Portland-based journalist, critic and photographer Brian Libby sold out of copies of “In Search of Portland; Exploring a Transforming City,” (OSU Press) during his talk at Powell’s City of Books on Sept. 15. The book is now in stock at both Powell’s and OSU Press.
Libby’s enthusiasm is contagious. His easy-going, conversational approach to the material has him singing the praises of working-class buildings and grand monuments alike. You say you’ve always liked how Big Pink changes with the light? The shimmering Spanish pink granite was selected by Pietro Belluschi, one of our city’s most acclaimed Modernist architects, who designed the building along with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.
Libby recalls entering the First National Bank Building at 401 SW Fifth Ave.: “When I finally entered this building for the first time that same year and walked up the staircase from the foyer, I gasped at the three-story atrium, which resembled a grand Victorian railway station.”
The NW Examiner interviewed Libby earlier this month. That story is here. Photographs and illustrations from “In Search of Portland” can be viewed at Weedman Design Partners, 1905 NW 23rd Place, through Oct. 30.
In the video above, an audience member asked Libby to weigh in on saving the Keller Auditorium.
Libby is right. The PSU for a auditorium site is terrible, up against the freeway in a large empty area.