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Today Aaron shares what inspires him.

Photo: Buffalo Bayou – Houston

I came across this when I was in school, and it has stuck with me as an excellent example of a city fully embracing their waterfront, making it a dynamic space, and putting effort into the experiences through different areas, and night vs day. Projects that take all stakeholders into consideration like this don’t just make a ‘fun place’ they contribute an entirely new flavor to the identity of the city it is within.

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Today Natalie shares what inspires her.

I began my journey in architecture after a long struggle with my inner polymath. With interests that span technology, psychology, science, music, art, and theory, I found architecture to be a place where I could find all my passions. 

I committed to my architectural journey in 2005 as a student at Washington State University. This path wasn’t something I had initially planned, although I had explored spatial design through play and drawing during my childhood. I found myself lifeless in a neuroscience program and sought passionate energy and excitement for the human condition. One restless night, I found that energy while observing a group of students working late into the night, filled with a comical spirit, in an intriguing building I had decided to explore.

I felt a passion building within me as I explored images similar to Tadao Ando’s 21_21 Design Sight. Although 21_21 Design Sight was completed midway through my architectural education, it perfectly exemplifies the design attributes that inspired my pursuit of architecture.   The unique folds of the planes, unexpected lines and alignments, and the interplay of light to express beautiful geometric compositions all reminded me of the joy I found in remarkable spatial experiences. I wanted to create that joy and share it with the world.

Ando hopes that 21_21 Design Sight will serve as a cultural hub where a variety of people, especially the young, will experience the potential of design so that they can leverage it in shaping their cultural identity in the future. 
Photo: Masaya Yoshimura

Beautiful details in harmony with the sunlight coming through the windows.
Photo: Masaya Yoshimura

*Images by Masaya Yoshimura, www.interactiongreen.com/21-21-design-sight-designed-by-tadao-ando/

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During my undergraduate study at Cal Poly, I had the privilege of spending a year in Florence, Italy as an exchange student. Coming from the United States, with a history so young by comparison, I was immediately drawn to the significance of the architecture surrounding me that had stood for centuries. Being immersed in the old-world culture and historic craftsmanship moved me to question my heavily concept-driven design approach. Until that point, I’d been influenced by more modern architects who were pushing the boundaries of construction with their vision, creating one-of-a-kind spaces and volumes that stretched the imagination.

It wasn’t until I stood in Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain that I realized why it was so impactful. The most minimal of spaces spoke more clearly to me than some of the loudest examples of modern architecture; distilling the elements of place-making down to the bare essentials of materiality, scale, light, and detail. It was the tangible manifestation of space that created presence and timelessness, grounding architecture on a personal level that we can touch, feel, and relate to.

The phrase “God is in the details” began to resonate with me throughout my travels, shifting my attention toward the everyday. The imperfectly beautiful examples that had weathered the test of time with distinction and character. History came to life for me through the hand-crafted labor of master artisans, who left their marks for generations to come. It changed my perspective and imparted an appreciation for the trades that led me to later specialize in fabrication.

I’ve selected some photos to share of my time abroad, and I hope that others will enjoy them as much as I do.

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Today, Amy is sharing her inspiration.

Image taken by Denis Esakov.

My early understanding of the architect’s impact on our buildings is best represented by the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. The museum consists of two buildings, the Kollegienhaus, a courthouse from 1735, and the main building designed by Daniel Libeskind in 2001. In Libeskind’s addition, underground passageways, zigzagging intersecting walkways, massive vertical voids, and slashed windows leave all visitors feeling disoriented, insecure, and physically uncomfortable by removing assumed wayfinding, portions, and a typical museum layout. The physicality of this building and its design attempt to translate the incomprehensible destruction of Nazi Germany on Jewish people. Traditional voyeuristic tropes of glorifying the images of concentration camps or war are replaced with a user experience more compatible with an interactive art installation.

