The Time the U.S. Invaded a Japanese Submarine Base… in Alaska?
An absolutely fascinating but little-known story—described as a “forgotten theater” by the U.S. Navy itself—is the tale of Kiska and Attu, Alaska: two remote Aleutian islands where the Japanese military established a submarine base during World War II. The islands—surprisingly close to the outer edge of the Japanese archipelago—were to serve as a landing point…
Can Portland Fix a Building That Pretty Much Everyone Despises?
It’s basically a Portlandia sketch: What if a city held a rally to save a building in trouble and no one came? As part of our series Preservation Battle, we look at significant structures at a crossroads, and today we’re examining Portland, Oregon’s very-endangered—yet almost-universally-hated—Portland Building. Designed in 1982 by Target teapot-designing architect Michael Graves,…
