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  #341  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2018, 9:34 PM
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JACKinBeantown JACKinBeantown is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sigaven View Post
What are the originals?
This is what I meant... the ones I thought were going to be built. If they're not actually the originals, I apologize for poor word choice.


https://goo.gl/images/re6tny
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  #342  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2018, 9:36 PM
mklunder13 mklunder13 is offline
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The designs, in my opinion, look more like some office park you'd see by SeaWorld or along 1604. It's just okay. But for an okay design to be in the "most prominent corner" of SA, yeah, that's a little bit disappointing.
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  #343  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2018, 11:06 PM
SAtown SAtown is offline
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Originally Posted by Sigaven View Post
I dunno, am I the only one who actually likes those designs? It looks like the detailing, if accurate in the renderings, will be what makes those buildings special. The coffered window surrounds, heavy masonry podium with patterns in the brickwork, that beautiful arch. At leas tthis is all for the curved building. The last rendering with the multiple barrel vaults is intriguing too. Recalls 60's formalist design that much of Hemisfair '68 was designed with. -

Sure, there's nothing outlandish here like a Frank Gehry or Daniel Libeskind-esque deconstructivist monster, but I think this is a hell of a lot more exciting and different than your typical shiny, boxy glass clusters you see just about everywhere else.

It seems these designs really have texture, mass, and intricate detailing - something you rarely see anymore.
I LOVE it. The detail is going to be what really sets this apart--I want more renderings of the ground level!!! There appear to be lots of trees and tunnels and RETAIL! It's going to be so vibrant!
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  #344  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 12:22 AM
micahinsa micahinsa is offline
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Awful.

Looks like something from 1993.
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  #345  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 1:41 AM
AwesomeSAView AwesomeSAView is offline
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It's one of the best designs I have ever seen for the Civic Park!
It will be inviting for tourists and locals!

SORRY NAYSAYERS, THIS IS HAPPENING!
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  #346  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 3:55 AM
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Please don't label me or anyone else a "naysayer" for stating their opinion about the design... especially by "shouting" in all caps.

Is the project being built? Yes. Is it an acceptable design? Yes. Do I think it's great? No. Am I allowed to state my opinion? Yes. Are you happy with the design? Apparently you are. Good for you. I'm happy for you. Please don't feel the need to gloat, especially about a project someone else is responsible for in terms of design, financing, and project management. Let's all be kind to each other.

There, I've stated both my opinion and a plea for civility. I also did it with proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. I also used an Oxford comma twice.
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  #347  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 4:18 AM
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The designs are nice, but compared to Gensler’s design, hell, even the other ones on here, this design is a major let down. Hopefully it adds some great retail.
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  #348  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 5:45 AM
AwesomeSAView AwesomeSAView is offline
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Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown View Post
Please don't label me or anyone else a "naysayer" for stating their opinion about the design... especially by "shouting" in all caps.

Is the project being built? Yes. Is it an acceptable design? Yes. Do I think it's great? No. Am I allowed to state my opinion? Yes. Are you happy with the design? Apparently you are. Good for you. I'm happy for you. Please don't feel the need to gloat, especially about a project someone else is responsible for in terms of design, financing, and project management. Let's all be kind to each other.

There, I've stated both my opinion and a plea for civility. I also did it with proper grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. I also used an Oxford comma twice.

Sorry, but I NEVER mentioned anyone by name as a naysayer.
And "Naysayer" is not a derogatory comment. It is all good!!
And ALL CAPS does not necessarily mean I'm shouting. Sorry... Again, it's all good!!
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  #349  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 5:47 AM
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Originally Posted by The Model View Post
Yea, I'm not feeling it at all.
Feels like something outdated. Also that 8 story building is very wide. We don't need another wall like the Grand Hyatt!
Some of the design also looks like its paying tribute to the former Henry B. Convention Center.

If everyone were to read the article in depth, this will not be "another wall" like you all LABEL the Grand Hyatt; this hotel will have a CURVED FACADE.
IMO, it is an excellent, well thought out design, and so much better than Gensler's design.
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  #350  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 5:57 AM
Fryguy Fryguy is offline
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Disgusting. Looks like something from the 60s out of a small town in middle Texas. What a missed opportunity in a prime spot.
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  #351  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 6:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Fryguy View Post
Disgusting. Looks like something from the 60s out of a small town in middle Texas. What a missed opportunity in a prime spot.
LOL!
Too funny

Correction: What a missed opportunity "for" a prime spot.

