Portlandia, Portland, OR, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

Portlandia is a monumental hammered copper statue of a kneeling woman holding a trident, mounted above the entrance of the Portland Building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Made by sculptor Raymond Kaskey and installed in 1985, she is the second-largest hammered copper statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty. She reaches down toward the sidewalk on SW 5th Avenue, so you can see her from street level.

The story behind it

The statue exists because of the building under her. When architect Michael Graves designed the Portland Building, which opened in 1982, it was hailed as one of the first major postmodern buildings and criticised almost as loudly. Graves drew on the city seal, which shows a woman with a trident, often called Lady Commerce, and wanted her to come to life over the door.

Kaskey made her with repoussé, an old and slow technique in which sheets of copper are hammered by hand into shape. The figure was built in sections and shipped to Portland, then brought up the Willamette River by barge in 1985 before being lifted into place. Crowds turned out to watch her travel through the city. Kaskey kept the rights to her image, which is why she shows up on so few souvenirs.

What to look for

• Look at her outstretched hand, which reaches down from the building toward people on the pavement below.
• Notice the trident in her other hand, a direct echo of the figure on the Portland city seal.
• Step back across the street to take in the full crouching pose, which is about 35 feet tall, and compare her scale with the building's small windows.
• Look at the Portland Building itself, with its painted colour blocks and chunky square forms, a defining example of 1980s postmodern design.

Tips for your visit

• Ten to fifteen minutes is enough to see the statue, take photos and read the building's facade.
• Viewing her from the street costs nothing. The Portland Building is a working city office building, so check current access before planning to go inside.
• Daylight gives the clearest view of the copper and the building's colours, and the street is usually quieter outside weekday rush hours.
• The statue sits in the heart of downtown, so it combines easily with a walk through the surrounding blocks and nearby Pioneer Courthouse Square.

See it on a quest

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Portland, OR takes you on foot through downtown, with Portlandia as one of the stops. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Kid Quest: Solve the case of the lost senses in Portland is a good fit for families, since children get to look up at the statue and solve a puzzle on the spot rather than just listen to facts. One ticket covers the whole group.

Portland’s Peregrine Heist: The Leprechaun Gold Quest is a treasure-hunt style walk that passes Portlandia along its route. You can start whenever you like, with no guide and no group to join, and one ticket covers everyone you play with.