What's the most shameful monstrosity ever built in your city?

[elysium]

i dont think every building is good.
but the ones that you and him posted as ugly were not even in a sense of ugly at all. there for making you the one who does not know great architecture when you see it.

I agree that not all those buildings are ugly (although none are particularly beautiful either), but you should explain how you're using the term so that people don't just dismiss your comments.

[America 117]

^^^
well yes.
about 2 i did not like .

[Alliance]

if someone just agrees that every building is good, I tend to doubt they have discerning standards. Perhaps then, you can tell us which buildings in Chicago are shameful then?

You have been unable to provide examples. Please, tell us which buildings in Chicago are "shameful."

[MNMike]

Of those chicago buildings, the only ones I don't like are cityplace (#5), and that fugly chicago place building(#6)...never liked that one. I'm not crazy about #3 either, especially the base. Some of the others you posted are among my favorites of the more modern buildings in Chicago...and no, I don't like all tall buildings. I have always loved the prudential building.

That said, there are plenty of ugly buildings in Chicago...just off the top of my head there is that condo complex on State st and Ohio...very ugly concrete boxes with little metal poles on top. The Marriott right by there is horrible as well, it even has cracks all over its giant blank facade. Personally, I have always hated that big red building too. Also, how is Aon center any better than the ones posted? I have never really cared for that one either...A giant white box with tiny windows. Water tower place? ugly. There are soo many buildings that are way uglier than the ones in that post, but I digress.

[America 117]

01 311 s wacker/1990/kpf
-a great building fine architecture

02 RR donnelley building/1992/destefano
-looks great on the river

03 900 n michigan/1989/kpf
-its ok but nothing great

04 2 prudential plaza/1990/loebl, schlossman, and hackl
-amayzing looks great in chicago

05 city place/1990/loebl, schlossman, and hackl
-its ok

06 chicago place/1991/scb
-this i agree very ugly

07 harold washington library/1991/hammond, beeby, and babka
-its good
remindes me of grand central in NYC

08 river view apartments/2000-2004/destefano
-the most ugly exuse for a building

09 park tower/1999/lucien lagrange
-one of my favorites
nice facade

10 190 s lasalle/1987/johnson burgee architects
-nice but nothing speacial



thats what i think.
most of those buildings should not be in this thread at all.

[texcolo]

if i had a magical ability to raze hideous buildings around this city, i'd wipe this city CLEAN of nearly half its buildings. that is, i'm APPALLED by most of what is considered architecture in chicago. it was hard to make a list of the most hideous buildings in this city because there are just so many. but i decided that what makes certain buildings in this city SO bad, is there prominence. so of all the monstrosities that riddle this streets of chicago, these are the most offensive, the most embarrassingly gauche, the worst of the worst. this is a list of the top ten monstrosities ever built in chicago:
all pics from chicagoarchitecture.info

01 311 s wacker/1990/kpf
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/311SouthWacker-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/200801/311SouthWacker-Apr08-002a.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/200801/311SouthWacker-Jan07-006a.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/200801/311SouthWacker-Jan07-002a.jpg

02 RR donnelley building/1992/destefano
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/77WestWacker-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/RRDonnellyBuilding-005.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/77WestWacker-002.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/77WestWacker-003.jpg

03 900 n michigan/1989/kpf
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-004.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-005.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/GoldCoast/900NorthMichigan-006.jpg

04 2 prudential plaza/1990/loebl, schlossman, and hackl
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/TwoPrudentialPlaza-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/TwoPrudentialPlaza-Sep07-002a.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/TwoPrudentialPlaza-003.jpg

05 city place/1990/loebl, schlossman, and hackl
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/NearNorthSide/CityPlace-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/NearNorthSide/CityPlace-002.jpg

06 chicago place/1991/scb
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ChicagoPlace-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ChicagoPlace-002.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ChicagoPlace-001.jpg

