In the public eye

The end of the term always brings the anticipation of grueling hours of testing and exams, but not all finals are strictly paper and pencil.

For the students in Portland State’s architecture program, the end of the term is a time to display their work to their peers, their instructors and even to Portland-area design professionals. Both faculty and area professionals give these students critiques on their work, in hopes of giving knowledge and preparing them for future careers in the world of architecture.

Professor Clive Knights, chair of the Architecture Department, enjoys giving students the chance to discuss their work with professionals, but doesn’t undermine the importance of peer critiques. 

“I think they really enjoy it because they start to appreciate each other’s frankness and honesty,” Knights said. “It helps with their designs.”

The students have prepared a range of designs, depending on their year in the program. The first-year students have been assigned the task of creating their projects through music, complete with sketches, three-dimensional models and a verbal presentation.

“Our first year is unique as we have students engage with what matters to them from their life experience, bring that to the studio, and translate that into a series of assignments with familiar architectural elements,” Knights said.

Second year students from this term are presenting more detailed designs, including a musician’s rehearsal studio, a photography museum and a sculpture gallery.

“The second and third year [students] have more traditional programs for their architecture,” Knights said.

The third-year design students are the most advanced, and therefore have the most challenging projects to tackle. One group was assigned the task of renovating the area of Northeast Glisan Street, from the Willamette River clear to 102nd Avenue.

“They designed 15 entirely different interventions into the street to bring new activity in response their interpretation of what parts of the street need some input to regenerate those settings,” Knights said.

These Glisan Street designs range from community centers and a chapel on 102nd Street, to an artist commune on Southeast Martin Luther King Boulevard.

The other third-year students have designed a trade school for the inner-southeast industrial area, and a café dangling precariously from the Hawthorne Bridge.

“[The presentations] are about standing up in front of your work and speaking about your work and having critical professionals and faculty give their opinions,” Knights said.

The design presentations will continue through Saturday in the Shattuck Hall Annex and are open to the public. More information can be found at www.pdx.edu/architecture.