Water Intrusion: The Technique of a Leak

Finding the source of water intrusion within an older existing building can be exceedingly frustrating. Following a methodical and systematic investigation procedure will manage and organize the process. If the leak is occurring within occupied space, it is critical to interview and obtain information from those individuals directly affected by the circumstance. Is the leak associated with weather, water use, or other activities? If weather related, when did the leak occur relative to the start of the bad weather? Does the leak occur under windy conditions only? Wind driven rain can push water 2 inches up a vertical surface. Does the leak occur consistently in the same spot? Having an understanding of the building’s age, material science, archaic construction techniques, and professional experience brings focus to the investigation.

Visual observation is the single most important diagnostic tool. Are there obvious sources of water intrusion like open windows, broken downspouts, exterior holes in the building shell, or leaking bathroom fixtures? Storm days are often good opportunities to observe the flow of water over a building surface leading to potential sources. After a rain storm, are some exterior surfaces slower to dry? Has the water pooled along horizontal surfaces or against exterior walls? These observations can be made directly by the investigation team or related by maintenance personnel or property owners. Photographs taken before, during, and after a leak provide valuable perspective on the dynamic nature of the leak.

Infrared camera analysis adds another diagnostic layer of evaluation data. Temperature differentials between wet and dry surfaces can collaborate other visual observations. However, a number of varying conditions, not just water, can cause temperature differences between materials or even temperature differences within the same material. For instance, an exterior stucco wall installed over steel studs may have extreme temperature changes as a result of heat conductance through the steel studs with no related water intrusion.

Often it becomes necessary to augment general observations of interior and exterior surfaces with destructive investigation, a method by which the surface materials are sequentially removed to investigate archaic construction methods. As materials are removed, construction techniques can be evaluated for water tight joints. Moisture meters and other hand-held evaluation tools verify the presence of defective conditions. Openings, or wall-lets, are located at corners, abutting materials, complex intersections of structural elements and architectural materials, and/or other commonly known sources of water intrusion.

Reverse investigation in which the leak point is enlarged and video scopes or wires or other tracing devices are inserted in the opening are used to back trace the leak from the point of observation to the source. This method is often a last resort because it involves cutting several observation points in all directions to follow the path of water. With patience, persistence, and a methodical process, water intrusion defects can be located and repaired.

More than Decorative: Portland's U.S. Custom House Symbols

The second-half of the nineteenth-century was a prosperous time for architectural development in Oregon. This period saw the establishment of professional architects in Oregon, allowing the state to be comparable with eastern architectural development of the same era in the United States.[1] Portland was the center of economic growth and abundance in Oregon, and the U.S. Custom House was built to promote and accommodate Portland’s economic prosperity. Originally U.S. Customs Services was housed in one of Oregon’s earliest public buildings, the Pioneer Courthouse, which was constructed in stages between 1869 and 1903. However, the U.S. Customs Services quickly outgrew this building, and by 1898 construction began on the present U.S. Custom House.

The present U.S. Custom House is a testament to the Italian Renaissance Revival style, popular in the late nineteenth-century architectural vernacular of Oregon. The building was designed in the office of James Knox Taylor, Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, and supervised under noted Portland architect Edgar Lazarus.[2]  Portland’s U.S. Custom House is a symmetrical four-story building, H-shaped in plan, and encompasses a full city block. Joint efforts by Taylor and Lazarus resulted in a fusion of style that references Renaissance, Mannerist, and Baroque features that are showcased on the exterior and interior of the building. 

This fusion of style begins on the first-story walls which are composed of brick masonry enclosed in light gray granite, with window and door openings that feature semicircular arches. The first and second floors are separated by a balustrade and a granite stringcourse carved with Vitruvian scroll details. The two upper stories are composed of Roman brick and use terra-cotta to display dentil cornice molding and scrolled consoles detailing.[3] The most distinctive Italian Renaissance Revival style is found in the architectural ornamentation of the exterior fenestration, and is most prominently featured around the second and third-story windows.

