OAKLAND | Howard Terminal (A’s stadium) development and Coliseum redevelopment

[TouchTheSky13]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Yeah the previous seemed much more architecturally unified in a singualr vision/broad stroke kind of way, if that makes sense. It just seemed a lot more bold and cohesive. The new plan looks quite nice don't get me wrong. I just hope it happens.

It was definitely a bolder vision, but I don't think it necessarily fits with the architectural vernacular of the Bay Area. I think what they've done now is aligned the streets between the surrounding buildings with entry gates to the ballpark. IMO, this will make the pedestrian experience on game days more exciting and improve wayfinding around the ballpark. The building massings are more generic and less BIG-esque than I would've imagined, but that leads me to believe that BIG/Gensler may not be the architects of record for all of them, though I could be wrong about that. If that is in fact the case, it could lead to more architectural variety and make the development as whole seem less monolithic.

[TouchTheSky13]

Originally Posted by Rail>Auto

I completely agree that the original design was much better, especially the surrounding buildings. The main thing that was lost was the fact that it paid tribute to Shibe Park.

On a side note, I'm glad to see the field from the Coliseum staying. I'd like to see more of the ballpark repurposed for their proposed development like what happened with Bush Stadium in Indianapolis but I didn't know where i could submit my comments to whoever came up with the plan.

Shibe Park wasn't even built in Oakland though, so I'm not so sure that paying homage to it makes much sense.