6th Floor Benchmark, a collaboration with Martin Houston, 5MLK, Portland, OR 2020

Conceptually, a benchmark identifies a three-dimensional point in space.

By focusing on a single location, with the location being the first descriptor of that place, the benchmark identifies a position relative to latitude and longitude, as well as to Magnetic and Map North. To truly understand what a place is, however, we must acknowledge how emotion and memory connect us to our immediate physical environment and how that present location relates to the broader world.

Taking this idea inside 5MLK, The 6th Floor Benchmark serves as a unifying link between the world beyond the structure and the environment within. Above and below The 6th Floor Benchmark are smaller survey markers—identified by a triangle with a + (above) or – (below)—that each relate their location to The 6th Floor Benchmark. These survey markers are located in the parking garage, mail room and office spaces, as well as within the private apartments.

Together these relational points create a line with which we can construct our own architectural vision of the building – tying together the global and local, the personal and the shared. The 6th Floor Benchmark hopes to become a destination point for the residents of 5MLK to remind us of our connection to each other through the spaces we inhabit.