IMO, opinion, it is an excellent design for the so called "prime spot".
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  #352  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 7:14 AM
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Already outdated looking
__________________
Finance books chess engineering space ai. 2018 dump equities buy gold
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  #353  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 7:39 AM
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Express-News has another view from inside the Civic Park:



No doubt the outer curvature with the window coffering of the hotel was also inspired by the Tower of the Americas. Seeing now the interior side, even though this image is not from ground level, I wonder if the tower itself would be reflected on the glass wall of inner curve.

As big a flight deck roofline as they have atop the office building, it's too bad they couldn't have somehow made a full rooftop park to overlook the lower Civic Park. Something to make it all less of a sterile, suburban corporate office park and perhaps more of a tighter, downtown park. You can see that they tentatively want to do it with a couple little corner roof gardens, but they are not being daring enough to go all the way.

Unfortunately, we do not see here what the future residential component also flanking the Source Plaza with the hotel will look like. That was probably the most attractive part of the Gensler rendering and is key to framing the tower view at the corner plaza gateway into the park. Zachry's previous renderings suggest something much flatter than Gensler's. I admit, I would have been thrilled with Gomez Vazquez's futuristic W Hotel arch.
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  #354  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 11:40 AM
chancla chancla is offline
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It's underwhelming. The designs are blah. Totally in agreement.

On the positive side, I'm glad the buildings are more glass than they are prefab concrete. I'm glad that the hotel is now parallel to the Hilton Palacio and not at that weird 35 degree angle. I also am satisfied with the massing of the buildings. They aren't too big or imposing to take away from the "great lawn" experience I was hoping for.

My only big negatives are the ground floor arches and nods to the old Henry B. It's like they finally got a clue and tore down the last old convention center building, only to miss the ugly thing for some sentimental reason and bring it back from the dead. San Antonio is great because it's old AND new. Let this be something new.
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  #355  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 11:52 AM
Fryguy Fryguy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView View Post
LOL!
Too funny

Correction: What a missed opportunity "for" a prime spot.

IMO, opinion, it is an excellent design for the so called "prime spot".
umm... okay. As a published writer, I guess I still have a lot to learn, though I do not see how either "for" or "in" are wrong or right in context. Aside from grammar correcting, do you have something to add to the "opinion" of mine or are you just trying to incite soliloquy through use of grammar correction?

I'll wait.
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  #356  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 12:23 PM
Fryguy Fryguy is offline
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Originally Posted by chancla View Post
It's underwhelming. The designs are blah. Totally in agreement.

On the positive side, I'm glad the buildings are more glass than they are prefab concrete. I'm glad that the hotel is now parallel to the Hilton Palacio and not at that weird 35 degree angle. I also am satisfied with the massing of the buildings. They aren't too big or imposing to take away from the "great lawn" experience I was hoping for.

My only big negatives are the ground floor arches and nods to the old Henry B. It's like they finally got a clue and tore down the last old convention center building, only to miss the ugly thing for some sentimental reason and bring it back from the dead. San Antonio is great because it's old AND new. Let this be something new.

Well stated. I do not like this design at all. At all. But you made some good points. The only positive, I find, is something you said as well - It doesn't completely block out the Hilton Hotel. This isn't New York, there is plenty of room. We don't need to block off buildings; well, unless its that damn Indigo Hotel (hehe).

We could have had something similar to Millennium Park in Chicago, what a shame. They could have used many local artists to improve the overall concept and design. We have many great local artists...

I have said this many times over through the years; San Antonio is in a unique position to offer both old and modern, while still retaining its small city with its unique architecture. I only wish it wasn't completely all "small" city conceptualizations in its designs and structures.

Please, San Antonio, MOVE PAST THE 1960s! The Tower of Americas is nice, but its just a restaurant, and it was only meant to be used for an event. Build with it, not around it. Similarly, I do not see cities such as Melbourne, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Innsbruck, Grenoble or Mexico City (some cities of the Olympics, note the period of time) harping on their singular event achievements. While hosting the Olympics is a crowning achievement, it is not the only thing that makes these cities special, and it will not be the only thing that from which their social structures are built upon. That is not how a functioning, progressive thinking city, or community, is sustained with the future in mind.

