We Stand With Youth: Global Climate Strike
09.19.19
On Friday, September 20, Bora will join a Global Climate Strike, inspired by the millions of youth worldwide that have led regular school strikes ever since Greta Thunberg started protesting outside Sweden’s parliament building. We recognize that time is running out to drastically change the way we do business if we have any hope of avoiding…
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Team Mies Van der RUN finishes its 4th Hood to Coast!
09.03.19
For the 4th year running, 12 Borites participated in Hood to Coast, an annual, 36-leg, 200-mile relay race that starts at Timberline Lodge and ends in Seaside, OR. This year we raised over $12,000 for Providence Cancer Research and team Mies Van der RUN (a nod to the famed German-American architect) came in 435th out…
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Oregon Paid Family Medical Leave Signed into Law in Bora’s Studio
08.09.19
This morning Governor Kate Brown signed the Oregon Paid Family Leave Bill into law in Bora’s own Design Lab, making Oregon just the 8th state to pass such legislation. It is the most inclusive and accessible bill in the country, ensuring paid leave for part-time and low-income workers and is funded by both employees and…
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Bora Participates in Architects in Schools
06.24.19
Earlier this year Bora employees worked with teachers at McKinney Elementary School in Hillsboro, OR to build a curriculum entitled “Imagine the Future” as part of our annual participation in the Architects in Schools program. The classes began with students practicing how to draw to scale and make different structural shapes like columns, arches, trusses,…
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Collaborating in VR: Bora + The Wild
06.10.19
Bora has been expanding our use and understanding of VR in several ways over the past year, from our panel and exhibit during Design Week Portland to our embrace of emerging tools in our current projects. One of the most exciting developments is our adoption of The Wild – a VR collaboration platform that enables…
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Bora Awarded Pilot Grant to Support Business Diversity + Inclusion
05.02.19
Bora is actively engaged in increasing awareness about equity and bias in our profession and our practice. But when it comes to identifying and addressing implicit biases, an experienced facilitator is essential. That’s why we’re grateful to Prosper Portland for awarding us one of their first Inspiring Diversity Grants! This will support the launch of our Equity…
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The Materials Pledge
04.23.19
We have joined with 55 other signatories to issue an open letter to product manufacturers, stating our commitment to design and build with holistically optimized materials.
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Congratulations New Associates + Associate Principals!
03.22.19
Bora Architects is pleased to announce the promotions of our newest Associates and Associate Principals.
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Bora Hosts AFO Fellows
02.26.19
Last night, we hosted the Architecture Foundation of Oregon Winter Member Gathering, featuring their latest Van Evera Bailey Fellows Jennifer Wright and Richard Potestio. Both gave presentations on the work they’ve been doing as part of their fellowships, followed by Q+A sessions with the gathered attendees, and an opportunity to socialize and tour Bora’s studio….
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Second Annual MLK Day of Service
01.22.19
Once again, the Bora office was closed on Monday for our annual MLK Day of Service. Everyone signed up for one of five different volunteering opportunities, allowing us to expand our reach (and avoid overwhelming any of our hosts with 65+ excited volunteers). The day culminated with happy hour at Ecliptic Brewing, where we gathered…
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Mike Manzi Contributes to Parsons Healthy Materials Lab Online Courses
10.30.18
Parsons Healthy Materials Lab has created a series of online learning courses specifically designed for professionals, dedicated to making the built environment the best (and healthiest!) that it can be. This innovative program is the first of its kind and brings together a group of 60 interdisciplinary experts at the top of their fields to…
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High School Talent
08.16.18
Each summer, Bora participates in Summer Works, a paid internship program for young adults from ages 16-24 that connects them to meaningful internships aligning with their interests and providing real world training. This year, we were delighted to host Ben Brandenburger, a student at Portland’s Lincoln High School and a member of its Design Advisory…
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#QuestionComfort – Design Week Portland Microdocumentary
07.17.18
April seems like so long ago, now that summer is here…Was Design Week Portland just a dream? No! And we have the micro-documentary to prove it. Now you can relive months of hard work and planning, in a satisfying bite-sized package. Enjoy! For more info on this project, take a look at posts here and here.
