LOS ANGELES | Downtown Project Rundown 4.0

[BrandonJXN]

Originally Posted by brudy

I was going to post this as well. They were pushing some dirt around near the entrance along 2nd last week and then these trailers showed up a few days ago. Very exciting! Or at least it will be.

I'm still miffed at what were're getting...


http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/1355334158-lacourthouse4.jpeg

...as opposed to what we could've had.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/50d2707df92ea14d00026ce6/LA-Courthouse_for-press-3.jpg

DTLA never gets anything nice. Crying shame.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

Anyway, I just want to see Pershing Square get bulldozed. Don't really care how.

I'm not trying to justify the design (it sucks) or the way the space is always temporarily fenced and such, but they're doing some good events in the park. The Psychedelic Furs played there on saturday night and it was pretty amazing. Thousands of people, almost back to the fountain. It was kind of awesome.

What I'd like is to see stuff like this at Grand Park and do something more like Bryant Park or like any number of small London parks. Some grass and trees, maybe a coffee/food stand. Some tables.

The more time I spend I Spring St park the more it solidifies my opinion that it is completely overdesigned and I'd hate for that to be repeated again.

[brudy]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

I'm still miffed at what were're getting...


...as opposed to what we could've had.


http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/50d2707df92ea14d00026ce6/LA-Courthouse_for-press-3.jpg

DTLA never gets anything nice. Crying shame.

Are you trying to make my Monday worse?

I'm not a cube hater by any stretch, but that rejected design hurts my heart.

[Wally West]

Your Monday will get worse once you realize that building would have contributed to LA's tiny skyline.


http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-conten...ysianparktl-comp-v001-00482-1000x562.jpg

[blackcat23]

I have to assume the choice came down to $$$. No one could honestly think that SOM had the most attractive design out of the submissions.

[SimonLA]

Originally Posted by Wally West

Your Monday will get worse once you realize that building would have contributed to LA's tiny skyline.


http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-conten...ysianparktl-comp-v001-00482-1000x562.jpg

This relentless negativity is exhausting. We're getting a new courthouse on what has been fallow land FOR YEARS. If you want to be depressed go visit Detroit, but bringing it here adds nothing to the discussion.

[Valyrian Steel]

Originally Posted by SimonLA

This relentless negativity is exhausting. We're getting a new courthouse on what has been fallow land FOR YEARS. If you want to be depressed go visit Detroit, but bringing it here adds nothing to the discussion.

Yep. Kinda ruined the excitement I felt that something is finally being done on the site.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by SimonLA

This relentless negativity is exhausting. We're getting a new courthouse on what has been fallow land FOR YEARS. If you want to be depressed go visit Detroit, but bringing it here adds nothing to the discussion.

Hey, that's enough.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by StethJeff

Here's my proposal to Hanjin/Korean Air: let's make a trade. We'll give you Pershing Square and you give us the Wilshire Grand site.

They get a bigger chunk of land (I think). They also get a piece of land where their building sticks out more in the skyline. They'll have the opportunity to remake an entire neighborhood as opposed to just squeezing into a fully developed financial district. Ok fine, not much else.

We'd get an amazing location for a public square or park. That location is perfect. The towers on all sides makes a spectacular setting. Plus we'd get to start from scratch and actually get place that people would want to go to. It also has proximity to arguably our rail system's most important station and Fig7th/Macy's/LA Live.

Anyway, I just want to see Pershing Square get bulldozed. Don't really care how.

I don't agree with this. Pershing Square is surrounded by a large hotel, office buildings and is walking distance for patrons in the Historic Core and Financial District. It's really a centralized park. By swapping with Wilshire Grand, you are creating a park next to a freeway (does that make any sense?), and putting it away from the Historic Core, which is one of the best residential neighborhoods in all of LA. Now you are making the park dependent upon commuters and not the residential community. Grand Park is for the City, whereas Pershing Square is for the community. Grand Park doesn't have much residential density there, but Pershing Square does, and we should improve upon it. Moving it to Wilshire Grand lot would be a bad move and unfortunate for the Historic Core. Even though they got Spring Street Park, Pershing Square is no substitute with its multiple events, concerts and late night movie screenings.

As for Metro access, the Pershing Square station does the job fine.

Wilshire Grand would stick out more like a sore thumb at Perhing Square than its current locale, which is in the Financial District and helps create a denser skyline.

[Muji]

The new Italian restaurant at 8th and Spring, Terroni, is opening tomorrow. Eater LA has some pictures and basically, it's gorgeous. Eater has many more pretty pictures, but here's 2 to give a good idea of how well they've repurposed the historic room.

Pictures by Kat Odell for Eater LA

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by BOYCOTT 90210

We don't want to hear your dumb proposals. Go make a discussion thread for that. Development updates only please.

A lot of what makes the Downtown Rundown the Downtown Rundown is hypothetical discussion of how to make DTLA a better place. If you don't like that, then you are welcome to go to one of many other similar forums.

[ConstructDTLA]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

DTLA never gets anything nice. Crying shame.

