Quote:
Originally Posted by denizen467
This. Eloquently stated. Including Ned B's comment. The selection was about developers and economics, with designs being placeholders. Keep in mind architecture firms are willing to spend only so much time when donating proposals for free, especially when the "jury" isn't even going to be judging on design.
People need to inhale some burgers and beers over the Memorial Day weekend and forget about this for several months, until real designs come out. The thread could even be locked for a while, except that discussion of the massing and overall program and other things is legitimate (though as someone said, the new transit center will be kept).
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As much as I like the aesthetic and the detailing of the transit center, the urban design sucks. It's a huge swath of concrete at one of the city's most bustling intersections. It offers no landscaping, no retail, and almost nothing else to engage pedestrians. From the neighborhood standpoint, it's about as engaging as a Jewel parking lot. Is it better than the parking lot it replaced? Sure. Is it ideal? Hell no.
It would be a breath of fresh air if they built something like that at Woodfield Mall (and Canadian/European cities DO build similar stuff in their suburbs) but in the heart of the city it just seems inappropriate, so I always hoped and kinda expected it to be temporary.
As for the "millions" spent building it - a big chunk of that was spent on underground construction to build the Pedway connection, which will continue to be useful even after the block is redeveloped.
The Goettsch proposal as shown leaves a lot to be desired, but I like that they plan to do away with the transit center and wrap the bus loading into a building podium that is at least semi-urban, with tighter curb cuts, plenty of retail and a green wall/plaza-ramp.