07 harold washington library/1991/hammond, beeby, and babka
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/HaroldWashingtonLibrary-004.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/HaroldWashingtonLibrary-006.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/HaroldWashingtonLibrary-007.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/HaroldWashingtonLibrary-012.jpg

08 river view apartments/2000-2004/destefano
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/NearNorthSide/RiverViewI-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/RiverViewI-002.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/NearNorthSide/RiverViewI-002.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/RiverViewII-002.jpg

09 park tower/1999/lucien lagrange
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ParkTower-003.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ParkTower-005.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/200801/ParkTower-Jul07-002a.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/NearNorthSide/ParkTower-004.jpg

10 190 s lasalle/1987/johnson burgee architects
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/190SouthLaSalle-001.jpg
http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Images/TheLoop/190SouthLaSalle-002.jpg

:sly:

This is one of the worst posts I've ever seen. I would say 'read' but AdrianXsands simply posted ten buildings he hated without an explanation of why he hated them. If you post pictures buildings you hate, with no explanation of why, then you are making a weak post.

1. 311 S. Wacker Drive - This was meant to be one of a set of three. So, if the massing bothers you, just imagine it with two more buildings of equal height. IMO I like it. It is a variation of a 'column' type high rise with an interesting capital that echoes water towers on top of early 20th century high rises. The curtain walls are interesting without being overpowering.

2. RR Donnelley Building - I don't like it and here's why! One, the mirrored glass looks cheap. The temple motif looks tacked on. They should have gone all out with a frieze at the top and columns and capitals running up and down the curtains of the building, or nothing at all. It would be a great looking 'glass box'. It doesn't fit contextually with anything on the river.

3. 900 N. Michigan - Contextualism at it's finest. It follows the traditional Chicago style of art deco. NYC has 'wedding cake' setbacks, Chicago has 'chair' setbacks. So, obviously this building has a chair setback. The vertically of the building is accentuated with the vertical 'column' of windows, which is a hallmark of art deco.

4. 2 Prudential Plaza - A brilliant example of contextualism. The curtain walls echo both 1 Prudential Plaza and the AON. The spire at the top makes this one of the most iconic buildings in Chicago. The spire also echoes the building on the other side of Michigan Ave down the street. (Can't remember the name.)

5. Cityplace - I don't care for this one. It features an 80's / Postmodern cliche of a Paladian arch, and not much else.

6. Chicago Place - It features Chicago bay windows, so it contextually fits in with tenements in Chicago's past. Not exactly the most exiting building, but worthy of being torn down? Defiantly not.

7. Harold Washington Library - I love it. Post modernism at it's finest. The out sized gargoyles at the top are humorous. What's wrong with humor in architecture? It's a caricature of 'civic building.'

8. River View Apartments - It's a typical apartment tenement. The colors that make up the curtain walls, red and green, are strong and will probably not age well. Worthy of being torn down? No. One small step for mankind? No.

9. Park Tower - The massing of this thing is all wrong. It's just a banal box with a mansard roof on top. I'm just not a fan of 60 story French chateaus. Tear it down? No. Surround it with taller better designed buildings? Yes.

10. 190 S. LaSalle St. - I put this in the same category as the Washington Library. It has the post modern sense of irony to it. It should have been Wayne HQ in the Dark Knight as well. Tear it down no. Like it? I'm afraid I do.

None of these buildings are ground breaking. But, remember what's ground breaking today, can wind up looking like Oral Roberts University down the road.

[America 117]

Of those chicago buildings, the only ones I don't like are cityplace (#5), and that fugly chicago place building(#6)...never liked that one. I'm not crazy about #3 either, especially the base. Some of the others you posted are among my favorites of the more modern buildings in Chicago...and no, I don't like all tall buildings. I have always loved the prudential building.

That said, there are plenty of ugly buildings in Chicago...just off the top of my head there is that condo complex on State st and Ohio...very ugly concrete boxes with little metal poles on top. The Marriott right by there is horrible as well, it even has cracks all over its giant blank facade. Personally, I have alwatys hated that big red building too.

i agree with you TOTALLY.

