Gensler can be impressive, but their popularity in many cities often makes their non-signature projects look like something I would expect in any other city...especially in Austin. Austin's skyline growth is impressive in speed and scale, but the individual buildings themselves are rather nondescript and boring. Of course, our skyline is far more woefully lacking in handsome modern buildings, and I'll happily take a Gensler tower, but there will always be a nagging sense of placeless conventionalism.
An odd familiarity occurred to me while looking at Fukuoka's famously green ACROS Fukuoka Prefectural International Hall, and I have only now learned what it was that I was seeing. ACROS Fukuoka with its green "hanging gardens" terraces and glass atrium was designed by architect Emilio Ambasz, who also designed the lushly green glass domes of the Lucile Halsell Conservatory of our own San Antonio Botanical Garden.
From what I can tell, Emilio Ambasz has not designed a built tall skyscraper, and I don't know what one would look like if he did, but if he were to do one in San Antonio, it would likely truly be unlike any other building in Texas. In conjunction with the botanical gardens, it could perhaps suggest a modern style for San Antonio that could play into some of the best elements of our downtown, such as the Riverwalk, Alamo gardens, or even the sunken gardens, while also being radically distinct from the more banal and conventional modernism of Austin, Dallas, and Houston.
Imagine Travis Park being extended skyward! A vertical riverwalk!
But, if not, then a Shin Takamatsu or Sir Norman Foster tower would be cool. We are very lucky to have already gotten Cesar Pelli.
Prev
Linear Mode
