That tower at 5th Brazos isn't bad. I do like the base and the tower itself. I'm not sure about the hotel/residential split, though. I think that portion needs some smoothing over. And I'd rather see that lower portion with the white facade and square windows be just like the rest of the facade, but turned vertically instead. That link says 504 feet and 47 floors. That would be our 4th tallest counting 360's spire, but it would be the 3rd highest roof height.

Actually, I rather like San Antonio's Bank of America Plaza. But yes, this building really does resemble it in some ways.

The projects listing on the first page is getting pretty far out of date again.

"...F*ing beautiful?"

Please tell me you're kidding. The thing is horrible and lacks any unique quality in design. It is a copy of their Coast at Lakeshore East in Chicago building. Furthermore, this is from the same development company that brought you Aqua (one of the most interesting, aesthetic buildings in North America)!

I was referring to this design with the three towers....

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/l...n_1406677a.jpg

I see what you are saying though.... there are other lots to be built on.... please God.... don't let there be a twin brown stacked tower.... Ughhhhhhhh

Hmm. Now that I look at the execution of that building, I'm slightly hesitant about it. The design looks good in the rendering, but the execution of the very similar building that you mentioned was horrible (!!!). Yikes.

Yes. Those are three separate blocks, with three separate towers. This is only the particular easternmost block in that rendering.

Here, here!!! Heck, the Planetarium design wasn't great; but, it was light years better than this 2001 Space Odyssey monolith in the sky. We already have the W. Heck, my 18-month-old can draw a rectangle for a skyscraper.

Come on people, lets demand more innovative designs for this city. Are we not an innovative town? Do we not like to think of Austin as a city on the forefront of new thinking and design (in many different forms)? Let's demand more from our architecture. Denver does it with an economic incentive for creative and unique design!

How awesome would it be to have the Planetarium next to Frost instead of the Brazos and 5th project? I know... no more fantasy Austin skyline stuff....

Whoa! Dude, you read my mind on the planetarium comment.... I literally just posted that before I read your post.

I think this is a sign from the Cosmos.... we must start the fundraising campaign again for the planetarium!

Hahahaha... maybe we will get it on the next Austin Budget! :D

By the way... you should totally post your 18-month old's drawing of this skyscraper on this forum....

I don't know about y'all, but I like it. I'm learning that I prefer sleek, minimalistic designs. I see people mention Aqua, but it just doesn't do it for me.

Nobody knew anything about this project 3 weeks ago. This is the first rendering, so I'm sure like everything else it'll go through an evolution.

I love Austin. I went to UT and enjoyed the hell out of the city. So I say this out of respect for Austin... this design looks like 100+ filler buildings going up around New York City right now. It's not worthy of Austin. It's tall, and that's great and all, but the design is not just boring... it's haphazard and unbalanced both vertically and horizontally. The base looks like a mall, the mid-section looks like two different buildings slapped together, and the top looks cheap and lacks complete imagination. Will it add to the shape of the skyline? Yes. But it will look best from Mount Bonnell... good from afar but far from good.

On third thought, I was looking at construction photos, whereas in this photo is appears to be finished (or near finish) and looks pretty sleek:

http://wibiti.com/images/hpmain/646/286646.jpg

It's a good tower and if this version is anything like that I'll be happy. There will be a signature tower eventually to tie everything together. Just wait. This isn't exactly the perfect spot for a signature tower anyway.

I really like the bottom of 5th and Brazos too!

... and look at the poor Driskill weeping quietly in the background.

Wow, the 5th and Brazos proposal is impressive! Hope it happens.

Good base, good massing, good colors. I really like the design of the base and the lower tower most of all, actually. The upper part is kind of generic but with the height and color it works IMO. It seems to share some characteristics with the W in uptown Dallas, except the top part is not as exciting... but hey, it's significantly taller (the Dallas W is only 33 floors).

http://archrecord.construction.com/p...ages/thumb.jpg

Finally now that's what I'm talking about!:slob: nice and tall

The more I look at 5th and Brazos, the more it grows on me. I'm willing to give it a chance.

Here is the construction thread on Coast at Lakeshore in Chicago.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...+coast&page=29

I rather liked the HEB at 38th with all those cutie college girls always popping out in every aisle. But truth is my HEB was Pleasant Valley and Riverside. :/