[America 117]

i agree with you texcolo.
but not about park tower i like that one.

[malec]

The prudential plaza building is one of the best. :yes:

[ch1le]

i think the pattern (of hate) is quite clear with those buildings. And if you dont understand it, well, thats your problem. Theres no reason to explain every single building. The only saving grace is that theres a bunch of buildings like that in chicago, which kinda smudges it out.

[America 117]

everyone is just going to have to deal with it because those buildings are going to be here for a long time and if you dont like them then its more like your problem.

[texcolo]

i think the pattern (of hate) is quite clear with those buildings. And if you dont understand it, well, thats your problem. Theres no reason to explain every single building. The only saving grace is that theres a bunch of buildings like that in chicago, which kinda smudges it out.

My problem eh? Why not raise the level of discourse in this forum by backing up one's opinions with some substance. You do the forum a disservice with shallow blanket statements.

I think it's obvious that AdrianXsands doesn't care for post modernism in general, I just wished he would back up his blanket statement with some substance.

[rickdm]

http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/CAI/Images/TheLoop/311SouthWacker-001.jpg

This is my first post, so please forgive my lack of familiarity with the community. However I ran across this post and found that a building I designed 22 years ago while at KPF, 311 South Wacker, is listed by a poster as the ugliest monstrosity in the city of Chicago :haha: I guess I should be insulted, but as I read the other posts and saw the buildings listed I realized that I had seldom been included on such a distinguished group; Mies, Niemeyer, Harrison, Rudolph, Safdie, and the list goes on and on.

As a bit of perspective, I was 30 years old when I designed that building. It was a master plan by HKS and the developer came to the conclusion that the first phase as designed would not lease in Chicago. I had just finished another tower for the same developer and they came to KPF to redo the design without changing the footprint, or the original budget. The budget was not a generous one, and I probably lost a couple of years of my life fighting to keep the design intact. It has been 22 years, and there are probably a few things I might do differently today, but I am still proud of the building, particularly the wintergarden. It still is quite a technical achievement to have built it out of concrete, and the structural engineer did a fantastic job. Standing on top of a 967' tall building when it was completed and seeing the Chicago grid going off into infinity is about the biggest ego rush I have had in this profession.

Regards,
rick

[America 117]

^^^
wow
you designed that building!
i think its one of the best skyscrapers in chicago and is great architecture!

[rickdm]

^^^
wow
you designed that building!
i think its one of the best skyscrapers in chicago and is great architecture!

Thanks. There are some great buildings in Chicago.

rick

[elysium]

Thanks. There are some great buildings in Chicago.

rick

I wouldn't be dismayed by the criticism. Anyone attracted to these forums is bound to have their own uncompromising ideas about what is good or bad architecture, whereas the general public probably has great admiration for your work (and rightly so). Some here notoriously lack the maturity or brainpower to defend their judgments. They confuse being adamant, elitist, and severe in their sentiments for being authoritative, critical, and discriminating. I think most of us here see through the facade.

[America 117]

^^^
just what exactly are you trying to say :irked:

[mhays]

There's also an opposite problem. Some people think that opinions don't matter if they're from people who don't think or speak architecturese. In other words, 99% of the population.

Of course our opinions matter. We live in these cities.

I like a lot of PoMo including that building.

[texcolo]

There's also an opposite problem. Some people think that opinions don't matter if they're from people who don't think or speak architecturese. In other words, 99% of the population.

Of course our opinions matter. We live in these cities.

I like a lot of PoMo including that building.

Agreed. But, AdrianXsands knows a thing or two about architecture. In fact, I value his opinion. So, it's even more frustrating seeing him post pictures of ten buildings and calling them shiite, with out any explanation at all. It's lazy.

