Quote:
Originally Posted by gopokes21
Mr1138 - Very thoughtful post, although you like others fall into the trap of basing "ugly" on present conditions. For International Style, I.M. Pei's building at Broadway/16th just got a nice glow-up and may even have an active frontage once it opens for business. But you referenced a plan for the Channel 7 site. Do you mind sharing what you've seen or talking a little bit more about it? I honestly have no idea what specifically is proposed, so far I can only opine on the preservation potential and planning process.
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I actually don't know anything more about what might be proposed here than anyone else. Sorry if I wasn't clear - when I mentioned a "site plan" I was talking about the plan for the existing facility. And by that I mean:
- An octagonal tower at the corner of Speer and Lincoln that sits at an oblique to Speer Boulevard and fails to define that street
- A "valet" style dropoff on Speer that interrupts the sidewalk
- A nasty iron fence that separates the tower from Lincoln and makes the place feel like some kind of weird jail or compound
- A weird sidecar of a building to the north of that tower that is so short that all anyone really notices is the tower
- A parking lot as an intended feature of the site plan surrounded by a fence with some broadcasting equipment/satellite dishes awkwardly thrown in
Essentially it is an "object in space" and fails to "define space." But this is exactly what modernist urban design was
trying to do. They didn't like "urban canyons," i.e. streets defined by a wall of buildings. The goal was to create a bunch of pointy objects within an open field of space. They were trying to
undo the traditional figure-ground of the city and try to achieve something like the below image - it was an overtly hostile act aimed at destroying the city as people once knew it.
And this, again, is exactly what early preservationists were trying to stop the urban environment from becoming - they were trying to preserve the traditional definition of urban space as seen in a place like Larimer Square, where buildings meet both each other and the sidewalk to create a kind of "outdoor room." The city has since doubled-down on this with form-based code requirements that would never allow a site plan like this to be submitted today. Take this language right out of Denver's zoning code about the intended design purpose: "
The Mixed Use zone districts are intended to promote safe, active, and pedestrian-scaled, diverse areas through the use of building forms that clearly define and activate the public street edge."
The design for the Channel 7 Building was a
deliberate attempt
not to define the street edge. It is exactly what city policy says it
doesn't want in this part of town. And while I agree that much of this could be changed through modification
in theory, nothing can be done about the "object in space" octagonal shape of the tower.
And yes - it's true, I did use the word "ugly," which I admit is a subjective aesthetic judgement. But it is what it is - I find the shape of the building, its urban context, and the weird stone-aggregate façade material to be
ugly. I don't think I'm alone on this - but as they say, there's no accounting for taste. No amount of modification to the site plan or additional structures surrounding the building can change the fact that
the tower is ugly.
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(I'm very much kidding, don't hyperventilate)
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