Today and always our hearts and minds are filled with gratitude. We are grateful for the Native lands in which we reside; the mountains that watch over us, the rivers that flow and the abundance of fauna and flora that inhabit our region. We are grateful for our communities that keep us grounded in human connection and for the time this year has provided us for reflection.
Happy Thanksgiving
We’re honored to receive a Merit Award in Placemaking and Identity from SEGD, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, for experiential graphic design installations at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon. MacLaren’s new housing units feature colorful graphics designed by Mayer/Reed and artist Blaine Fontana, in collaboration with DLR Group and the MacLaren youth.
The design team explored authentic story telling with the incarcerated youth who shared images, poems, personal illustrations and stories that represent themes of integrity and transformation. The final graphics – rich with color, symbols, patterns and animal representations – are culturally meaningful for a population over-represented with minority identities.
These courtyard graphics humanize the living environment while supporting the Oregon Youth Authority’s “positive human development” approach. The awards jury appreciated how the work “opens the door for how we should be designing environments to create positive change, especially for those that need our help the most.”
Out of 340 worldwide submissions, 30 were honored with a 2020 SEGD Global Design Award for excellence in experiential graphic design.
Mayer/Reed has promoted landscape architect Shannon Simms to Associate in recognition of her extraordinary professional and design leadership. A leader in active transportation and urban design, she is currently managing the landscape architecture discipline on the Urban Design Team for TriMet’s Southwest Corridor Light Rail that extends from Portland to Tualatin, OR. Shannon has also led the team’s efforts to establish the transportation mode and alignment of the Marquam Hill Connector, a key component of the Southwest Corridor project. Recent experience includes concepts and urban design for the Green Loop and the multi-modal portions of Better Naito in Portland, landscape design for the recently opened Concourse E extension at Portland International Airport, and trail components of the Ebey Waterfront Trail along the Qwuloolt Estuary in Marysville, WA.
The momentum of four years of hard work from 2,000 makers, builders, architects and designers could not be slowed, even by a pandemic. In mid-July, the Port of Portland unveiled its brand-new Concourse E extension, the first of many expansion projects under the PDX Next umbrella. The 800-foot concourse extension designed by Hennebery Eddy Architects and Fentress adds several much-needed gates, local restaurants, shops, artwork and a stunning view of Mt. Hood.
Mayer/Reed has worked at PDX for 25 years and we’re proud to be part of its evolution. For the new extension our landscape architects provided site design including a multi-use path, security fencing and signature landscape along the arrival roadway. At the interior, the extension premieres a new wayfinding sign system. Mayer/Reed collaborated with PDX Sign Master Plan firm, HOK, to realize the new PDX sign standards. We look forward to its implementation throughout the entire Portland International Airport.