Nailed it on the head. DTLA is unique to other, greater, downtowns in the fact that it truly cant have anything nice.

Originally Posted by Illithid Dude

A lot of what makes the Downtown Rundown the Downtown Rundown is hypothetical discussion of how to make DTLA a better place. If you don't like that, then you are welcome to go to one of many other similar forums.

Agree completely. Criticism is key...

[citywatch]

Originally Posted by SimonLA

This relentless negativity is exhausting.

I kind of know what you mean, & I have to admit that I've contributed my fair share of debbie downerism on occasion. however, I try to limit my own negativity to what I consider the really, really bad aspects of dt.....& not on things like new bldgs lacking what I might rate as award winning design, or being too short, or being too this, or being too that.

But in the case of the new federal courthouse, even I have to say that it's disappointing that both the scale & design of the original plans have been downsized or value engineered. Still, it will be a relief to see that huge gap finally....finally!!....filled in....hopefully beginning sometime in the next few wks. btw, the precise timeline of the courthouse proj has never been announced to the public, or even a rough estimate, or date of a planned groundbreaking ceremony, has never been given to the media. So I'm hoping that the sight of equipment in that location really can be considered a formal announcement.

To make the outcome of the revised plans for the courthouse less of a downer right now, I'm going to add to what Muji has posted here by showing another pic of the new restaurant on Spring St.....

this is the 2nd floor of the place & to me it looks wonderful...



la.eater.com

this is another view of the main floor & this section also look exceptionally nice & cozy to me.


la.eater.com

[inSaeculaSaeculorum]

Originally Posted by citywatch

I kind of know what you mean, & I have to admit that I've contributed my fair share of debbie downerism on occasion. however, I try to limit my own negativity to what I consider the really, really bad aspects of dt.....& not on things like new bldgs lacking what I might rate as award winning design, or being too short, or being too this, or being too that.

At what point do you stop accepting bad design simply because it fills in dead zones? Is there a certain point where you will say "Phew, that's all done now, LA is finally a 'complete' city so NOW I can start complaining about design flaws!"

There are always going to be surface lots in LA because the city is massive and the footprint of the infrastructure is designed for cars. There's no definitive point in the future where LA simply flips from "suburban" to "urban." The city is more complex than that and progress is always going to be continuing and ongoing.

In the meantime I will say design, parking space, street treatment and the like matter a lot, esp to people like me who don't have a car, walk/bike/take metro everywhere and live in K-town and are in DTLA frequently. Details matter at the street level to pedestrians--even if they are "common" people who are not urban hobbyists they will still subconsciously register these things in their minds--and there are LOTS of pedestrians in LA.

Besides this is Skyscraperpage page. This is a hobbyist forum for people with a special interest in design so of course we are going to critique it, and there's always a new project popping up so new and different stuctures to critique and evaluate. What is always the same though is that dead zones and surface lots make LA ugly. I mean, DUH that is obvious! So you can stop starting (literally) every single post saying the same thing. We don't need it mentioned on every page.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by BOYCOTT 90210

We don't want to hear your dumb proposals. Go make a discussion thread for that. Development updates only please.

Chill, man. Hypothetical proposals are ok and encouraged. Good to think about LA from different viewpoints. As long as the discussions are downtown focused, it's all good.

[brudy]

Green construction fencing is up around the last parcel on 2nd street in Little Tokyo. Parking just got a lot tougher.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by HunterK

Nailed it on the head. DTLA is unique to other, greater, downtowns in the fact that it truly cant have anything nice.

Never anything nice? Have you been inside the Bradbury Building, taken a ride on the shortest railway in the world, experienced the acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall, witness history of Olvera Street, been to a gathering at the Cathedral of our Lady of Angels or go watch a game at Staples Center?

We have enough stuff to make other cities jealous. Improvements can always be made, but be proud we live in a city of world-wide culture and entertainment that many other cities do not have.

[LAofAnaheim]

Originally Posted by brudy

Green construction fencing is up around the last parcel on 2nd street in Little Tokyo. Parking just got a lot tougher.

More reason to go Metro and support continued expansion of Metro rail!

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Muji

The new Italian restaurant at 8th and Spring, Terroni, is opening tomorrow. Eater LA has some pictures and basically, it's gorgeous. Eater has many more pretty pictures, but here's 2 to give a good idea of how well they've repurposed the historic room.

Pictures by Kat Odell for Eater LA

Wow! What a beautiful restaurant. Look at that ceiling.

[ConstructDTLA]

Originally Posted by LAofAnaheim

Never anything nice? Have you been inside the Bradbury Building, taken a ride on the shortest railway in the world, experienced the acoustics of Walt Disney Concert Hall, witness history of Olvera Street, been to a gathering at the Cathedral of our Lady of Angels or go watch a game at Staples Center?

We have enough stuff to make other cities jealous. Improvements can always be made, but be proud we live in a city of world-wide culture and entertainment that many other cities do not have.

Done it all, many, MANY, times. But I've also been to other cities (which I'm not allowed to name).

I will admit Angels Flight is something other cities don't have, and I quite like it.