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Rearview Mirror 1.1 is part of a continuing series of articles at Suite101.com Architecture! Every few weeks, the series explores aspects of our built environment created by both architecture and "non-architecture" alike. We are always looking for new places to visit on our virtual roadtrip, so please feel free to send us your comments and ideas for future installments.
This chapter of the Rearview Mirror continues a journey toward the Pacific, exploring the great expanses of the American West. And not far from the highway that follows the immense Columbia River Gorge between the borders of Washington and Oregon, lies a well-crafted example of the past. Timberline Lodge, located east of Portland on the snow-crested slopes of 11,000 ft. Mt. Hood, stands as a pure example of Cascadian architecture as well as a legacy to those who created this remarkable structure. While many people may recognize the exterior of the lodge from Stanley Kubrick's suspense-thriller The Shining, it is the craftsmanship of the immense interior that perhaps offers the greatest thrill to anyone who visits. The lodge, constructed by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression era of the 1930s, employed the efforts of hundreds of craftspeople and artists. Every detail of the lodge was handmade in the arts and crafts tradition: hewn beams, wrought iron, carved linoleum, furniture, fixtures, mosaics, murals, and textiles. Inspired by pioneer, Native American, and wildlife themes indigenous to the region, the lodge and its furnishings utilized local materials in its construction as well. It is unique in America, the only twentieth-century public building of its size constructed and furnished entirely by hand with original craft work. Today, Timberline Lodge has been carefully restored and is faithfully maintained in the spirit of its original design by the Friends of Timberline, a non-profit organization started in 1975. While the lodge still serves as an inn to thousands of visitors each year, it is in a sense also a living museum. Timberline Lodge provides a showcase for its permanent, catalogued exhibition of 1930s American design, painting, and regional crafts of the Pacific Northwest. It is a collection of work created under extraordinary circumstances for a special purpose: to furnish and decorate a mountain lodge for skiers, hikers, and lovers of the outdoors. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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