I spent much of my undergraduate History degree learning about World War II and its aftereffects. The design translation by Libeskind of this traumatic historical experience transcends any book or picture and helped me understand the architect’s impact on its occupants. The deeply distraught space of Libeskind Museum represents the impact of all spaces of varying degrees, positive or negative. As architects, it is imperative to understand the influence of our designs on the human experience, both to positive and negative effect. I use this perspective to focus on how architecture can accommodate various users to address local needs, promote social equality within a building’s context, and extend the economic and environmental impact.

*Images of Libeskind’s Addition taken by Denis Esakov and Hufton Crow as noted.

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Today, Alisa is sharing her inspirational image.

150 Best Cottage and Cabin Ideas – Book by Francesc Zamora Mola

A few years ago my family stayed at the Alexandra Ellis Caring Cabin after bidding on a stay through the Children’s Cancer Association auction.  “On average 40 friends and family members visit CCAs beautiful Caring Cabin hideaway on the Oregon Coast each month.” I was in awe of the care and thought put into designing this beautiful home, built with the sole purpose of giving families with critically ill children a place to recharge and create memories to last a lifetime.  Huge windows and numerous outdoor spaces help connect guests with nature, both inside and outside of the home.  Staying there for a few days really hit home to me how the built environment can spark joy and help bring people together.

Not long after my stay at the Caring Cabin I stumbled upon the book “150 Best Cottage and Cabin Ideas”.  I spent hours poring over the various cabin designs and associated floor plans in the book.  I’ve always loved trying to figure out the floorplan of a building by piecing together photos or walking around it in real life (in fact this was a favorite activity of mine as a child).  Always curious what’s behind a wall and how rooms connect to one another.  After realizing how transported I was envisioning these buildings in my mind, I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue the career in architectural design that I first considered as a teenager.  While cottages may be fun to dream about, what I am most interested in is designing safe and inclusive spaces that nurture and connect people.  Creating a little bit of wonder in the process is icing on the cake.

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Principals Joe & Barb at an event supporting Roosevelt High School improvements and redesign.

As part of our commitment to serve the communities in which we work, we are working with Roosevelt High School and committing funds to support increasing the diversity of our profession through a college scholarship program. The goal of this scholarship is to help the architecture profession in Portland to better reflect the communities they serve. According to NCARB by the Numbers, people who identify as Black or Indigenous and are working on licensing is less than 8%, while the US census shows 15% of our country is made up of these races.

Our built environment is better able to serve people if it is designed by a representative cross section of our community. We are starting the scholarship program at Roosevelt High School with a single, one-time scholarship of $1,500. We will be looking to grow this scholarship over time to increase its impact on the scholarship’s goals. Students at Roosevelt will be able to get more information from the school once it is released with the other school-specific scholarships. The challenge is much bigger than we can take on by ourselves, but we are committed to do what we can to drive positive change.

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Fun was had at the Alpaca Affair of the year!

Convergence Architecture gathered the herd together – employees, families, an alpaca and fellow building-folk, to partake in fellowship, food and fun for an end-of-the-year event. That’s right, an alpaca from Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas and Alpacas! Jean-Pierre (“JP”) was his name.

We were fortunate to catch a sunny December day to gather in the parking lot and enjoy corn hole, alpaca hugs and “carrot kisses”, and warm up by the fire pits with hot cider and cocoa. Smoke from the fire pits became a little intense from time to time, but this encouraged continued mingling and shuffling around of party-goers. Guests enjoyed local fare from St. Johns Deli, Sparrow Bakery, The Great North and New Seasons, plus homemade alpaca and carrot-shaped cookies.

JP was well-trained and stood calmly as people came up to pet his soft, thick fur, take photos, and to feed him carrots from their hands, or straight from their mouth to his! He was a trooper, dressed as a reindeer with red antlers while modeling a gray ‘Convergence Architecture’ bandana around his neck. He’s basically the company mascot now!

After yet another “pandemic-year”, it was enjoyable to leave our homes and take a break from work to visit with others, share conversation and laughs and create memories together.

