Placemaking at PSU
Portland State is hosting a placemaking design competition to enhance our downtown campus by meaningfully connecting our spaces with the communities we serve.
The term placemaking has an expansive definition but at its heart it’s a process for creating more humane cities. For PSU, it’s also about creating a safer, more culturally vibrant and creatively engaged campus that will also energize Portland’s vital city center.
PSU’s placemaking goals are:
- Strengthen Physical Identity: Enhance Portland State’s unique identity as an urban university and its special relationship with the city of Portland.
- Foster Affinity: Encourage human connections, cultivate a sense of belonging for students, and strengthen their affinity to PSU and Portland.
- Celebrate Diversity: HonorPSU’s diversity of people and cultures and promote equity, access and inclusion for all students, staff, faculty and visitors.
- Boost Vitality: Enhance vibrancy and promote new opportunities to attract visitors, ensure safety and increase engagement.
- Catalyze Revitalization: Leverage PSU’s successes to help spark revitalization and contribute to Portland’s urban renaissance.
- Recognize Distinctions: Demonstrate PSU’s national reputation for integrating learning with local and regional resources to create meaningful educational and cultural opportunities.
- Phase Implementation: Articulate realistic strategies that can be implemented in distinct increments to assist in fundraising and financing.
The design competition will be judged by university and regional experts in the arts, architecture and urban planning. It launches in winter 2024 with plans finalized and a winner announced at the close of the 2023-24 academic year.
For detailed information, please visit the Place Matters Design Competition webpage.