The architectural ornamentation or “Gibbs-surround” of the second and third story windows of Portland’s Custom House borrow directly from Italian Palazzos and include several allegorical symbols: a key and a balance, a symbol of the God of Mercury, a hand with two extended fingers, a laurel wreath, a palm branch, and a flaming torch. At the time of completion the Oregonian ran an article that focused on the obscure nature of these allegorical symbols.[4] Lazarus was questioned on the purpose of the symbols, and he commented on how the allegorical symbols held no significance except for their use as decorations. In agreement with the author of the 1901 article in The Morning Oregonian, “Merely Allegorical and Without Special Significance,”  it does not follow that a building in the Italian Renaissance Revival style would showcase allegorical symbols solely for their ornamentation. Allegorical ornamentation is purposeful, with every symbol representing to the public a function or aspect of the intended purposes of the building on which they are represented.

The balance is the most recognizable symbol, symbolizing justice. It follows that since the U.S. Custom House was built for the U.S. Custom Services, which played a significant role in the economic growth of the area, architectural ornamentation of the symbol of justice would be included. This symbol tells the audience that all services by its governing body will be conducted justly. The key is borrowed from a Christian symbol which references the bureaucratic nature of Saint Peter’s ability to grant or withhold salvation. This symbol was common in architectural ornamentation in the sixteenth-century, when politics and religion were heavily and most complicatedly intertwined. Perhaps the keys are meant to remind those within to repent, but more likely serve as an emblem of time and removers of obstacles- which are also emblems of the Roman God Janis. The symbol of two extended fingers references religious symbols for blessing and benediction. It could also be referencing classical antiquity, more specifically the Augustas of Prima Porta that depicts the roman emperor addressing or blessing his people through a gesture of a raised arm and two extended fingures.

Two other classical symbols are those of the God of Mercury and the flaming torch. The God of Mercury is represented by a staff with serpents entwined. While the symbol of the God of Mercury is often noted as a representation of speed, it is also a representation of opportunity and commerce, which is fitting for its inclusion among the architectural ornamentation of the building. The flaming torch is often related to the God of Eros, who is commonly depicted with bow and arrow and a flaming torch. However, the flaming torch represented on the U.S. Custom House building is more likely an emblem of both enlightenment and hope, similar to the function of the flaming torch in the hand of Lady Liberty. The final two symbols are the palm branch and the laurel wreath, both of which represent victory and glory.

Portland’s U.S. Custom House is unquestionably one of Portland’s finest historic structures.  It is an exquisite display of the Italian Renaissance Revival style of architecture with a symmetrical organization, use of terra-cotta, Roman brick, and granite materials, classically engaged Doric, Iconic, and Corinthian Columns, and displays of richly detailed architectural ornamentation found throughout the  Gibbs-Surround. While it has been said the allegorical symbolic ornamentation used on U.S. Custom House is without significance and merely decorative, the explanation of each symbol has led to the credible reason for the inclusion of all these symbols. For the architecture of Portland’s U.S. Custom House is in the Italian Renaissance style, a style that uses symbolic ornamentation to signify both emotion and reason.  

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[1] Ross, Marion D. “Architecture in Oregon, 1845-1895.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. (1956) 32-64.

[2] GSA. U.S. General Services Administration, U.S. Custom House, Portland, OR <http://www.gsa.gov/portal/ext

/html/site/hb/category/25431/actionParameter/exploreByBuilding/buildingId/350#> [Accessed March 12, 2012].

3 [Refer to above footnote]

[4] “Custom-House Symbols. Merely Allegorical and Without Special Significance.” The Morning Oregoninan, Aug 5 1901, 5- NewsBank and/or the American Antiquarian Society. 2004.

