Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban recluse
I have to say anew that the Richardson Building recladded in glass, a la Brookfield Place in Calgary, would modernize the skyline, adding much needed brightness to the downtown.
 |
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmt18325
Leave it alone.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by biguc
No way. The Richardson building is a modernist classic. Diversity in a skyline is way more visually appealing than uniform contemporaneity.
Should New York reclad the Empire State building? Chicago the Sears tower? Should Hong Kong start planning for a future where the Bank of China needs a new look?
360 Main features a badly aged facade--and I mean that literally. Bare metal is visible on the panels. I'm sure the windows are failing. It needs a reclad, it's just convenient that it also wants one.
|
I cannot fathom any possible aesthetic admiration towards the Richardson. We can say nice things about it, like admiring it's presence and rather impressive simplicity, but that doesn't make it beautiful.
Winnipeg is such an odd place that places immensely strong nostalgia in areas other major cities may not. For one, I like Portage and Main, but I'm surprised at the city's obsession with its "iconic" intersection. Still, by all means, make it great again, I'm in favour. As for the Richardson building, we obviously hold the first family in Winnipeg on a pedestal (and why not?) but that doesn't make the building pretty.
That said, it has to be worth the money for Richardson. We make like a pretty building, but losing money is more ugly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban recluse
Settling for the mundane is why Winnipeg is now battling to become a vibrant city. For so many decades, a lack of vision and flare has resulted in downtown being dominated by remnants of a time where buildings were built to look like, well, streets, and they blend in with the streets. Nothing about Winnipeg at this point screams modern.The concrete monolith's dominating the Winnipeg skyline are cold and uninviting. Cities that gleam from so much glass, and boast fine, beautifully cared for historic architecture are the cities people love to be in. The Richardson building would be acceptable to me if there were numerous gleaming towers around it. As it stands now, it is dreadfully dull.
|
Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵, THIS. Agree full-heartedly.
This entire forum is constantly aching for Winnipeg to move forward (and I'm NOT suggesting that re-cladding the Richardson to be the catalyst), but the idea that our pinnacle is the Richardson, or atleast that it sets the bar out of nostalgic reasons alone is indicative of (in my opinion) self-limiting attitude. The empire state building was brought up... well if someone elected not to reclad it... well it's the empire state building... that's 37 tiers above whatever grade the Richardson building gets.
Perhaps I'm not too nostalgic, but I don't understand this faux-emotion we add behind EVERY little thing. Several? Sure. But Winnipeg overdoes it, I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GarryEllice
The cities that I love to be in are the ones that are full of life. Gleaming glass skyscrapers look lovely in pictures but they don't really make much of a difference to day-to-day life at street level.
I think you've got the causation backwards. Vibrant cities attract development, and in the current era much of that development is clad in gleaming glass. Having lots of glass buildings is a result of urban success, not a cause of it.
|
Winnipeg is one of the few cities stuck in a peculiar chicken/egg situation... never strong enough to grow quickly with economic upturn, but economically soun enough to weather storms exceptionally... that makes downtown improvement a LONG play, but it ultimately comes down to convincing tenants and the public that downtown is viable. And Winnipeg is a "show-me-first" city. We'd happily wallow in self-hatred until someone else convinces us otherwise, and outside corporations are slow to spot opporunities in Winnipeg because Winnipeggers themselves are blind to them. It's too much to say "build it and they will come", but we need TNS/Artis/Richardson/the big dogs to take risks when opportunity glimpses, so the public can SEE something to boast about.
The money will never flow into Wpg in massive waves that FORCE the market to grow downtown wpg into something beautiful. It has to be gently coaxed along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban recluse
Downtown is struggling because just look at it. What about it is alluring? It is dark, cold, and univinting. You underestimate the importance of color, landscaping, and building materials. Look down at Portage and Main: concrete. A lot of it. The Richardson building and the Fairmont look as if they are extensions of the streets.
The brilliance emanating from True North's plans has lifted people's thoughts about the area, and it has yet to rise. People like things that sparkle.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper
So you end up with two anonymous glass towers with probably the same piss poor, autocentric street level. That will save this intersection.
|
What would be anonymous about two building prettier than the Richardson building? It was the most visually anonymous tower even before the 360 re-clad proposal emerged. The name alone gives it its profile.
Glass, by default alone is much prettier. Not to mention the substantial architectural creativity new projects can offer compared to the Richardson rectangle
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuildUpWpg
Too many pages here to look to see if anyone has brought this up yet but will Winnipeg Square have to be closed when 300 Main construction commences? Seems dangerous to have heavy construction going on overhead while having crowds of people passing through underneath.
|
I'd say it can be done. The city will put them through the ringer to ensure it's uber-safe, but they can do it. I'd imagine their leases force them to anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by esquire
|
Well, just because we can classify an era or style of architecture doesn't make it pretty. I thought the Radisson and PSB were blindingly ugly well before I learned "oh, that's brutalist architecture". I think Winnipeg romanticizes the idea because we're stuck with brutalism.
Prev
Linear Mode
