The Greatest Architectural Sacrileges in your cities history (Urban Renewal Crimes)

[hauntedheadnc]

We lost this...


Source.

...to make way for a shitty, three-level parking deck in the 1960's. But the punchline is that a couple of years ago, that parking deck was torn down to make way for...


Source.

...another hotel about the same size as the one that got torn down in the first place. Seems like we could have saved ourselves a lot of fuss and bother by just not tearing down the first hotel, but hell... Who knew?

[The North One]

It's crazy when you look at old photos of South American cities; holy shit they were gorgeous, almost rivaling Europe in beauty. What happened to all that? I'm sure renewal there must have been very different.

[MolsonExport]

Older thread on urban renewal disasters, with some real gaping asshole "renewals"
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=219294

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Good topic!

In Los Angeles, three egregious actions:

1. The complete bulldozing of the historic Victorian neighborhoods on Bunker Hill in the late 1950s/early 1960s. The area was rundown, but the architecture was great. A little spit and polish could have made the area into L.A.'s Nob Hill.

2. The demolition of the beautiful art deco Richfield Oil tower in 1968/69. The tower could have been preserved as part of the ARCO tower project, which could have used adjacent parcels.

3. The destruction of the wonderful original Pershing Square, which had a wonderful design and gardens, much like San Francisco's Union Square, to put in an underground parking garage. The Square when redone was quite awful. Hopefully a redesign can undo the damage, and restore some of the original design.

Here was your chance to actually post a picture of the Richfield tower without any of us blasting you for it and you didnt?? haha

[Centropolis]

somebody else can do st. louis, unless i start really drinking.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by LosAngelesSportsFan

Here was your chance to actually post a picture of the Richfield tower without any of us blasting you for it and you didnt?? haha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richfi...ia_(65013).jpg

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by The North One

It's crazy when you look at old photos of South American cities; holy shit they were gorgeous, almost rivaling Europe in beauty. What happened to all that? I'm sure renewal there must have been very different.

Lots of Buenos Aires & Montevideo streets have the original 1920s-40s buildings. A time capsule of art deco.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by muppet

I think the one that takes the biscuit for the Western world would be this, It's one of the few places that drew criticism for being too grandiose and awe inspiring:

OH WELL

This department store looks absolutely incredible. What a loss.

[Minato Ku]

It was just way too big.
I don't see what purpose could have a such huge building after the demise of the department store in its former size.

Especially in Barbes, it's one of the most working class area in the City of Paris.
Just like in America, department stores have almost disappeared in France.
Of all the grand department stores of Paris built in Paris during the 19th century, just 4 remain.

After the closure of Dufayel department store and its destruction, a bank took a large part of the site but the computerization of services has led to a reduction of the staffs during the 1990s
The site was then redevelopped in the early 2000s with more modern offices and parts were converted into residencial spaces.

Today there is a mix of residencial and office space with older and more recent buildings.
Part of the former facades have been reused, it could have been worse.


Dufayel 1 by Minato ku, sur Flickr


Dufayel 2 by Minato ku, sur Flickr

[muppet]

Such a loss. But many large buildings suffer the same fate, the running costs for such huge spaces (such as security, heating, cleaning etc) would be astronomical, especially if left empty.

London's equivalent would be the 'people's palaces' such as Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace), very nearly demolished in the 80s after much degradation. They found reuse for the vast rooms as exhibition centres, tv studios and sporting venues, though much is still closed off and decaying.



https://thewestreviewdotcom.files.wordpress.com




www.thestudiotour.com


http://www.londontown.com/LondonEven...agesPage/26435



Back in the heyday:


https://upload.wikimedia.org




Part of the reason why they didn't rebuild Crystal Palace, (and why the local council still objects to any commercial attempts) despite the relatively cheap cost to create and assemble it (the world's first mass produced, industrialised building complex), is the vast size would mean large running costs. The council recently rejected a Chinese consortium as they couldn't prove the legacy of the project would be self sufficient.


http://static.dezeen.com


The same with the large industrial complexes, such as the Bankside and Battersea Power Stations, both partly demolished but saved at the last instant for reuse (as the world's largest modern art museum, and a shopping/ exhibition space respectively).



