[tworivers]

Updated renderings for this one. Discuss.

Overall...I'm not sure. One of the bolder projects I feel like I've seen proposed in PDX. Love the interaction/acknowledgement of the skatepark. The eco-roof plus plaza idea has potential. Materials look high-quality. Grid-defying tower has a nice, edgy feel.

Main concerns: the tower feeling like an impenetrable island unto itself, particularly with the above-ground auto parking (though attention to ground-level commercial space might offset this). And the sculptural motif continued on the sliver of land across the street seems like it could be overkill. Lastly, I'm not sure that I want to be biking westward on the bridge and have an auto-parking facility at eye level right next to me**.

On a side note, can anyone closer to the world of architecture explain to me why all firms don't produce renderings like this? Why WOULDN'T you want to produce such realistic-looking renderings showing the project couched in its surroundings? Is it a cost issue? A talent/skill issue? Do most architects not do this because they know that their designs are bad?

**One of the renderings (with the cute girl on the bike) makes it look like the roofline of the pedestal will be above bridge level. Another one seems to imply that the roofline will be bridge level or just below, which would allow for visual connection with the ecoroof and plaza.