Portland's Tall Buildings and the Pursuit of the Transcendental

It all began with the Wells Fargo Building, once the tallest in Portland in 1907. Its characteristics are quite well known, in terms of its architecture and the time period in which it was built. However, while the tall building, now referred to as the “skyscraper” has a rich history embedded in more recent attributes, its origins provide a richer fabric by which we might examine its larger meanings. Such meanings have roots going back to the ziggurats of Ur and Mesopotamia, even the mythical Tower of Babel. These and other more recent developments suggest both a historical examination as well as commentary regarding the tall building’s possible future, as it evolves both globally as well as right here in Portland.

Bob Hermanson is a retired architect and professor emeritus, the University of Utah. Having practiced in Minnesota, Utah and Oregon, upon retirement he became a member of the Board of Directors at The Old Church in Portland, in addition to serving as a walking tour docent with the Architectural Heritage Center.

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Images (from left): Wells Fargo Building (1907) Oregon Historical Society bb000413; Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563), courtesy of the Google Art Project; KOIN Tower (1984), AHC Photo.