Reimagining Portland’s Waterfront: Interplay Joins International Design Competition Team

Written By Camille E. Trummer
Aerial view of downtown Portland and the Willamette River at sunset, featuring Tom McCall Waterfront Park in the foreground.

© Andrew Baum

Interplay is proud to partner with London-based Malcom Reading Consultants (MRC) and Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) on the upcoming international design competition for the Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park Bowl redevelopment project.

Launching in Summer 2026, the competition will invite multidisciplinary design teams from around the world to help reimagine one of Portland’s most iconic public spaces—strengthening connections between Downtown, the Willamette River, and the communities that shape the city’s identity.

As part of the project team, Interplay will lead the community engagement strategy for the competition. Our work will include stakeholder engagement, public events, and a public exhibition and feedback processes designed to ensure community perspectives are meaningfully integrated at key moments throughout the design process.

At a time when Portland is actively reflecting on its future, this project represents more than a design opportunity. It is a chance to explore how public space can reflect the values, priorities, and lived experiences of the people who call the city home.

We’re honored to support a process that is both visionary and grounded—and excited to help translate Portlanders’ ideas, aspirations, and perspectives into actionable insight that strengthens the competition and informs future placemaking.

Read the full project announcement and competition website.

Camille E. Trummer

Camille is a values-driven social impact strategist and facilitator. As our Founder and Principal Interplayer, she simultaneously sets the vision and values, and leads by example at the ground level. She’s dedicated over a decade of her career to mobilizing communities, mission-driven organizations, and ambitious individuals to solve our society’s most pressing issues to achieve sustainable, justice-driven change. She lives and works by her mantra: the world can be different if we dare to dream it so.

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