The Visitors Information Center, also known as the Rose Building, is a historic building located in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Built in 1948, it is noted as a prominent product of its architect John Yeon

John Yeon

John Yeon was an American architect in Portland, Oregon, in the twentieth century. He is regarded as one of the early practitioners of the Northwest Regionalist Style of Modernism...

. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

In this, his only major non-residential commission, Yeon combined the principles of the International style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

 with strong influences of the Northwest Regional style, which he pioneered. Northwest Regional elements include the naturally-inspired color scheme, the use of plywood

Plywood

Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...

 walls and louver

Louver

A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...

ed ventilation panels, and concern for the site's unique views.

The building has served as a chamber of commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

 office and information center

Visitor center

A visitor center or centre , visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to the visitors who tour the place or area locally...

, city offices, a restaurant, and the headquarters of the Portland Rose Festival

Portland Rose Festival

The Portland Rose Festival is an annual civic festival held during the month of June in Portland, Oregon. It is organized by the volunteer non-profit Portland Rose Festival Association with the purpose of promoting the Portland region...

. Originally situated adjacent to a freeway

Harbor Drive

Harbor Drive is the name of a street in Portland, Oregon, which was formerly a freeway that carried U.S. Route 99W along the western shore of the Willamette River in the downtown area...

 in a highly-developed waterfront district, the Visitors Information Center was subsequently retained when Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located on the west bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is , comprising 16 tax lots owned by the City of Portland....

was developed around it. It now stands within the park.