Surveying Modern Resources in Portland's Central City

“Modern” is not traditionally part of a historic preservationist’s vocabulary, but as time rolls on, modern resources have become notable for their architectural significance, construction technologies, and association with significant social patterns that define national, state, and local history.  In 2011, Peter Meijer Architect, PC (PMA) conducted a reconnaissance level survey of modern historic resources in Portland’s Central City.  The work was completed to dovetail with the City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s Central City 2035 Plan.  For this survey the modern period is defined as 1945-1985, beginning with Post-World War II development and ending when all Modern era properties will be at least fifty-years in age when the Central City plan is fully realized in 2035.  

Why consider the potential historic significance of modern buildings if they are only 60, 40, or even less than 30 years in age?  Planning decisions that are being made now will have enormous impact on the shape of the city in 25 years.  Many of the surveyed modern period resources will have developed historical significance by the time they are 50 years in age.  Future planning decisions need to include preservation considerations for significant resources that contribute to the City’s history, its architecture, and social development.  This survey sets the framework in place now to limit the risk of losing significant modern historic resources in the future.

Mod-toids: Some interersting modern survey findings:

 

Glass and metal curtain wall, roman brick, and various treatments of concrete (block, poured, panels are the most common exterior materials found on Modern Period buildings.No single-family residential units were constructed in the Central City during the modern period. Small industrial buildings, including warehouses and service bay resources, are found in every cluster of the Central City. These building types have highly adaptable plan types and their size, character, and location make them ripe opportunities for redevelopment as industrial needs change.Modern period transportation developments, such as freeways and bridges, have greatly impacted the Central City urban landscape. Many of the Central City clusters are geographically defined by transportation developments. Larger modern resource types tend to be more concentrated near freeways and freeway entrances.

Could automobile-oriented resources that we associate with sprawl, such as gas stations, drive-through restaurants, auto dealerships, and parking garages attain historic significance?  How will construction technologies common for these resource types perform if these buildings are to be preserved for several decades to come?  While not traditionally viewed as high style architecture, these resources clearly convey the nation’s social transition to becoming a car-oriented culture.  Although planners and city officials tend to look at methods to creating more transit-oriented opportunities, the modern auto-era is undeniably a significant component of our nation’s social history.  It is important to find ways to preserve and highlight examples of this history while still achieving walkable city, alternative transportation, and sustainability planning goals.

The “International” style of architecture deserves more descriptive terminology and delineation in state historic inventory database records. Currently, a 15-story curtain-wall office tower, a 2-story concrete building on stilts with parking below, and a single-story Miesian medical clinic with a modular façade and vertical projection are each considered to be “International” style resources, although the character-defining features of each resource are quite different. As Modern period architecture is considered more “historic,” a stronger delineation of modern period styles is necessary.

Is Brutalism a modern era iteration of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture? Similar to the 19th century style commonly used for public buildings, Brutalism displays its stout structure, making obvious the strength of the building. Both Brutalism and Richardsonian Romanesque styles shy away from ornamentation, but instead highlight the function of the building in its stylistic appearance. If this comparison is true, why does a preservationist’s heart warm at the sight of a stone and brick armory or library with battered corners, low-slung arches, and fenestration that clearly conveys its use, yet views the cold concrete nature of a brutalist dormitory or parking garage with disdain?

Post- Modern Buildings: The Portland Building

Peter Meijer Architect, PC nominated Michael Graves iconic Post Modern Portland Building to the National Register of Historic Places. The Portland Public Service Building, known universally as the Portland Building, is one of the most notable works by internationally-known master architect Michael Graves and is widely credited as the design that established Graves’s preeminence in the field. The Portland Building itself is significant as one of a handful of high-profile building designs that defined the aesthetic of Post Modern Classicism in the United States between the mid-1960s and the 1980s. Constructed in 1982, the Portland Public Service Building is nationally significant as the notable work that crystallized Michael Graves’s reputation as a master architect and as an early and seminal work of Post-Modern Classicism, an American style that Graves himself defined through his work. The structure is ground-breaking for its rejection of “universal” Modernist principles in favor of bold and symbolic color, well-defined volumes,stylized-and reinterpreted-classical elements such as pilasters, garlands, and  keystones.

