A weekend in the Columbia River Gorge outside of Portland, Oregon, gave me a new appreciation for strategically applied "denial and reward" in the landscape.
As #11 in Mattew Frederick's 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School, denial and reward, or a path periodically showing and withholding the view of a destination makes for a rich experience of a place. This is because we develop needs and expectations based on such views and then get a greater sense of satisfaction upon arrival after a trying journey than we would have on an easy one.
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| Driving along the Interstate on the bottom of the Columbia River Gorge, I wonder what is on top of the cliff. |
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| Winding up the Gorge on the Historic Columbia River Highway. |
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| Many well-measured and well-graded twists and turns later, the Highway leads to the historic Vista House on top of the cliff I saw from below. |
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| Just like the Highway, Vista House features suspenseful corners, withholding the view until the last moment. |
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| The rewarding view from Vista House could only have been better if the upper observation floor were open. |
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The Eagle Creek Trail, blasted out of the cliffs in 1916 at the same time as the Highway (constructed 1914-22), is a miniature scenic highway, with another waterfall always hiding just around the next corner.
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