National Music Centre concept from Allied Works on Vimeo.
Brian Libby writes on his Portland Architecture blog that Allied Works, a Portland architectural firm, has won the design competition for the new National Music Centre in Calgary. It’s a striking structure, and looks like something that would easily fit into the tight blocks of downtown Portland. And I love the way that the team thought about bringing the building to life. There’s so much of that interconnectedness “thing” that runs through the more enlightened circles in Portland’s artistic life, that would engender a new era for the fine arts in Portland. What a resource this will be for Calgary, and one that is desperately needed here in Portland. At least we know that we’ve got home grown talent that could make it happen if only we had a few angel donors and administrators who could gamble (and a gamble it would be) on a high-stakes level for a potentially huge payoff.
Which still makes me wonder, if we really want to bring major new money into the arts arena, if it’s actually the right time to really launch a campaign to build a new performing arts center in Portland – with a purpose-built symphony hall and recital hall among its primary features. People want to put their name on something, and while more ladies’ restrooms in the Schnitz are great (and needed, from what I hear), a new home for the symphony and the local chamber music and piano series (at least) with a reasonable seating capacity (no more than 1,800) would provide some major deep pockets in the region to have something to put their names on for posterity (are you listening Phil Knight and Nike?).