[elysium]

Agreed. But, AdrianXsands knows a thing or two about architecture. In fact, I value his opinion. So, it's even more frustrating seeing him post pictures of ten buildings and calling them shiite, with out any explanation at all. It's lazy.

AdrianXsands: "...and i'm not a big fan of art; i think it's highfalutin and obnoxiously pointless, sorry."

[CGII]

Agreed. But, AdrianXsands knows a thing or two about architecture. In fact, I value his opinion. So, it's even more frustrating seeing him post pictures of ten buildings and calling them shiite, with out any explanation at all. It's lazy.

That's the scary thing. AdrianXSands doesn't know when to stop and his opinions can turn from promoting progressivism in design to outright snobbery, and it is lamentably how many architects think today.

300 Wacker is a fine building.

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Everyone I talk to seems to like 311, they all know it as "that tall one with the glowing cylinder next to sears". Most people seem very impressed with the crown and find the building notable because of that. Personally, its not my favorite building, but I like it and how it adds color to the skyline.

[Samthelima]

http://www.biologie.de/w/images/9/9d/Industrieruine_Phoenix-West_Dortmund.jpg
not to forget

Hey look! The Pompidou Center in 50 years!

[spyguy]

05 city place/1990/loebl, schlossman, and hackl

06 chicago place/1991/scb

08 river view apartments/2000-2004/destefano

10 190 s lasalle/1987/johnson burgee architects

From your list, those are probably the ones I really have problems with.

I've always hated the Omni Hotel on Michigan Avenue, as well as Chicago Place and its terrible mall. Hopefully new owners will fix that mess.

The River View buildings aren't terrible IMO, and I do like that they incorporated townhomes at the base instead of having a blank wall face the river. I guess my complaint is that something larger and taller should have been built on that site.

Again, never really liked 190 South LaSalle at all.

[Tom Servo]

From your list, those are probably the ones I really have problems with.

I've always hated the Omni Hotel on Michigan Avenue, as well as Chicago Place and its terrible mall. Hopefully new owners will fix that mess.

The River View buildings aren't terrible IMO, and I do like that they incorporated townhomes at the base instead of having a blank wall face the river. I guess my complaint is that something larger and taller should have been built on that site.

Again, never really liked 190 South LaSalle at all.

only those? i hate all the buildings on my list. i made a list at school the other day with one of my teachers and a few of my friends when we were talking about how many notable buildings in chicago we'd considered monstrosities and the list was more than 100 long before we decide architecture in this city is depressing. the conversation about bad architecture in chicago started with a discussion about whether the chicago spire is really world class architecture or just typical chicago hype... and how mies would react if he saw one of his great buildings standing next to trump and being over shadowed by it in every way, both figuratively and literarily

[Patrick]

Yes and all that, horrid architecture, makes just such a horrible mess!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Chicago_Skyline_Hi-Res.jpg/1500px-Chicago_Skyline_Hi-Res.jpg

AdrianXSands, this is intresting, I'd like to hear your opinions on the: Board of Trade Building, Trump Tower, CNA Center, Smurfit-Stone Building, Title & Trust Building, AT&T Center, and the Aon Center.

[Samthelima]

the conversation about bad architecture in chicago started with a discussion about whether the chicago spire is really world class architecture or just typical chicago hype... and how mies would react if he saw one of his great buildings standing next to trump and being over shadowed by it in every way, both figuratively and literarily

So do you go to IIT? That would explain a lot about your preferences in architecture.

[the urban politician]

and how mies would react if he saw one of his great buildings standing next to trump and being over shadowed by it in every way, both figuratively and literarily

I'm sure Mies was insightful enough to understand the concept of "move the fuck on"

[rickdm]

i made a list at school the other day with one of my teachers and a few of my friends when we were talking about how many notable buildings in chicago we'd considered monstrosities and the list was more than 100 long before we decide architecture in this city is depressing.