https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/561050066051599994/, http://pantlingstudio.blogspot.com/2...bine-hall.html



For the country as a whole, nearly 2,000 Country Houses (palatial estates built off the riches of Empire) have been demolished in the 20th Century due to the running costs. It was often a nightmarish fate to be born into such a landed family, through which your every waking hour was spent trying to raise funds for the upkeep of the buildings, and slowly seeing room by room fall into ruin, after the piecemeal selling off of the contents. Entire painting collections, inheritances and heirlooms would go in order to keep up with the heating bills for example.

http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/lh_complete_list.html



www.urbanghostsmedia.com


www.lostheritage.org.uk

[muppet]

Old Sao Paulo


http://primarisis.blogspot.co.uk/201...-pictures.html




https://americasouthandnorth.wordpre...-in-sao-paulo/

http://cidadedesaopaulo.com



https://br.pinterest.com/pin/505458758159964999/


http://climatewatch.typepad.com

[BigKidD]

There are a number of changes that Kansas City, MO has experienced. In particular, the loss of The Board of Trade Building and the creation of the North Loop of downtown.

The Board of Trade Building designed by Burnham & Root existed from 1887 to 1968. Currently a parking lot.


https://classics.life/kansas-citys-1...rade-building/


https://classics.life/kansas-citys-1...rade-building/

The creation of the downtown freeway loop saw the leveling and 'modernization' of downtown for the city of the future. A casualty of this urban renewal was The Junction at 9th and Main along with many buildings along 6th street.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/415808978070466847/


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/407294360025783581/


https://www.apartments.com/sky-on-ma...ty-mo/v9ygsvg/


http://www.squeezeboxcity.com/northloop/


https://www.pitch.com/news/blog/2083...-back-the-city

[Citylover94]

Boston's West End and Scollay Square were already mentioned, but I thought it might be good to post pictures that show just how much was lost.

West End Boston


West End Post Destruction


Scollay Square Boston


After Rebuilding as Government Center

[The North One]

It's really weird when you're walking in Beacon Hill and then you get to Cambridge street it suddenly it turns into this neighborhood of towers in parks, parking lots and really wide streets. A stark contrast.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

Birmingham, Alabama's biggest loss is almost certainly the Terminal Station, demolished in 1969. In its place currently? The Red Mountain Expressway.

I still get upset every time I go through the 5th Ave N tunnel...

[jd3189]

Miami has lost a lot throughout its history in the name of "urban renewal" and other excuses.


Most of Overtown, a core Black neighborhood near downtown, was demolished for I-95


http://randompixels.blogspot.com/201...-in-1970s.html




http://urbanp.org/overtown/




http://miamiarchives.blogspot.com/20...-district.html



https://miami.curbed.com/2012/10/2/1...illed-overtown




Downtown



https://www.pinterest.com/pin/54113632993509188




https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/29896
























(6 photos above from this source: https://www.gridics.com/news/histori...hrough-history )


Orange Bowl (Replaced by Marlins Park)


https://www.gridics.com/news/histori...hrough-history




Much has survived and much is lost. The city would have been different today.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downto...toric_District

[TempleGuy1000]

Philly has too many to count

[muppet]

Oh Philly, aaaargggh. My eyes are bleeding.

I sometimes want to smack any architect and town planner who worked in the postwar era.

[chris08876]

Thanks to all for the insightful posts. Some of those structures in Paris I never knew existed. What a sacrilege some of the replacements. That Department Store was beautiful.

Some American cities, man... they looked like whole different cities back then. Sad to see those dense mid rises go in place of crap highways to begin with.

Urban Renewal in Cincinnati is probally the biggest rape of any American city in history. Those looked like lively neighborhoods. Most importantly, walkable and dense.

The London Opera house was replaced with suicidal structures. What the f were they thinking.

[The North One]

I can't help but feel like Cincinnati was the Vienna of North America, a river city surrounded by beautiful rolling hills with extremely grandiose architecture and perfect urban fabric. America willingly threw so much away for nothing, we don't even have a proper war as an excuse.