Portland Building

1120 SW Fifth Avenue

Portland Building on February 15, 2010

Across SW Madison Street from City Hall and adjacent to Chapman Square is the Portland Building, also called the Portland Municipal Services Building.

Portland Building on February 15, 2010

It was designed by Michael Graves and was the first major building to feature postmodern architecture, which has proved to be somewhat controversial.

Portland Building on February 15, 2010

The 15-story building was constructed at a cost of $24 million and opened and was dedicated on October 2, 1982.

Portland Building on February 15, 2010

In May 1983 it won an honor award from the American Institute of Architects, but the building's architecture has also found a number of critics.

Portland Building on February 15, 2010

The Portland Building actually faces the other direction, facing SW Fifth Avenue. The front of the building is dominated by a large statue called Portlandia, based on the Queen of Commerce depicted in the Seal of the City of Portland. Michael Graves suggested the statue as part of his design, but the statue wasn't present when the building opened.

Portlandia on February 15, 2010

Washington DC sculptor Raymond J. Kaskey won the commission through the city's Percent for Art program and the sculpture of hammered copper sheeting over a steel armature took three years to create. The statue with trident is 38 feet tall and weighs 6.5 tons. If standing instead of kneeling, Portlandia would be 50 feet tall. Portlandia is 1/3 the size of the Statue of Liberty, the only larger statue of this kind in the nation.

Portlandia on February 15, 2010

Portlandia was built in Washington DC, shipped across the country by rail in 8 pieces, assembled in a shipyard and transported here by river barge and truck. Portlandia was dedicated October 8, 1985. A poem titled Portlandia by Ronald Talney, a Portland lawyer and published Oregon poet, won the Ode to Portlandia competition sponsored by The Oregonian.

Portlandia
by Ronald Talney

She kneels down,
and from the quietness
of copper
reaches out.

We take that stillness
into ourselves,
and somewhere
deep in the earth
our breath

becomes her city.
If she could speak
this is what
she would say:

Follow that breath.
Home is the journey we make.
This is how the world
knows where we are.

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