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Team Bora Wraps Another Bike-to-Work-Month Challenge
06.01.18
2018 marks the 11th year Bora has participated in Portland’s Bike-to-Work-Month Challenge. Organized by The Street Trust, this annual event encourages Portlanders to dust off their bikes after winter and generates some friendly competition between local businesses. Once again, Borites produced some impressive statistics motivated in no particular order by sustainable living, Friday bagels, physical…
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Metropolis Recap: Designing Programs and Spaces for Interdisciplinary Learning
05.16.18
Last Wednesday, Bora’s design lab was filled with architects, students, educators, and our wonderful panel moderated by Metropolis’ director of design innovation, Susan S. Szenasy. Principals Michael Tingley and Amy Donohue, together with Jon Dorbolo (Oregon State University), and Linda Wagner (University of Washington), took a deep dive into the ways technology, evolving social habits,…
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Bora Hosting Metropolis Think Tank Panel on Disruption + Innovation in Academia
05.07.18
Bora is excited to announce that, in partnership with Metropolis Magazine’s Think Tank series, we will be hosting a panel discussion addressing Innovation and Disruption in the Academy. Follow this link to register for the event (seating is limited!), and read on for more information. Motivated by the start-up model and enabled by unprecedented access…
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Disruptive Design Thinking – Design Week Panel ft. Chris Linn
03.21.18
We know you’ve already got your calendars marked for our big Design Week Portland event “Comfortable? Fabric and the Threshold of Shelter” on April 19, 4-8PM. But that’s not all we’re up to for DWP. Come join us for a rare opportunity to shake up your design strategy with advice from a panel of industry leaders in…
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Fabric, Shelter, and Collaboration at Design Week Portland
03.15.18
Comfortable? Fabric and the Threshold of Shelter We’ve been scheming for months on something special for Design Week Portland, and we want you to join us! This is a free event, but space is limited, so sign up on eventbright now! What’s this all about, you ask? Read on… Americans have steadily moved away from architecture…
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First Annual MLK Day of Service
01.15.18
This year on Martin Luther King Day, we closed the office and dedicated our time to two local community programs working to saving lives and protect the environment. Some 45 Boraites joined Red Cross employees as part of the Home Fire Campaign, which seeks to educate households about fire safety and offers installation of smoke…
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‘Tis The Giving Season!
12.24.17
Our annual holiday party was on December 15th, complete with visits from the elf cart, delicious food and drink, and some stylish Boraites dressed in their finest winter threads. Our theme this year was “Fancy” and everyone delivered! But a Bora holiday party would be incomplete without a silent auction. Every year, folks in the…
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Adventures in Custom Table Top Design – Part 2
12.02.17
“Do, Learn, Adjust” is a common refrain in our office. When our minimal surface table top failed to hold after being removed from its frame, the Bassline team quickly decided we needed to stick with the form of our design, and find a way to fabricate it with the tools and materials already present in…
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Adventures in Custom Table Top Design – Part 1
11.16.17
We love a design challenge. Especially when it means we get to try something we’ve never done before. So when Bora was among 6 firms invited to design a custom table top for Turnstone’s Bassline product line, we jumped into gear. We selected a large rectangular base for our table, and had a week to…
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Water Avenue Yards and Design Museum Portland
11.03.17
Early this morning, over 80 people gathered at an event space in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District to drink some coffee, eat some pastries, and listen to Michael Tingley talk about Water Avenue Yards. The event was organized by Design Museum Portland, a nomadic museum that hosts community discussions on topics across diverse disciplines, with…
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Hovering over Neskowin Beach
08.22.17
One of the great things about having our own beach house is having the folks who stay there send us videos like this one. Courtesy of a recent Bora family excursion, enjoy this drone footage of paradise!
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Mentoring PSU Master of Real Estate Development Students
08.11.17
Along with the work we’ve done on their campus, Bora has had the privilege of partnering with Portland State University as an academic and professional resource since 2012. This summer, we committed to acting as architectural consultants/mentors for a studio class in the Master of Real Estate Development program. The team consists of 6 graduate…
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Emma Abramowitz Inaugurated as IIDA Oregon Chapter President
07.20.17
On July 13, The IIDA Oregon Chapter held its Annual Celebration and Fundraiser, the Picnic Classic. This event doubles as our Annual Meeting and is also our largest fundraiser for the year. We had a great turnout and thanks to ticket purchases, our sponsors and raffle donations, raised funds to continue implementation of the engaging programming…
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Bora Floats – Surprises + Successes
07.17.17
What a day! The weather was warm and sunny, the river was cool and calm, the waterfront was buzzing with activity, and there was a shaved ice stand. Honestly, what more could you ask for? By all measures, our Fruitloop was a success, even though it didn’t turn out quite how we expected. We had…
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Noodlecraft – Testing the Waters
07.08.17
We want our watercraft to have a spatial quality, so that it can be occupied in more than one way. It also needs to stay upright, and safely support multiple people. After churning on some scratch models (physical and digital), and experimenting with how to join and shape pool noodles, we landed on a form…
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Most Outlandish Watercraft – Materials and Prototyping
07.03.17
