Berkeley Planning Journal
inaccessibility and visibility so apparent in a televised society has
established itself here in the field of city planning and design.
Over 250 feet of horizontal wall space line the public park, with
only two standard size door openings inviting the pedestrian to
enter. The middle of this great tile wall is gouged by a concrete
tongue which disappears into the blackness of an underground
parking lot. Of the two doors present, one leads into a small windowless
restaurant, the other to an enclosed fire escape which then
climbs two floors and eventually empties out to a back lobby
inside the building.
Public visibility is not matched with public access. The building
has '' turned-on · its visible charms to the pedestrian, but like
the homely man in pursuit of the beautiful woman, illusion must
substitute for relations, while warm complexions turn . to cold
stares. On the park side of the building, Graves has defined public
access to mean only visual access.
On the remaining three sides of his building, Graves has invited
people into the shelter of the building by providing arcades for
pedestrian use. Unlike his illusionary treatment of detail, Graves
has actually used form to shape the arcades. Unfortunately, his
dialogue with history once again breaks down, for while he has
incorporated the arcades into the building facades, he has
removed them from the public street and in so doing has forgotten
the historical meaning of the arcade.
Historically, arcades have been designed to protect pedestrians
for the natural elements while at the same time providing opportunities
for promenading, shopping, or eating outside. They are
usually well connected to the street or square and are consequently
well used, providing an inside-outside, public-private relationship
between pedestrian and the total city.
With the exception of the area immediately in front of the Portland
Building's main entrance, the arcades are raised above the
level of the surrounding streets and are connected to them with
only two entry points. The result is that the commercial-retail
spaces found inside the arcades are removed from the street level,
both visually and topographically, leaving the pedestrian confronting
a blank wall and the building's landlord looking for commercial
tenants to fill vacant retail spaces.
The " value of the arcades as public places'' can best be described
by observing the early morning ritual which takes place along the
building's north facade. Each day, a man dressed all in white carries
a portable sign down to street level and places it on the sidewalk,
thus announcing to the hungry pedestrian that a lone restaurant,
in a lonely arcade, awaits their patronage somewhere above
and beyond the cold blue tiles of the building's facade. Even the
nearby Morrison Street Structure, with the shops and restaurants
surrounding its lower floor, presents the city with a public face, a
face almost totally lacking in the Portland Public Services