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Written by Joseph Purkey

Houselessness is a Problem for Everyone

Many communities are being confronted with rising houselessness* these days and transitional housing** is a key piece of the solution. Once someone gets to the point where they are living on the street it becomes a monumental task to get back into housing. Once you are living in your car or a tent, showers and healthy, refrigerated foods are a luxury. If you don’t have easy access to food and a shower it is harder to hold down a job. That’s not to mention the fact that if you don’t have a safe place to store your possessions they might not even be there when you get back if you go to get food or work a shift. This is all to say, houselessness is not going away on its own. Transitional housing, like the St Johns Village, meets the needs of having a safe, secure, and supported place to live while people get reintegrated into society.

* “Houseless” is the preferred term instead of “homeless” because a person can choose to make a home anywhere, but when we use these terms we are typically talking about people without a structure (house) to live in that is officially deemed habitable.

** There are three main types of supportive housing to address houselessness: 1) Temporary Shelter, where the main goals are to provide safety, security, and support; 2) Transitional Housing, where the focus is on support services back into standard housing, financial sustainability, and community living, coordinated through a case manager; and 3) Permanent Supportive Housing, where the focus is on independent living and less intense support from case managers.

The SJV and Convergence Origin Story

We were happy to see the success of the Kenton Womens’ Village in the nearby Kenton neighborhood, as well as the Clackamas County Veterans’ Village, so when we heard about the Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) working with Do Good Multnomah and looking to build a similar village in our neighborhood of St Johns we got engaged right away. Back in 2018, we joined the St Johns Village Coalition, which was led by JOHS and included people who were currently houseless, where we explored what was needed here and worked together to introduce the idea to the neighborhood. We helped organize and hosted a table at the St Johns Village Fair early in 2019 to start getting neighbors informed about the issues and proposed solutions.

When a site lease was finally secured for the Village, we again reached out to JOHS to offer pro bono design services for the effort. The Homebuilders Foundation was already on the project, so we got to work with their team for the second time on a pro bono project (our first was for Hope House). We also pulled together a team of pro bono subconsultants, with Rachel Hill Landscape Architect and WCL Engineering, both in St Johns, and PAE Engineers. The site is just two blocks from our office and our St Johns team was excited to be a part of making this housing a reality.

People First Design

Our design process was informed by the input and experiences of several neighbors who were houseless, like the need for privacy and independence, which we accommodated with staggered sleeping pod doors and space for growing. We also used lessons learned from the two other transitional housing villages in Oregon at the time, and, of course, our own design experience working with clients with all different types of needs and perspectives. There is so much of being houseless that puts people outside of society’s rules and expectations that it becomes dehumanizing. One of the roles of transitional housing is to provide dignity and a source of pride to the residents moving off the streets as one aspect of reclaiming their sense of self-worth.

The sleeping pods were built offsite from a design by students in Portland State University’s Center for Public Interest Design, with only minimal changes due to lessons learned from the other existing villages. The site was laid out to incorporate biophilic design. We told Rachel Hill early on that much of the success of the site would depend on how much she could incorporate plants seamlessly throughout and she did just that, filling the site with vegetation that is already growing quickly. The common building was programmed using the facilities at the Veterans’ Village as a model. We were able to use modular construction at the St Johns Village, which allowed us to incorporate trauma informed design in the layout and make the building feel much larger than the Veterans’ Village buildings, even while reducing the size by more than 15%.

We ended up providing design services equivalent to around 8% of our annual income through our pro bono efforts, with many weekends and holidays spent ensuring the project was a success. Thinking about all the people who were going to get off the street with this development made it all worth it. As a matter of fact, just recently we had the pleasure of being with a houseless neighbor we’ve known for years when he  found out that there was space for him at the St Johns Village and he would not be sleeping outside for the first time in over four years. He had been living outside our office off and on for the two years we were involved in getting the Village built. Getting to see such a direct impact of our efforts by rousing him from sleeping in the rain to bring him to a warm, dry home was more than we ever imagined. There are still so many who are still struggling to survive the streets and there is much more work to do, but it’s nice to remember also that every single person that gets off the street is a huge deal and something to be celebrated.

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