The Big Float is rapidly approaching, and the Bora crew has been busy. As an informal LaBoratory initiative, we’ve approached this Outlandish Watercraft challenge as a means of supporting Bora’s culture of making, the integration of craft and technology, and our belief in the power of “artful moments” to bring joy, wonder and delight. In…
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Surface Into Form: Exhibits + Workshops
06.16.17
Are you looking for some design-oriented activities to spice up your calendar over the next couple months? Are you interested in exploring the interplay of light and simple materials through surface manipulation? Hopefully you answered yes, because that’s what this post is about. Marziah Rajabzadeh, one of Bora’s newest faces, collaborated on this exhibit with…
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The Big Float – We Love Our Willamette River
06.14.17
We here at Bora are big fans of the Willamette River. In fact, creating improved access to the river was a major component of our Water Avenue Yards design/research effort. Now that the sunshine seems to have stuck, we’re dusting off our swimming suits and getting ready for the 7th annual Big Float on July…
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Support for the Paris Agreement – We Are Still In
06.02.17
Bora recognizes the broad scientific consensus on climate change, and believes that urgent, global action is needed. Despite the recent decision to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, we remain committed to doing our part in bringing down carbon emissions, and creating environments that are both beautiful and sustainable. For this reason, we have…
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Bora Wins When Work Works Award for Second Year
05.18.17
We are honored to be the recipient of a 2017 When Work Works Award for exemplary workplace practices. The award recognizes employers of all sizes across the country that are excelling at offering a variety of top-rated employee initiatives such as work-life fit policies, flexible scheduling, and transition to parenthood programs. The award goes beyond…
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Exploring 360 Video on the Beaverton Jobsite
04.26.17
After his last visit to the Mountainside High School site, Jeremy Larsen came back with some 360 still photos captured on his phone. It was a great way to experience the project’s scale, and feel more immersed in the space, but a phone camera is still a phone camera. So this time, Jeremy went out…
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Congratulations New Associates!
04.05.17
Bora Architects is delighted to announce our newest Associates. Project Designer Abe Cambier, RA, has been with us for over a decade. His skill and expertise contributed to the success of projects including the Earlham College Center for Visual and Performing Arts, the Knight Management Center at Stanford University, and the new School of Music…
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Gray Magazine Panel Discussion: The Workplace Design Revolution
03.20.17
On March 23, Gray Magazine will be hosting a panel discussion in Portland, looking at the way workplace design is evolving. Bora’s very own Sarah Weber will be a panelist, offering her insights and observations based on deep experience with clients like Microsoft, Airbnb, and Google. I asked Sarah if she had any thoughts about…
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Striving for a Carbon-Neutral Office
02.02.17
For the past eleven years, Bora has been purchasing carbon offsets from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, as part of our sustainable operations action plan. As signatories to the Architecture 2030 Commitment since 2012, we’ve been part of the movement pushing for all new buildings to be carbon-neutral by 2030. Good habits start at home, and…
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Why Bora Advocates for Action on Climate Change
01.01.17
Now that election season has drawn to a close, we’re left with many questions. How will this impact our country, the international community, and the planet we steward? Here is one thing we know: Bora Architects is committed to architecture that reflects our core values socially, ecologically, and economically. From material selection to opening day,…
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Happy Holidays from the Bora Elves
12.22.16
The Holiday Elf Cart is a long-standing tradition here at Bora. Every year, on the day of the holiday party, our Principals disappear. In their place, a gang of festive elves with unfortunate but forgivable fashion sense wheels around the office, delivering libations to all on the “Nice” list. From the ugly sweaters at Bora, may your days be…
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Portland AIA Honors Cosmopolitan
11.17.16
The Portland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects honored The Cosmopolitan as part of their annual Architecture Awards. The program celebrates the best work by Oregon architects. To see a full list of winners visit the AIA Portland website.
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Bora Architects Named AIA Northwest + Pacific Region Firm of the Year!
11.07.16
Bora Architects is honored to be the recipient of the 2016 Firm of the Year Award for the AIA Northwest & Pacific Region. This award recognizes not only a consistent pattern of excellence in design, but also a firm’s dedication to extending the boundaries of traditional architectural practice, long record of community engagement, and commitment…
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Portland Makes Metropolis’ Top 10
09.23.16
We love our city. We love living here, working here, biking in the rain, and floating the river on a hot day. Like any major urban center, we have our challenges, and they are not trivial. But Portland’s reputation as a beautiful, liveable city is well-deserved. So although we didn’t expect to see “Stumptown” listed…
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Exploring Virtual and Augmented Reality
07.20.16
In recent months, Bora has been exploring new ways of visualizing unbuilt spaces. Revit, Rhino, and other 3D modeling programs have become the industry standards for producing everything from renderings to construction documents, but these tools still fall short of providing fully immersive experiences. There is always a tension between presenting a design concept that…
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Finley House Featured on Archdaily
06.20.16
We love the Oregon coast. It’s hard to resist the stunning views, the forested cliffs and sentinel lighthouses, and the nestled beaches strewn with pebbles warmed by the summer sun. Even in the winter, when the fog rolls in and the horizon disappears, a day at the coast is a welcome break from Portland’s hustle….