Last edited by Fryguy; Feb 17, 2018 at 1:13 PM.
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  #357  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 12:23 PM
micahinsa micahinsa is offline
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I'm honestly shocked by how many people are happy with these designs.

When I go downtown, I usually come in on Commerce. The convention center is one of the first things anyone sees when they enter downtown at Commerce, or when they leave it heading east on Market. This is so important. Alamo and Commerce/Market is one of the busiest intersections in town, for both cars and foot traffic. Then there's the visual recognition---along with the Alamo, they always show the torch at Alamo/Commerce on TV when the Spurs are on national TV. Is this really the development we want in the background? "Hey everyone, this is what we think is an acceptably progressive new development!"

These plans are so uninspiring; as someone said above, they already look outdated before they've even been built.

San Antonio is constantly referred to as a "world-class" city by the mayor (and his predecessor). Does anyone---anyone---see this as a world-class development? if so, have they ever, um, actually left San Antonio? How does this push the envelope in any way, shape or form?

It's so disappointing if people in this city are satisfied with this, something that is supposed to be the hallmark of downtown, and ends up looking like it was transported from the 80s.
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  #358  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 1:07 PM
Fryguy Fryguy is offline
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Originally Posted by micahinsa View Post
I'm honestly shocked by how many people are happy with these designs.

When I go downtown, I usually come in on Commerce. The convention center is one of the first things anyone sees when they enter downtown at Commerce, or when they leave it heading east on Market. This is so important. Alamo and Commerce/Market is one of the busiest intersections in town, for both cars and foot traffic. Then there's the visual recognition---along with the Alamo, they always show the torch at Alamo/Commerce on TV when the Spurs are on national TV. Is this really the development we want in the background? "Hey everyone, this is what we think is an acceptably progressive new development!"

These plans are so uninspiring; as someone said above, they already look outdated before they've even been built.

San Antonio is constantly referred to as a "world-class" city by the mayor (and his predecessor). Does anyone---anyone---see this as a world-class development? if so, have they ever, um, actually left San Antonio? How does this push the envelope in any way, shape or form?

It's so disappointing if people in this city are satisfied with this, something that is supposed to be the hallmark of downtown, and ends up looking like it was transported from the 80s.
Well stated. After reading your opinion, all I could reflect upon was a comparison of computers I had recently purchased. Not long ago, I purchased a new Mac computer, a Mac Air laptop. While the computer was great on the inside, it was sh*t when it came to its display. I was going to "deal" with it until I started watching a show on my "new" computer. When I streamed this show onto my 5-year-old tv, the tv ended up correcting its color resolution. That's when I decided to return it and just get a Macbook. When the resolution of a "new" computer is better on a 5-year-old tv than a "new" computer, you know something is downright wrong. While this "new" computer was advanced and definitely worthy of note with regard to its internal hardware, it still remained outdated.

To reiterate, the current design is "okay" but not for downtown on a prime location. Ostensibly, however, this design would definitely work on 1604 or the i10/410 corridor. As a result, this park will not be the sine qua non of downtown park and recreation as it potentially could have been. What a shame, indeed.

Well, let's see if the area around the Frost Tower can be further improved. I am also looking forward to the final design of the JMJ development. More development in that area would definitely be interesting to see. Nothing new has been built in that area since Hotel Contessa. The building on the lot has already been razed
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  #359  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 1:28 PM
micahinsa micahinsa is offline
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Originally Posted by Fryguy View Post
As a result, this park will not be the sine qua non of downtown park and recreation as it potentially could have been. What a shame, indeed.
Why is everyone talking like this is already a done deal?

I know precious little about the inner workings of the HDRC. I mean, if Zachry is submitting this to them then it means the HDRC has to approve it, right?

Is there no chance that they could send them back to the drawing board?
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  #360  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2018, 1:34 PM
Fryguy Fryguy is offline
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Originally Posted by micahinsa View Post
Why is everyone talking like this is already a done deal?

I know precious little about the inner workings of the HDRC. I mean, if Zachry is submitting this to them then it means the HDRC has to approve it, right? Is there no chance that they could send them back to the drawing board?
It has not gone through review yet. And God I hope they send them back to square one! A complete redo. You know, the review board actually stated they wanted or wished for something taller when the designs for the new Forst Tower were submitted. You think people would know that the time is now...build for the future, and not for the next few years. So, I only hope they decline this design completely. I have looked at other websites, not many people are happy with it at all.
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