Wow! 100 notable buildings in Chicago that you considered monstrosities! Not poor, or mediocre, or uninteresting, or unambitious, but monstrosities. All I can say is that the work you and your friends are producing must be freaking unbelievable that it makes everything else look like a monstrosity in comparison.

rickdm

[CGII]

http://www.biologie.de/w/images/9/9d/Industrieruine_Phoenix-West_Dortmund.jpg


How did I miss this? That's bloody beautiful!

[SuburbanNation]

this major project which included a freeway, "open space," and autocentric office/industrial...

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/millcreek.jpg

which had been (demolition well underway of josephine bakers neighborhood) ...

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s29/warwickland/mill.jpg


"mmm...nothing like the sweet smell of slum clearance in the morning."

http://www.umsl.edu/~virtualstl/phase2/1950/images/civilprogress.gif
http://www.umsl.edu/~virtualstl/phase2/1950/images/civilprogress.gif

the bomb goes off...

[SuburbanNation]

well i probably already submitted pruitt igoe... :redface:

[Mr Roboto]

only those? i hate all the buildings on my list. i made a list at school the other day with one of my teachers and a few of my friends when we were talking about how many notable buildings in chicago we'd considered monstrosities and the list was more than 100 long before we decide architecture in this city is depressing.

Lemme guess, the list included all the already demolished cabrini-green highrises, robert taylor homes, ABLA and stateway gardens?! lol. But seriously, what snobbery! I mean, who do you guys think you are? As rickdm said, you must be designing some tremendous stuff over there in school to hold so many other works in such low regard, deeming them 'monstrosities'. Cant wait to see your buildings go up.

While there are certainly some very ugly buildings in chicago (many that can be called monstrosities by the majority of critics), lets not get too carried away here or get overly pompous. Oh wait, never mind I forgot who this was; the guy who would like to level over half of chicago cuz theres so many ugly buildings, lol!! Very amusing though.

[elysium]

How did I miss this? That's bloody beautiful!

I thought it was pretty interesting as well. These structures can be beautiful depending on the setting. For example, we have Gas Works Park here in Seattle. It's very sculptural and is just stunning from far away against the grass.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2447239199_4198bd3053.jpg

http://www.allthepages.org/images/blog/seattle-gaspark04.jpg

[Rico Rommheim]

The Hyatt regency in Montreal, accompanied by its fellow Complex desjardin is without a doubt the ugliest highrise ever built in Montreal.

http://www.drakeandcavendish.com/img/hotel/4216_image03.jpg

You really have to see it for yourself to believe how revolting this fiasco is.

[Tom Servo]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2114/2447239199_4198bd3053.jpg


whoa! that's awesome!! it looks like all the buildings from blade runner... or brazil...

[mhays]

I agree with AdrianXSands on something? Amazing.

Gas Works could use more trees and maybe some drainage, but it's a cool concept. Some of the gas works is fenced off, and some is still there for kids to climb on. Of course, the fenced off parts were left partially intact because demolishing it would have required a huge remediation effort there wasn't money for, while leaving it avoided that cost. Today it's one of Seattle's more popular parks. I was there yesterday.

[elysium]

whoa! that's awesome!! it looks like all the buildings from blade runner... or brazil...

Brazil is one of my favorite films. It definitely had an industrial/Art Deco aesthetic.

[elysium]

I agree with AdrianXSands on something? Amazing.

Gas Works could use more trees and maybe some drainage, but it's a cool concept. Some of the gas works is fenced off, and some is still there for kids to climb on. Of course, the fenced off parts were left partially intact because demolishing it would have required a huge remediation effort there wasn't money for, while leaving it avoided that cost. Today it's one of Seattle's more popular parks. I was there yesterday.

It shouldn't have more trees. The point is to create contrast. Granted, Seattle's grass isn't always that green, but it's still better this way.

[texcolo]

It shouldn't have more trees. The point is to create contrast. Granted, Seattle's grass isn't always that green, but it's still better this way.