As one of the earliest large-scale Post-Modern buildings constructed, Graves’s design for the Portland Building was daring; almost shocking, in its vision for the future, and for its proposition as to what “after Modernism” could mean for architecture.  The building itself  is a fifteen-story regularly-fenestrated symmetrical monumental block clad in scored off-white colored stucco and set on a stepped two-story pedestal of blue-green tile. The building’s style is expressed through paint and applied ornament that implies classical architectural details, including terracotta tile pilasters and keystone, mirrored glass, and flattened and stylized garlands, among other elements that are intended to convey multiple meanings. For instance, the building is organized in a classical three-part division, bottom, middle, and top in reference to the human body, foot, middle, and head. At the same time, the building’s colors represent parts of the environment, with blue-green tile at the base symbolizing the earth and the light blue at the upper-most story representing the sky. The building uses layers of references to  physically and symbolically tie it to place, its use, and the Western architectural tradition. 

The boxy, fifteen-story building is located in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, occupying a full 200 by 200-foot city block right next to City Hall. The Portland Building is a surprising jolt of color within the more restrained environment and designs of nearby buildings, with its blue tile base and off-white stucco exterior accented with mirrored glass, earth-toned terracotta tile, and sky-blue penthouse. The figure of Lady Commerce from the city seal, reinterpreted by sculptor Ray Kaskey to represent a broader cultural tradition and renamed ‘Portlandia,’ is placed in front of one of the large windows as a further reference to the city. The building is notable for its regular geometry and fenestration as well as the architect’s use of over-scaled and highly-stylized classical decorative features on the building’s facades, including a copper statue mounted above the entry, garlands on the north and south facades, and the giant pilasters and keystone elements on the east and west facades. Whether or not one judges the building to be beautiful or even to have fulfilled. Graves’s ideas about being humanist in nature, it is undeniably important in the history of American architecture. The building has been dispassionately evaluated in various scholarly works about the history of architecture and is inextricably linked to the rise of the Post-Modern movement.

Mid-Century Arenas: Memorial Coliseum

The emerging interdisciplinary field of Arena Studies focuses on the dwindling global supply of modernist multipurpose arenas—an overlooked subject spanning the fields of historic preservation, architecture, architectural history, engineering, preservation technology, industrial archeology, urban studies, city and regional planning, landscape planning and environmental history. After World War II, arena builders began to utilize a variety of new technologies and modern building materials to enclose large-scale urban, suburban and rural arenas. Innovative technologies were combined with cutting-edge craftsmanship to create a revolutionary new aesthetic of form-altering functionalism. Early arenas were established as public structures in the heart of the urban fabric offering unique and profitable opportunities for long-term future success. However, Arena Studies is an emerging field of study and currently suffers from a lack of scholarly research, resulting in typological confusion. General and pervasive misidentification and misclassification has greatly hindered the efforts of conservationists to rehabilitate, restore and repurpose these undervalued community resources. A key element for successful conservation is an understanding of the adaptability of these structures in material composition, plan, and function. Mid-Century arenas provide its urban enviornment with enduring historic value, and the Memorial Coliseum showcases the architectural qualities of form-altering functionalism.

 When completed in 1960, Memorical Coliseum, a flat-roofed square "box", measuring 360 linear feet per side, 100 feet in height, and part of a larger 30-acre area, was a technological feat of engineering and operation unrivaled by any other large civic structure and a fully-articulated example of International-Style Modernism. The Coliseum's weight is supported by four cruciform-shaped, 70-foot high reinforced concrete columns, 240 feet apart in one direction and 270 feet in the other. At the column pinnacle, "steel hemispheres," the first used in arena construction, support the steel roof trusses. The Building is the only large-scale public arena glass-walled structure of the mid-century retaining its original design, materials, workmanship, highly urban context, and original relationship to nearby geographic features such as the Willamette River.

A special thank you to Matthew Hayes for contributing to this posting.