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Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center in ArchDaily’s Top 100 Projects
06.09.16
ArchDaily, the world’s most visited architecture website, has just highlighted the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center as a top 100 project! We’re excited to have Bora’s work recognized on the website that is most people’s go-to source for transformative, beautiful architecture. To view the Wagner Noël feature, along with the other projects selected, click here!
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We’re Golden! Sustainability at Work in PDX
05.30.16
We’ve reached the end of another May, which means the end of another Bike More Challenge. After a month of solid cycling, what better way to celebrate than with Gold certification from the City of Portland’s Sustainability at Work program! In order to meet the eligibility criteria for Gold, we needed to disclose information about…
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Bora Wins “When Work Works” Award
05.19.16
We’re honored to be recipients of this prestigious national award, and proud to be listed along with other Oregon businesses recognized for their policy leadership. We consider our employees to be our greatest asset. Supporting them in their personal lives is critical so they can come to the office ready to do their best creative…
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Governor Kate Brown Pays Bora a Visit
05.09.16
As you may have noticed, we’re strong advocates for paid family leave. We believe it’s the right thing to do for our employees, and we know it has a net positive effect financially as well. So we haven’t exactly been shy about encouraging other businesses to embrace a similar approach. Apparently we’ve been loud enough…
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Design Week Portland Recap: Potential in the Central Eastside
04.25.16
Last Tuesday we hosted a panel as part of Design Week Portland, discussing the current and potential future state of the Central Eastside. With over 70 people in attendance, the event was engaging and lively. The ideas our panelists and audience members brought to the table were thoughtful and challenging, ranging from major infrastructural interventions…
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Center for Parental Leave Leadership Features Bora as Case Study
04.22.16
Since rolling it out last year, we’re continuing to see the benefits of offering paid family leave, and we truly believe that it’s both the right and the smart thing to do for our employees. We’re proud to be featured on the Center for Parental Leave Leadership blog as a case study in how to…
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Hoyt Block 20 Renderings
04.11.16
Continuing to build on our successful relationship with Portland’s Hoyt Street Properties, Bora has just submitted Block 20 Condominiums for design review. We’re really happy with the way these renderings turned out, and wanted to share. These images are a reflection of the design as it currently stands, but we think they capture the character…
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Groundbreaking at PPS Faubion/Concordia University
04.07.16
This morning, we celebrated the official Faubion School ground breaking with Concordia and PPS. It was an exciting and gratifying moment, and we’re proud of our part in realizing this trail-blazing vision. This new school will do so much to enrich the relationship between Concordia Universtity and Faubion students, families, and community. There was a…
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Exploring Acoustic Diffusion
03.09.16
We work on a lot of auditoria, theaters, and lecture halls—spaces where acoustics are paramount. Between education and performing arts, much of the work we do involves optimizing an audial connection in large spaces full of excited people. We’re always thinking about how to do it better, but sometimes you have to make study opportunities…
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Bora is now a four letter word.
02.27.16
Meet Bora Architects. You might recognize us, since we’ve been pretty well known as Boora Architects for a long time. Our legacy of creating meaningful architecture with our clients remains. But we’ve also changed. There’s a fresh optimism in our practice, fueled by a new generation of leaders working together with the most talented staff…
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A Bora Baby Shower!
01.15.16
Bora recently celebrated first time parents-to-be Kate and Johnny with a baby shower in the Design Lab. Guests snacked on homemade treats including caramel corn and cookies, and a small collection of gifts were presented – made possible by generous staff donations. Kate has been with Bora for seven years. Check out the customized baby…
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The Bora Holiday Party!
01.01.16
Bora hosted our annual Holiday Party and charity auction in the recently completed Literary Arts event space. Designed pro-bono by our wonderful interiors group, it provides a much needed gathering place for Literary Arts’ numerous events and workshops. The evening was filled with laughter and celebration, and one of our staff gave everyone a sneak…
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A refreshing dip in the Willamette River
09.09.15
As tradition, we closed our office for an all staff field trip this past summer. This year, the group headed down to Corvallis to tour the recently completed Learning Innovation Center at OSU, and made a stop at the Rogue Tasting Room for some refreshments and excellent bbq. Throwing a wrench into the mix, on one of the hottest…
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Bora Adopts Paid Family Leave Policy
06.19.15
Our 65 employees now have access to 6 weeks of paid leave at up to 60% of their salary for maternity and paternity leave, to care for a sick child/parent/spouse, to bereave the loss of a family member, or to mend from a serious personal injury or illness. The United States is one of only…
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