Yup. Contrast is good, and also used in fine art.

[Alliance]

only those? i hate all the buildings on my list. i made a list at school the other day with one of my teachers and a few of my friends when we were talking about how many notable buildings in chicago we'd considered monstrosities and the list was more than 100 long before we decide architecture in this city is depressing. the conversation about bad architecture in chicago started with a discussion about whether the chicago spire is really world class architecture or just typical chicago hype... and how mies would react if he saw one of his great buildings standing next to trump and being over shadowed by it in every way, both figuratively and literarily

...just a bunch of retarded elitist freaks sitting down and tallking about how horrible the world is. Chicago has crap comparatively mild, so if you had a pair of eyes, a brain, and a sense of logic (though as LaGrange has showed us none of these are a prerequiste for a career in architecture) you could see a larger picture. Mies would see that modernism is dead and those fools who are trying to resurrect it it in its native form are nothing more than the new POMO, people who understand nothing about architecture and are simple intent on repeating the past until nothing is left but watered down shells of forgotten ideas. Architecture reflects the time. It reflects how we live, why we live, where we live, and what we concern ourselves with. BAD architecture is deaf to these forces or tries to impose new ideals on it. Mies doesn't work today. No more. So if he were still alive, being the genius that he was...he would have moved with the times, created some new great evolution of modenism, would have been happy to see his work overshadowed, and probly call you an idiot. There are plenty of problems/flaws in Chicago's architecture, but your utopian ideals and pissant attitude highlight two of them.

[Lecom]

only those? i hate all the buildings on my list. i made a list at school the other day with one of my teachers and a few of my friends when we were talking about how many notable buildings in chicago we'd considered monstrosities and the list was more than 100 long before we decide architecture in this city is depressing. the conversation about bad architecture in chicago started with a discussion about whether the chicago spire is really world class architecture or just typical chicago hype... and how mies would react if he saw one of his great buildings standing next to trump and being over shadowed by it in every way, both figuratively and literarily

Wow, like Alliance said, this does sound like holier-than-thou, elitist talk at its finest.

[yarabundi]

The Hyatt regency in Montreal, accompanied by its fellow Complex desjardin is without a doubt the ugliest highrise ever built in Montreal.

http://www.drakeandcavendish.com/img/hotel/4216_image03.jpg

You really have to see it for yourself to believe how revolting this fiasco is.
Wow !! I have to completely disagree with you on this one. It is at least decent !!

[MolsonExport]

Wow !! I have to completely disagree with you on this one. It is at least decent !!

No discussion of Montreal uglies is complete without reference to the Hall (Hell) building of Concordia University:

http://www.citynoise.org/upload/11450.jpg

[ErickMontreal]

The Hyatt regency in Montreal, accompanied by its fellow Complex desjardin is without a doubt the ugliest highrise ever built in Montreal.

http://www.drakeandcavendish.com/img/hotel/4216_image03.jpg

You really have to see it for yourself to believe how revolting this fiasco is.

What are you talking about ?

Like Yara said the complex is decent to say the least.

Furthermore, unlike others "english-canadien" financial institutions Desjardins will never leave the town miserably....:haha:

[mhays]

It shouldn't have more trees. The point is to create contrast. Granted, Seattle's grass isn't always that green, but it's still better this way.

Parks are for people. People like shade, or even need it.

I blogged about this on the Daily Journal of Commerce website, if you page down a little: http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/index.php

[elysium]

Parks are for people. People like shade, or even need it.

I blogged about this on the Daily Journal of Commerce website, if you page down a little: http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/index.php


The structures at the park need to be framed properly. They need to have prominence. Trees aren't good for any recreational activities besides sitting, eating, reading, or climbing, nor are they sightly during the winter. Trees anywhere but in the periphery of Gas Works would block the view of Lake Union and downtown. I understand your point for any other park, but if you look at the great cities in the world, they don't clutter their coastlines (or scenic vistas) with trees. People want a clear view of the horizon, and for lack of beach, we create grass. Look at Vancouver's parks.

