2050 Vision for Central City Design Charrette

July, 11. 2025
By: Heather Flint Chatto

On June 27-28, 2025 Architectural Heritage Center hosted an amazing two-day 2050 Vision for Central City Design Charrette. We were joined by approximately 30+ incredible designers, planners, sponsors, participants and public presentation attendees. The caliber of expertise in the room was spectacular and it was wonderful to have City of Portland staff in attendance from BPS, BES, PBOT and Parks both drawing ideas and lending additional planning perspectives. Over the course of Friday and Saturday four teams (two for downtown, one Central East Side, and one for the waterfront) collaborated to develop short, mid, and long-term design solutions for the Central City.

Key topics included place making, preservation, new and adaptive housing, rethinking our approach to streets, greening our districts, creating urban villages, programming the Willamette River surface, adding public spaces and more. Ultimately, creating more connectivity and economic and cultural vitality within the Central City.

Special shout out to all the CityClub Committee of the Built Environment (CoBE) charrette planning group participants for their time, creative contributions and dedication in helping coproduce this visionary event! Also thanks to our amazing staff and to Precision Images for all the printing, Blick for art supplies, CNU Cascadia for helping sponsor the food, and to other donors for making this free public design event possible. 

Over the Summer we’ll be fine tuning and sharing more of these bold ideas and proposals with our partners, the City and the larger community via additional events. Stay tuned and follow us to learn more…

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