We celebrate National Library Week with a look back at Mayer/Reed projects that have become vital resources in their communities—providing access to programs, safe gathering and learning spaces and sense of connection from early learners to seniors. Wayfinding, placemaking and collections signage helps create a welcoming, accessible and inclusive library.
Throughout our history, Mayer/Reed has worked on parks big and small, but none as small yet so significant as the recent redesign of Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon.
For being only 452.16 square inches, Mill Ends Park certainly has a large reputation. Since 1971 it has held the title of World’s Smallest Park in the Guinness Book of World Records. The park’s origins are in the midcentury as a twinkle in the eye of Dick Fagan, an Oregon Journal columnist, whose imagination was sparked by an empty utility pole hole in the middle of SW Naito Parkway (called Front Avenue at the time) at Taylor Street. Looking down from his office, Fagan dreamed up a mythology for the park having to do with a leprechaun named Patrick O’Toole. The park was an object of controversy in 1954 as Fagan battled City Commissioner Bean over the name of the park, which ultimately was called “Mill Ends” after Fagan’s column in the Journal. On St. Patricks’ Day 1976, Mill Ends was officially dedicated as a city park, which makes it two years older than its 36-acre neighbor, Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
Portlanders show this quirky little park a lot of love, frequently decorating it and adding small figurines. It has been the site of protests, weddings, snail races and ceremonial rose plantings. It has hosted every imaginable form of vegetation, which is carefully hand-watered by the staff at Portland Parks and Recreation. With the rise of the selfie era, so too has Mill Ends Park become extensively photographed and shared on social media.
Over the years, Mill Ends has been rebuilt several times as part of upgrades to Naito Parkway. In 2006, the park was briefly relocated to a flowerpot at the World Trade Center while Naito was repaved. More recently, Portland Bureau of Transportation’s bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Naito (known as Better Naito Forever) has again required a rebuild of Mill Ends Park.
Tasked with the redesign, Mayer/Reed, drafted multiple design iterations before selecting a quatrefoil shaped steel form cast in concrete. The new park is located a smidge northwest of its previous location but is not a hair larger than its record-setting size.
As a passionate advocate for the fields of visual communications and experiential graphic design, Mayer/Reed Principal, Kathy Fry, is driven to create opportunities for designers and to promote the values of community placemaking and design excellence. With her recent appointment to President of SEGD, the Society for Experiential Graphic Design, she plans to deepen the organization’s commitment to inclusive design practices, equitable access to design careers, a new web presence and the annual conference – this year in Portland, Oregon.
SEGD is a global multi-disciplinary association for professionals who plan, design and build experiences that connect people to place. The community of over 2,200 members from 35 countries includes graphic, information, media, interaction, exhibition and industrial designers; fabricators; architects; technology integrators; brand strategists; wayfinding specialists; students and teachers.
Around the world, communities gather this season for holiday celebrations of light. During the dark, short days of winter, light is a shared symbol of anticipation, hope and joy expressed through glowing candles, twinkling lights, fireworks and gathering around a fire.