[mhays]

I guess we'll disagree on trees! We need open areas, but there should be a balance, and this doesn't exist in the main part of Gas Works.

I can think of many great city parks and waterfronts lined with trees. Much of the Thames is like that. Battery Park in NY.

Most of all, I couldn't care less how the old gas works are framed. That's on the third tier of what's important at Gas Works Park.

[flight_from_kamakura]

on montreal:

i absolutely hate the complex dejardins, but love the hall building over at concordia. if you have to give it to concordia, give the monstrous library building. there was lsd in the water or something at the meeting where this design was chosen.

http://g.imagehost.org/0640/S-McConnell.gif (http://g.imagehost.org/view/0640/S-McConnell)

as for the rest of montreal, there are so many utter failures. the place dupuis is horrid, as is the bonaventure metro complex, the leacock building (go redmen!), and a variety of other brutalist horrors. but i reserve special scorn for that almost deliberately ugly annex just east of city hall, corner gosford and notre-dame. i can't find a photo, but believe me when i say that the thing is truly hateful.

[hammersklavier]

Philadelphia doesn't have all that many, but I can think of one:

The Criminal Justice Building at 6th and Market. It's got blank walls galore and a horribly designed entrance plaza.

Also, Kling's Municipal Services Building is handsome, but the way it meets the street horrible; it's an antiurban distortion just north of City Hall whose ground levels need to be revamped.

[PEORIA]

" Where shall I begin?.... "


:yuck: WTVP studios (below) on Peoria's, southern, riverfront. This public tv station's, capital, fund drive fell short of projections and it had settled for THIS embarassment that nearly cost our community it's PBS affiliate....

http://namethispeorialandmark.blogpeoria.com/files/2008/03/peoria_landmark_229.jpg

(image from namethispeorialandmark.blogpeoria.com)



:yuck: THIS, glorified and overpriced, parking deck w/offices and retail (below) in Downtown Peoria....

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/OneTechnologyPlaza-Jul08-002a.jpg

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/OneTechnologyPlaza-Jul08-004a.jpg http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/OneTechnologyPlaza-Jul08-006a.jpg


:yuck: Hamilton Square (below), in downtown Peoria, is a late 90's and post-modernism disappointment from the same developer of One Tech Plaza....

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/HamiltonSquare-Jul08-002a.jpg

http://www.cullinanproperties.com/images/hamilton-beauty.jpg

(image from www.cullinanproperties.com)



:yuck: The, shuttered, InPlay complex (below) on the downtown Riverfront. A, hideous, marriage of old and new structure's whose only quality was that for two years, it added to the attractions between the downtown and riverfront business districts......

http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/Maxam-Jul08-002a.jpg http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/Maxam-Jul08-004a.jpg http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Images/US/IL/Peoria/200801/Maxam-Jul08-006a.jpg



:yuck: The, former, Hiram Walker distillery now ADM plant (below) south of Downtown Peoria. A, still operating, relic from the Industrial Revolution era...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2284/2051710444_b973fe4e19_o.jpg

(image from flickr.com)

:redface: .... AND, Those are just a few!

[urbanlife]

I'm sure Mies was insightful enough to understand the concept of "move the fuck on"

I would disagree with this, we are talking about a man who quit IIT and refused to ever come back because the school started to use other architecture firms to design new buildings on campus.




Oh and seeing we are on worst buildings, I will say this, there is a courtyard to a black office tower on the northbank in Chicago that is the worst courtyard I have ever seen....if you are ever on the fence of whether or not you should kill yourself, this is the place to go to decide that it would be a good idea to end it all....it is that depressing and cold of a space.

[SapphireBlueEyes]

To me, the crown on 311 South Wacker looks more like a 'rook' chess piece than a crown. Other than that, it lights up great and the building is cool.