architect, and planning and urban design consultant. www.eugeneweekly.com summerguide 09 5
