Portland Building

A building in downtown PortlandOregon, used primarily for city government offices located next to city hall. Designed by architect MichaelGraves?, it is heralded by a great many in the architectural community as a fine example of PostModern architecture.

Most residents consider the building an eyesore. (Residents can cast their ballots here.)

eyesore -- ScottJohnson
beautiful (especially Portlandia) -- WardCunningham

Which is a key lesson for software practitioners (continuing the software-as-building-architecture theme found here on WardsWiki). That which is seen as highly desirable by its designers and their peers, may be seen as undesirable by users.

More on the PortlandBuilding (from the architectural community's perspective) can be found at http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Portland_Building.html

In addition to questions of habitability, the building turns out to have severe structural problems which has has lead the city to consider demolition. http://architronic.saed.kent.edu/v6n1/v6n1.02a.html

Among the notable features of the PortlandBuilding is a big bronze statue of a woman with outstretched hands--called Portlandia--perched above the front entrance of the building. Unfortunately, since the building is located downtown; you have to crane your neck to see her--were you to walk sufficiently far away from the entrance to see Portlandia without craning your neck, you'd run smack dab into the wall of the big office building across the street.

I used to work in that office building across the street -- The Standard Plaza building. Most people don't know this, but you can take the escalator to the 2nd floor lobby (open to the public) and get a prime view of our lovely neighbor. --StevenNewton

The Standard Plaza bldg (mentioned above) has some type type of a beacon on top of it: It's a hexagonal block with many lightbulbs in it, some days it glows green, others blinks green, yet other days it blinks white - anyone knows its purpose?

I knew the answer when I worked in the building, there's a plaque with the key on it in the elevator lobby. To my best recollection, blinking means rain, green means warmer, and white means colder. --StevenNewton

I'm reminded of a similar postmodern building designed by Welton Beckett & Associates that I once worked near. It was universally referred to as the Awful Waffle.