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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 F E B R UA R Y 8 , 2 0 1 6 goal-setting document with some sections that are more than 20 years old. at plan set a goal of add- ing 15,000 residents by 2030, an almost 25% increase over the current population of 66,700. In addition to conducting an online survey of residents to gauge their views on housing densities, protecting historic proper- ties and what the city's role should be in guiding private development, Levine says the city has been taking a closer look at specific neighborhoods, such as India Street, Forest Avenue and East Bayside. "It's really great when you develop a plan and you are patient and you watch it unfold in time," he adds, pointing to the Ocean Gateway complex near the Maine State Pier on the eastern end and the expansion of the International Marine Terminal on the western end as projects fulfilling visions laid out in earlier city plans. Likewise, he says, the proposed mixed-use development of the Portland Co. carries forward many of the ideas spelled out in the city's 2004 Eastern Waterfront Master Plan. "It's not carved in stone," he says, noting that every plan represents a vision tied to a particular moment in time, which can and should be tweaked if present con- ditions change some of the assumptions of the original plan. "It's a balancing act for us." Finding the 'right fit' Alan Kuniholm, a principal of PDT Architects, takes the long view when pondering Portland's growth challenges. He recalls the "huge contro- versy" accompanying the construction of One City Center when he arrived in Portland in 1984, noting that the 13-story office building is now an iconic financial center, home of Bank of America's Maine headquarters, and an anchor of the city's Congress Square mixed-use district. "Look how far we've come," he says. "We're at the crossroads for so many things." Kuniholm, who stepped down as president of Portland Society for Architecture at its Jan. 27 annual meeting, shares the view of his successor, Patrick Costin, that the nonprofit group of archi- tects, engineers, landscape architects and design professionals can play an important role in helping the city chart its future and manage change success- fully. It's why the organization invited the world- renowned Boston-based architect Moshe Safdie to deliver the keynote lecture in the public portion of its annual meeting. "He really focuses on the relationship people have to their built environment," Kuniholm says of Safdie, whose portfolio over five decades includes the $8 billion Marina Bay Sands integrated resort in Singapore (2011) and the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Ark. (2011). "I think that's really important and lends itself to the growing pains we might be going through right now." In an engaging slide lecture featuring a number of case studies from his wide-ranging portfolio of completed projects, Safdie told the audience at the Portland Museum of Art that questions about den- sity, the relationship between old and new and the traditional conflict between the "market knows best" notion of development and the community's efforts to guide that growth through zoning regulations are all vitally important. "I want my buildings to take root and look as if they've always been there," he says, explaining in his writings that the challenge is to find a way "to blend the future and the past." Among the life lessons he conveyed both visually and in stories about some of his more challenging projects, Safdie shared key ideas he hoped would prove useful as Portland engages the challenge of growth: Pay attention to the problem of scale. Pay attention to the connection between a building and the larger infrastructure. Preserve the roots, the essence of place, but resist forces that insist on sameness. Create a space for human interaction, discover the modern equivalent of the piazza, bazaar, agora. Preserve the ritual of public life. It's what enhances the identity of a community. It boils down to "fitness," which Safdie says relates to the way all forms in nature strive to achieve a per- fect fulfillment of their intended function. It's no dif- ferent, he says, for architects, developers and planners responding to the changing needs of a community. Safdie says Portland's challenge going forward will be to create buildings that "resonate" both culturally and spatially to its "essential" needs and qualities. James McCarthy, Mainebiz senior writer, can be reached at jmccarthy @ mainebiz.biz and @ JamesMainebiz Online banking with mobile check deposit Smart Business Checking Growing businesses need more than a checkbook and a smile. They need real. 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