PLACE MATTERS Design Competition

Walker Macy Collaborative selected to partner with PSU on Placemaking
 

Walker Macy  Collaborative

CONSTELLATIONS OF CONNECTION

• Project Summary
• Concept Board
• Design Report

OVERVIEW

Portland State’s placemaking initiative focusing on the PSU campus will help revitalize our city and counter the lingering human effects of pandemic isolation by building a safer, more culturally vibrant, creatively engaged, and community-focused campus to benefit students, faculty, staff, city residents, and visitors alike. It will provide a turning-point moment to expand how Portlanders utilize and value our city’s namesake urban university—and offer a significant opportunity for PSU to enhance students’ learning experiences, bolster their sense of belonging, and strengthen their affinity to both Portland State and Portland.

Through this design competition, Design Teams will take a broad look at possibilities and opportunities, and think deeply about PSU’s educational, cultural, economic, civic, infrastructural, and community functions while considering ways to leverage and re-imagine those functions year-round through the mechanisms of place and space. They will also consider how places can cultivate identities as destination spaces while maintaining a commitment to economic and cultural equity. 

In terms of its physical, social, cultural, and economic footprint, Portland State University is perhaps the most important place in all downtown Portland. It hosts around 5,800 employees and serves approximately 22,000 students a year, delivering an educated workforce to Oregon and social mobility to the region’s most diverse population of public university students. It attracts thousands of visitors a month to its classrooms, theaters, museums, sports venues, park blocks, and the city’s largest weekly farmers’ market. 
 

PSU graduates have long been critical to our city’s growth and vitality. Now, as downtown Portland deals with business flight and houselessness, it is clearer than ever that PSU’s campus is vital to our city’s fortunes and future. 

In addition to the resurgence of retail and workforce, the renewal of Portland’s urban core will be a cultural, creative, and educational renaissance in which everyone can participate.

SEMI-FINALIST TEAM CONCEPTS

COMPETITION PROCESS

Stage 1 is an open call for Design Teams that include design leadership, engineering specialties, artists, historians, planners, and others that can undertake this challenging task.
 

In Stage 2, the selected Design Teams will create conceptual designs in response to the Design Program, work with the Technical Advisory Group, and present design proposals to the Jury and public. Stage 2 Design Teams will receive a $25,000 honorarium. 
 

Philanthropy will help bring winning ideas to fruition. Design refinement and implementation of components of the selected scheme will be contracted separately as funds are raised. 
 

Schedule

Stage 2

DESIGN PROGRAM

The challenge to Design Teams is to create inspired plans and strategies that achieve the mission of PSU’s Placemaking Initiative, reflect the Competition Placemaking Values, and meet the Competition Design Goals.

Placemaking Mission

To transform Portland State’s public spaces into vibrant people-centered places and strengthen PSU’s place in the city of Portland.

Design Goals

Strengthen Physical Identity: Enhance Portland State’s identity as an urban university and its symbiotic relationship with the city of Portland.
 

Foster Belonging and Affinity: Encourage human connections, cultivate a sense of belonging for all students, and strengthen their affinity to PSU and Portland.
 

Celebrate Diversity: Honor PSU’s diversity of people and cultures and promote equity, access, and inclusion for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors.
 

Boost Vitality and Welcome: Create more vibrancy and attractions to increase visitors and round-the- clock safety and engagement.
 

Catalyze Revitalization: Leverage PSU’s successes to catalyze revitalization and contribute to Portland’s urban renaissance.
 

Recognize Distinction: Demonstrate PSU’s national reputation for integrating learning with local and regional resources to create meaningful educational and cultural opportunities.
 

Phase Implementation: Create realistic strategies that can be implemented in distinct increments to assist in fundraising and financing.

Placemaking Values

• The diversity of people and cultures is an integral part of how we define PSU and promote access, equity, and inclusion as pillars of excellence. Existing areas of cultural vitality and heritage should be respected.
• The spirit of place is rooted in the geology, history, and culture of the broader area and the specific land on which PSU sits and acknowledges the heritage of those who came before us and the diversity of people and cultures that currently inhabit the place.
• Collaboration with local partners and the broader community can positively impact educational and amenity access.
• The university can be a place of healing. The public and natural spaces can imbue belonging and improve physical and mental health.
• The city and natural areas surrounding PSU are a living laboratory for interactive learning.
• Learn from the past while looking to the future.
• Portland State can be a model in addressing the diverse and emerging urban challenges that Portland and many other cities face including equity, housing, climate change, transportation, and livability.

DESIGN CONTEXT 

JURY

Alisa Pyszka, President, Bridge Economic Development

Donnie Oliveira, Director of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland

Ethan Seltzer, Emeritus Professor, Urban Studies and Planning, Portland State University

Han-Mei Chiang, AIA, Community and Professional Leader, Architect on Sabbatical

Jeff Schnabel, Professor, School of Architecture, Portland State University

John Russell, President, Russell Development Company

Judy Bluehorse Skelton, Associate Professor, Indigenous Nations Studies, Portland State University 

Michael Curry, President, Michael Curry Design

Nancy Pelayo-Colores, Co-founder of NOMA PDX & 2023 AFO Hatfield Scholar

Robert Northman, Graduate Student, Urban Studies, Portland State University

Todd Ferry, Associate Director and Senior Research Associate, Center for Public Interest Design, School of Architecture, Portland State University

Yousif Ibrahim, Undergraduate Student, President, Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU)

COMPETITION MANAGER

Donald J. Stastny FAIA FAICP FCIP, Stastny : architect llc
Jennifer Mannhard AICP, communicate.design
 

TECHNICAL ADVISORY PANEL

Thank you to our Advisory Panel for your guidance and input.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Sonya Moody-Jurado, Board of Trustees
Wally Van Valkenburg, Board of Trustees
Chuck Knepfle, Vice President, Enrollment Management
Ame Lambert, Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion
Christina Williams, Director of Strategic Communications, University Communications
Jeff Schnabel, Professor, School of Architecture
Judy Bluehorse Skelton, Associate Professor, Indigenous Nations Studies
Yousif Ibrahim, President, Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU)
Tyler Smith, Student, Master of Urban and Regional Planning
Heather Randol, Director of Facilities Management at PSU

Management Group
Jason Franklin, Associate Vice President for Planning, Construction & Real Estate
Daryl Pierson, Director, Planning & Sustainability
Liz Hoekstra, Assistant Director, Campus Planning

PORTLAND PARTNERS

Troy Doss, Senior City Planner, Central City District, City of Portland
Andrew Hoan, President & CEO, Portland Metro Chamber
Matt Johnson, Executive Managing Director, Cushman Wakefield

PSU FOUNDATION

Sarah Schwarz, President & CEO
Lisa Skiles Smith, Chief of Staff
Cate Soulages, Vice President for Engagement & Communications
Lauren Clark, Senior Director of Development

A letter from President Cudd

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