'Ghost' building takes shape at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge
PORTLAND, Ore. - If you've driven, biked or walked across the Hawthorne Bridge in the past several months, you might have noticed some type of iron structure that's being built at the east end.
What is it, you ask?
Well if you think it's a new building going up, you're wrong - at least partially. It's actually the 'ghost' of a building that once stood there.
Say what?
Here's the explanation - the structure, which is made of weathered steel angle iron, is part of a couple of new large-scale art projects commissioned by the city for the expansion of the east side streetcar.
Two towering structures are being built at the east side of both the Hawthorne and Morrison Bridges in a combined project called Inversion: Plus Minus. And coming up next year, an artist will be building an art sculpture shelter at Northeast Broadway and Weidler.
The art work is being funded under an ordinance that requires that 2 percent of the cost of publicly-funded capital construction projects be set aside for public art.
Inversion: Plus Minus was designed by two Seattle artists who have strong connections to the Portland area. Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio have taken up residence here in town while they work on completing the project.
Han is a David Douglas High School graduate and both she and Mihalyo are alumni of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
We talked to Han this past week about the Inversion: Plus Minus project and what it means for the east side of town.
"Daniel and I find this area to be really special," she said. "I think every city has kind of an area that gets debased or it gets developed with something else and it goes away."
That was the inspiration behind the sculpture, which is meant to represent the 'ghost' of an old foundry, Phoenix Iron Works, that used to be there decades ago. The foundry shut down in 1957 and the property was sold to Multnomah County.
The Hawthorne Bridge structure is a matrix of metal that is meant to almost appear as a solid building. The Morrison Bridge site will be constructed differently to represent the negative space of the old foundry.
"It's not just that we want to bring back the nostalgia of the past," Han said. "But it's the fact that the city is constantly changing and there are some things worth keeping - whether it's only in your memory or physically. And so we feel, in a way, like we are bringing back a part of the honesty of this area - the industrial area."
Han said folks have been stopping by and asking about the structure. And while most of the feedback has been positive, Han does realize there will be critics - and she is fine with that.
"It would be strange to make something and either everybody dislikes it or everybody loves it," she said. "It comes with the territory - especially when you are putting your work in a public space."
Photo by Shannon L. Cheesman, KATU.com Producer/Reporter
Throughout the process, the artists have welcomed feedback from the public.
"I love that opportunity," Han said. "Because usually when you have a show in a gallery or museum, you put up your piece and then you never really have that direct conversation with the people who are looking at it. But when you are working outside, people do stop by and you have a very direct conversation about it."
When it's all said and done, Han hopes people will recognize the structures for what they are and hopefully have conversations about what they represent.
"It will be great if people can notice it and think about it and think about the kind of collective history of this area," she said.
As far as a timeline, the Hawthorne Bridge structure is slated to be finished this weekend. Then, once the weather gets better (around late spring or summer), the artists will begin work at the Morrison Bridge site.
Work will begin on the art shelter project, which is being done by artist Jorge Pardo, late next year.
Project Renderings
I was wondering what the heck that was and when it was going to be "finished"... turns out that's it!? Â C'mon people, not everything with the word "art" in it is pleasing to look at. Who were the people that reviewed and approved this giant ugly hunk of metal. I can't begin to conceive of the pitch, "It's going to look like a decrepit old building that has partially fallen down, and we couldn't afford to remove the rest." Â ..only, sadly, we PAID for this. Â
When is the vote to get this monstrosity removed so we can see a little more sky and greenery here in Portland?
Please let the structures grow vines & moss. Ethereal.
I like the look of the sculptures but I'm a little perplexed as to why they are in that specific location. There once was an elaborate building called the Brown Apartment Hotel at that intersection which looked nothing like a warehouse. I'm not sure if it's poor research or it's just something that they wanted somewhere in the Central Eastside neighborhood but it's not really recapturing the history of that spot. If the city wants to reconstruct skeletal buildings why not take some of the hundreds of actual old cast iron building facade elements owned both by the AHC and the City of Portland and put those back together somewhere. I'd rather see money spent to use these gems of lost history
I like it too. It's this sort of futuristic Matrix-like lattice homage to our industrial past. I think people who have a fascination with historical structures (like the bridges these are positioned near) will appreciate them more than the average person. But also I am a fan of the artists' work elsewhere -- they used the same materials to build similar structures at Maryhill and Blaine, WA. I for one am proud to live in a community that prioritizes art among other civic values -- cCan you image how boooooring Portland would be otherwise? And if we're going to build it, we might as well make public art that makes us think!
Umm... When can I go and take my 2% share of metal back? Anybody coming with me? Grab a sawzaw on your way here, will you please? ;)
I like it. It's art and I think it looks good. Yes it is a waste of public funds but that's the law. Change it or stop complaining
This is art and the government is paying for that? Well, I guess Detroit, MI isn't deteriorating after all because they have quite a few buildings that look like this already and they were trying to figure out ways to take them down. Who knew it was art.
The artist said it would be strange to make something that either everybody loves or hates. Â Judging by the comments, the latter is kind of happening. Â Strange!
Oh is that what it's supposed to be? Â What an ugly heap of iron and such a waste of money. We're used to seeing that though. One more thing that takes away from fixing the tore up roads around here.
More stuff in order to continue keeping Portland weird. Why?
Corruption, plain and simple, a 2% kickback of tax payer money to the liberal art community that supports the liberal politicians.
Feedback? It's just plain butt-ugly. It's an eyesore. It's a ridiculous waste of tax dollars. And it's going to cost how much to tear down what should have never been put up in the first place?
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Ohhhhhh. Is THAT what that is?  Art? Could have  fooled me. I like art  and some of it along the MAX is nice, but I think if we all have to look at it in "our living room" (the Metro area) we should get to vote on the designs, like we voted on the new baby elephant's name.
