An office design in Portland merges old and new architecture in exciting ways.
Category: Portland

NEOWISE Comet Photographed Over Oregon’s Mount Hood
Portland-based photographer Lester Tsai patiently waited for just the right moments to capture these amazing shots of snowcapped Mt. Hood with the NEOWISE comet beautifully positioned overhead.
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Impressive Historical Photos From Mount St. Helen’s Eruption, 40 Years Ago
It was 40 years ago this week that Mount Saint Helens erupted, the biggest eruption in U.S. history, completely changing the shape of the mountain.
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Betsy Walton’s Pacific Northwest Explorations
Portland-based painter Betsy Walton has a thought-provoking and colorful exploration of her native Pacific Northwest through mixed media art.

Beautiful, Realistic Paintings Showcase Animals Carrying Entire Ecosystems On Their Backs
At first glance we thought these images were impressive renderings of animals carrying entire ecosystems on their backs. Upon closer investigation, these hyperrealistic paintings reveal themselves, making the series even …

The Emerald Forest by Mako Miyamoto
Fellow Portlander Mako Miyamoto understands the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, and has captured it fittingly in this series, The Emerald Forest.

Unicorn, the Smart Scooter to Help You Tackle City Life
As the market for scooters is maturing, designers have begun thinking about how these modes of transport can be improved further. Enter the Unicorn, a clever and well-designed scooter that …
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Satirical Paintings by Toni Hamel
Gaze on a collection of vintage-style satirical paintings by artist Toni Hamel.

New Travel Oregon Campaign Channels Hayao Miyazaki
Beautifully fluid and reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, a new ad for Travel Oregon paints a lush and magical picture of the Beaver State. Created by the powerhouse agency …
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William/Kaven Proposes Bold Portland Skyscraper Development
A bold and exciting skyscraper proposal for Portland, Oregon, by William/Kaven Architecture.
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Portland Versus Seattle Infographic – 2018 Edition
For 2018, we've updated our popular Portland Versus Seattle Infographic, which pits the two Pacific Northwest cities against each other.
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Portland’s Japanese Garden Gets a Kengo Kuma Expansion
Kengo Kuma's new $33 million expansion of Portland's Japanese Gardens.
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Neon Skull
Portland artist Eric Franklin has some new neon skulls out, and they are amazing. It looks like The Terminator was dipped in radioactive goo and then set alight. Beautiful stuff. …
Art Project
In their third season, it seems as if Portlandia is hitting their stride. I laughed audibly during this short bit, Art Project.
Ice Hike
I took a great little hike this past weekend with my friend Trevor. Walls of icicles met us on our path, and with temperatures around 36° F, whole sections of frozen …
Pacific Northwest Timelapse
Here’s a little calm and beauty for your busy Wednesday. John Eklund spent a year creating this timelapse piece, and in it are over 260,000 still images. Purely Pacific Northwest …
ParaNorman
ParaNorman is a new stop-motion film due out this month by the animation firm Laika. Based in Portland, Laika has gotten critical praise for its first foray into feature films, …
Faraday Porteur
Hot on the heels of a story of a cardboard bike comes something a little more high tech, but similarly ingenious. Just two blocks from my office is a bicycle …
Grove Skateboard Backs
My friend Joe runs Grove, a design/creative shop in Portland that makes iPhone and iPad cases. Joe started by engraving Moleskine journals and iPods. When the iPhone blew up, he …
Louie at the Coast
I promise not to post too much about my new puppy Louie, but on a slow design day, I figured I’d share some snapshots of my new pal from the …
Cheetah + Dog = Best Friends?
© Busch Gardens Tampa Bay A lovely story to ease you into the weekend. Let’s all just get along! Via TreeHugger: Cats and dogs are usually thought of as obvious …
The Story of Sushi
I was excited to see that this dramatic story of sushi-and the problems it causes for our oceans- was created for Bamboo Sushi right here in Portland. I eat there …
Portland’s Streetcar Mobile Music Fest
Just came upon this little gem, wish I could have been riding the streetcar during some of the performances. Another reason why Portland is vibrant. Goofy, fun stuff like this …
Stunning
Unlike most industries, automotive design arguably already hit it’s zenith years ago. Though the features available in cars today are mind boggling, their pure forms are, frankly, pretty lame compared …
The Bikeification of Clinton
Long known for its bike-friendliness, Portland has made big strides in improving safe access to cyclists all over the city. Dangerous bridges and overpasses have been transformed and retrofitted with …
New Job: Exxon!
UPDATE: For some reason, this post is a well-visited one. I would remind people of the date of the post: April 1st. Exxon is one of the scurges of the …
Somethin’s Brewin…..
Not sure if you’ve noticed yet, but benvanderveen.com is all new. I’ve chosen a new format, new style, and new platform. The internet is evolving nicely, and keeping my website …