Standard Insurance Center

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Standard Insurance Center
Standard Insurance Center

The Standard Insurance Center (Originally the Georgia-Pacific Building) is a 27 story office building in Portland, Oregon. It currently serves as part of the headquarters of The Standard (the brand name under which Standard Insurance Company and other subsidiaries of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., do business).

The building was commissioned by Georgia-Pacific and designed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM). At the time of construction, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. The Georgia-Pacific Building was completed in 1971.

When Georgia-Pacific left Portland, the Standard Insurance Company purchased the building, as it needed some more breathing room. It then renamed the building Standard Insurance Center, and removed all GP signage.

One of the most infamous pieces of public artwork in Portland sits prominently on the granite plaza in front of the Standard Insurance Center. Count Alexander Von Svoboda's The Quest features a fountain with nude figures intertwined in a sort of a "swim". However, some Portlanders over the years have drawn their own conclusions as to what the figures are doing and nicknamed the work "Three Groins in a Fountain", "The Grope", "The Quest for the Breast", or "Family Night at the YMCA". At some point a person vandalized the statue, spray-painting a "circle-slash" across the breast of one of the figures. It can still be seen - faded, but still noticeable.


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