Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Saul Zaik
Hello modern architect fans in Portland. On June 2, a conversation with Saul Zaik will be taking place at Rejuvenation 1100 SE Grand Ave. It is a fundraiser for The Street of Eames. The event begins at 6 pm. I have a wonderful Saul Zaik home listing right now for you viewing pleasure. It is a mid century modern design situated in the West Hills with terrific views and wonderful gardens. It shows Saul Zaik's simple and elegant style and his abilty to blend his designs to the natural surroundings. For a private showing please contact me at 503 341 1931. To see a virtual tour go to Virtual Tour Link: http://www.pdxvtours.com/kennys1/small.htm
Thursday, April 15, 2010
I have the privelage of listing a wonderful Saul Zaik designed home in the SW Hills of Portland Oregon. Saul Zaik is one of Portland's great architects and his classic Northwest designed homes easily withstand the test of time. An article from Portland Modern.com gives a wonderful account of Mr Zaik's genious and influence on Northwest architecture: Here are the first few paragraphs of that article.
Saul Zaik The Dean of Portland Architects
Story by Brian Libby and Bob Zaikoski
At age 82 Saul Zaik still comes to the office each day and he brings with him an irrepressible passion for design. One of the things you realize when you talk with him and review his career is that he has executed an amazing amount of work. Practicing continuously since 1952, his architecture dots the entire Portland metropolitan area and the most picturesque parts of Oregon. He has designed a great many residences and vacation homes, as well as apartment buildings, condominiums, banks, shopping centers, schools, medical and commercial buildings. The first computer center at Oregon State University was a Zaik design. He contributed significantly to developer John Gray’s forward thinking resort developments at Sun River and Salishan, and to the resorts at the Inn at the Seventh Mountain and the Breakers in Cannon Beach. In 1980 his firm Zaik/Miller, along with GBD Architects of Portland, developed a master plan for athletics giant Nike’s corporate headquarters at a site along the Willamette river. (The company later located in Beaverton with a Thompson Vaivoda Architects-designed campus.) Zaik also partnered on the 1968 addition to the Historic Timberline Lodge, did extensive adaptive restoration on the Crater Lake Lodge campus and oversaw the restoration of the Vista House at Crown Point. He helped restore and update two houses by renowned Portland architect Wade Pipes. He was also active in the formation of the Oregon School of Design, the architecture school founded in Portland in the 1980s.
Seminal Portland Modernist A 1973 portrait of Zaik in Symposia magazine started out by saying, "When one thinks of Oregon architecture one immediately envisions weathered wood structures resembling Willamette Valley farm buildings. The Oregon architect of the current generation most sympathetic and skilled with this vernacular is Saul Zaik of Portland. His residences, condominiums and apartments are to be found throughout Oregon, and like his predecessors Pipes, Brookman, Yeon and Belluschi, a Zaik home is easily identifiable. The shapes of his structures are sometimes complex, but always the roof lines are simple, and the resulting building is an easily understood statement of its use and its site."
Asked if he thinks northwest regional is a valid style, Zaik’s response comes without hesitation. "It is absolutely valid,” he says. “It is site-oriented in terms of sun and weather. It respects the vegetation of the site. Our attitude was that the best thing you can do is something nobody can see as they drive down the street. Well, I shouldn't say that. Maybe it is better to say that it is something discreet. I think it has to do with a northwest lifestyle. Our clients were outdoor people, who appreciated the landscape and wanted to be connected to it and to preserve it." That makes for a pretty good manifesto. It’s also a motivation he understands well, for Zaik is an avid skier and outdoorsman with a passion and a respect for the northwest landscape. His thesis project at the University of Oregon was for a ski lodge and recreational development at Diamond Peak in the Willamette pass.
Story by Brian Libby and Bob Zaikoski
At age 82 Saul Zaik still comes to the office each day and he brings with him an irrepressible passion for design. One of the things you realize when you talk with him and review his career is that he has executed an amazing amount of work. Practicing continuously since 1952, his architecture dots the entire Portland metropolitan area and the most picturesque parts of Oregon. He has designed a great many residences and vacation homes, as well as apartment buildings, condominiums, banks, shopping centers, schools, medical and commercial buildings. The first computer center at Oregon State University was a Zaik design. He contributed significantly to developer John Gray’s forward thinking resort developments at Sun River and Salishan, and to the resorts at the Inn at the Seventh Mountain and the Breakers in Cannon Beach. In 1980 his firm Zaik/Miller, along with GBD Architects of Portland, developed a master plan for athletics giant Nike’s corporate headquarters at a site along the Willamette river. (The company later located in Beaverton with a Thompson Vaivoda Architects-designed campus.) Zaik also partnered on the 1968 addition to the Historic Timberline Lodge, did extensive adaptive restoration on the Crater Lake Lodge campus and oversaw the restoration of the Vista House at Crown Point. He helped restore and update two houses by renowned Portland architect Wade Pipes. He was also active in the formation of the Oregon School of Design, the architecture school founded in Portland in the 1980s.
Seminal Portland Modernist A 1973 portrait of Zaik in Symposia magazine started out by saying, "When one thinks of Oregon architecture one immediately envisions weathered wood structures resembling Willamette Valley farm buildings. The Oregon architect of the current generation most sympathetic and skilled with this vernacular is Saul Zaik of Portland. His residences, condominiums and apartments are to be found throughout Oregon, and like his predecessors Pipes, Brookman, Yeon and Belluschi, a Zaik home is easily identifiable. The shapes of his structures are sometimes complex, but always the roof lines are simple, and the resulting building is an easily understood statement of its use and its site."
Asked if he thinks northwest regional is a valid style, Zaik’s response comes without hesitation. "It is absolutely valid,” he says. “It is site-oriented in terms of sun and weather. It respects the vegetation of the site. Our attitude was that the best thing you can do is something nobody can see as they drive down the street. Well, I shouldn't say that. Maybe it is better to say that it is something discreet. I think it has to do with a northwest lifestyle. Our clients were outdoor people, who appreciated the landscape and wanted to be connected to it and to preserve it." That makes for a pretty good manifesto. It’s also a motivation he understands well, for Zaik is an avid skier and outdoorsman with a passion and a respect for the northwest landscape. His thesis project at the University of Oregon was for a ski lodge and recreational development at Diamond Peak in the Willamette pass.
I think that is a beautiful introduction to this great architect. His love of the outdoors is easily seen in his simply elegant designs that blend in seamlessly into their surroundings. In my particlar listing in the Hills, this is estremely evident. The photos here are of my listing. There is also a luxurious one bedroom/one bath guest cottage and geogeous gardens. This private estate is perched overlooking the city and has wonderful views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and the arboretum. If you would like more information please call me at 503 341 1931.
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