Oh, great...just what we need, more "art" that looks like a tour through the city dump.
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It's amazing that no one seems to bother to ask the people who LIVE here if they want any of these eyesores in their city. I'm just waiting till some artist decides to put up a sculpture depicting dead bodies and when people object and it gets torn down, the city gets sued for violating the artist's "freedom of speech".
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Hah!
 @Mikey I wonder when scrappers will start taking the metal off of it to sell (if it's worth anything)?
I like how the artists rendering excludes cars............ It's as if the city is trying to say something...
I'm glad they put this ugly piece of scrap where turning lanes for cars USED to be. This is the reason I will vote no on any bond measure the city tries to shove down my throat.
looks like exactly what it is. A ratted, fallen apart skeleton of a building, that should be taken down. Hell what did the previous building look like?  It could not have looked any worse than this.
I don't like it and I think the 2% should go to the schools. Â
Just when I think the people of PDX can't do anything more bizarre they go and prove me wrong. Portland: "The train wreck you just can't stop watching"
A butt ugly waste of tax money ! It remidns me of that eyesore at the Little Mexico ( Rockwood) station crime train stop.
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Downtown is trying to revitalize, draw in new business and people.  Is this the first impression you want people to see with the new streetcar and all the bike friendly promotions, especially over the Hawthorne Bridge? It would appear this is a step back in time, not advancement!
What an eyesore, a waste of money and a foreseeable danger if people climb it. It will rust, attract birds and I do not see any beauty in it at all. I could see if there was a covering to help protect the homeless, but that could pose other issues. I do not understand the bottom picture at all.
The 2% for arts on this project is going to two Seattle "artists," not local artists or programs and more importantly NOT our schools or art programs for our grade schools. I wish I could have voted against this project!
 @Concerned Birds are cool.Â
 @Concerned I voted against it. I voted against Kitzhaber. :-)
 @last boyscout  @Concerned *sigh* This is the intelligence deficit we are dealing with? KItzhaber has nothing to do with it.
Every time I drive past that thing I cringe. It's ugly and horrible and a waste of space. Â Probably why the original structure was taken down.
What a waste of money!
Excellent... a tombstone... now all it needs is "Middle-class American jobs" etched on it...
This are will feed many hungry families.. That's what I like best about it...
The same Liberal folks that love to call this "art", are the same folks that cry "foul" and can't rush to the phone quick enough when they see a rusty 1955 Chevrolet "Nomad" resting in someone's yard. They can't wait to call the city authorities to report "junk" or what to them is an eyesore. There is more feeling, more thought, and damn sure a lot more "Americana" in every single vintage automobile sitting in driveways, shops, or cruising the streets of Portland on any sunny day than in any such "artwork" so designated by Portland's officials.Â
 @last boyscout Being Liberal really has nothing to do with it.  It's people with no good vision for city planning.
 @last boyscout Oh for criminy sakes...you can't seem to make a single post without blaming "liberals" for something. Quit blaming liberals for everything and blame the people responsible. Using a blanket label like that is just being too lazy or stupid to get the real facts.
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"LIBERALS! LIBERALS!! IT'S THEIR FAULT THE WORLD DIDN'T END YESTERDAY!!!"Â Sheesh.
I call B.S. - the liberals don't give a crap about property values. Conservatives are the ones who'd be calling city authorities, and with good reason.
 @last boyscout Here's one liberal who thinks this art project sucks. Â
 @last boyscout Not every problem in your life is because of liberals.. Oh wait, it appears as though that may be the case..
 @last boyscout ~  Well, they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...  I guess the same is true of "art"...  :-)
I['m also wondering how long it'll be before somebody (eg: a teenager) manages to shimmy up one of those pipes going from the ground gets up in there and falls off... Â From a liability standpoint, this looks like somewhat of an attractive nuisance to me...Â
But then, as Robert Seamans posted, it might not be very long before the meth-heads dismantle all of them to sell as scrap metal... Â
 @margay1 "shinny up those poles," not "shimmy."
 @Old29  @margay1 well, if they are on meth they might indeed shimmy. Hope someone catches it in video and posts it on youtube if they do.
Hmmm... these "pipe buildings" remind me of that ad on TV... it's for some medicine that I don't remember the name of... but it features little people made out of pipes... Â :-)
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In re this "pipe art", I wonder how they're gonna keep it clean... birds will no doubt LOVE all those pipes, for sitting on and for other - um... uses... seems like the "art" would get pretty grungy-looking after a while...Â
 @margay1 I agree this looks like a building for the pipe people. And...viola'! Here it is, the Pipe People of Vesicare: http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7kh6/vesicare-copper-people
Not to worry Portland ... your meth-heads will take care of you ... I can imaging they are figuring out the best way to disassemble it so they can sell the metal. Â :-) Â Shouldn't take em long ... it'll be gone in no time.
 @Robert Seamans ~  ...chuckle... hadn't thought about that yet, but you're probably right..! Â
No taxpayer monies should be used to fund projects like this. There are necessities, and this isn't one of them.
so beautiful, i love it
Wow. Bird poop central. I'm staying away from that thing.
I can't believe what people call art these days. What a waste of money.
Ridiculous. But blame yourselves for electing people in the city that passed the 2% ordinance requirement in the first place; or didn't put in place an art review committee with some brains. One need only look at at the "syringes of rockwood" (I just love that apt description!) or what I call the "flaming musket balls" on the interstate avenue max overpass near the expo center, or the sticks of wood by the broadway bridge/memorial coliseum, etc, etc, etc, etc! You get the idea. Portland is an insane place.
Hey schools, there's your money that you've been missing.
 @pdxtvguy Interesting how they have plenty of money for this crap, but no money for teaching art in school. :-P