  Izzadore Member Username: Izzadore Post Number: 92 Registered: 11-2006 |
Polarizing design indeed. You either love it (like me) or hate it. Kind of like the city of Detroit. I thought American Axle could have done something ground-breaking like this instead of that suburban looking building. Might a decent grocer be in the cards for the locale? | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1313 Registered: 09-2007 |
I could have swore I saw a Circuit City sign in one of the renderings. What was that about? | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 130 Registered: 12-2006 |
quote: That would be a fabulous idea--one of the multistory Whole Foods or one of its competitors would fill in a lot of that retail space and draw new residents at the same time. | ||
Rbdetsport Member Username: Rbdetsport Post Number: 434 Registered: 11-2005 |
My guess on why they are waiting is that they will announce the anchor retailer that will fill the, "The anchor of the development will be a 100,000-square-foot retail space and a cinema," space on Wednesday. The announcement of the major retailer will therefore spark development for more retail and residential in the area to make the retailer succeed. By September of 2009, many of the residential developments will be finished and there will be another phase of new developments. These old and new developments together will fill the need for an entertainment option like a cinema, the need for a downtown market, and the demand for a downtown department store/midsized store. That is why I think they are waiting to start construction. The 100,000 sq. ft. retail space is very exciting. And a 30,000 sq.ft. Market!•• | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1909 Registered: 05-2005 |
what a terrible design! | ||
Wood Member Username: Wood Post Number: 5 Registered: 05-2006 |
why does this forum always turn into an echo chamber for curmudgeons who hate modern architecture? seriously, if you can figure out a way to resurrect the masons of your great-grandfather's generation so we actually have a crew of people capable of building the kind of stodgy old buildings you love, give it a try. I hope they're willing to work for $1.32 a day and know a good source of cheap marble and Indiana limestone, too. this is really something to celebrate. the architect seems to be respectful of Detroit and surprisingly humble. I'm sure a bunch of whiny old neoclassical turds complained when they saw the plans for the guardian building back in 1927 or whatever (for the record, I love the old buildings too). | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1910 Registered: 05-2005 |
i love modern architecture, so don't group me into your curmudgeon stereotype, i just don't like THIS example of it (Message edited by gravitymachine on January 06, 2008) | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4742 Registered: 10-2004 |
Better not be CC. If that indeed was a Circuit City logo, it's doomed. CC is close to becoming a penny stock--now at $3.94/share--and appears to be following the former version of K-Mart, along with Ford. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1314 Registered: 09-2007 |
It's not that I'm against modern architecture, but putting something that brand new and glassy in our downtown is like teaching a baby to walk before he/she can crawl. | ||
Quinn Member Username: Quinn Post Number: 1554 Registered: 01-2005 |
Fabulous design...love it. Even if it is 10 years too late. I feel like some of you on here who think they might wake up tomorrow to find out they dreamt this. All that retail? Is this really happening? Could we actually have a department store downtown finally? BTW, we were recently in a multi-story target in New Orleans with a really cool conveyor machine for shopping carts that moves alongside the moving stairs...totally made us think of what a Target downtown would/could look like. | ||
Dtwflyer Member Username: Dtwflyer Post Number: 62 Registered: 01-2005 |
Great news! I love this city & state and I'm sick of all the negative aspect that we alway here. I take pride whenever something positive comes out. That made my morning today when I picked up the newspaper. The city is turning the corner no doubt. I had several friends in town over the holidays and took them out downtown. They had a great time and were impressed with how vibrant the place is becoming. While all of the new developments may not necessarily be attracting new people to the region, at least it helps slow/stop the bleeding. | ||
Quinn Member Username: Quinn Post Number: 1555 Registered: 01-2005 |
Also, I'm happy to see such vehement negativity towards the design by some of you. That means we're getting closer to good, quality design. Nobody wants boring. If you do some research, you'll see it's not so different from our hipster sister cities, and reminds me of Galerie Lafayette in Berlin:  Les Halles in Paris:  Aberdeen in BC  | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11736 Registered: 10-2003 |
I too love the design. I like to see a good mix of architecture, whether it be downtown, or within Detroit's neighborhoods. I think this will fit perfectly downtown. | ||
El_jimbo Member Username: El_jimbo Post Number: 479 Registered: 12-2006 |
I love the design. To me, I think you need a lot of contrasting architecture in order to fully appreciate the urban space. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE all the old Albert Kahn, pre-depression buildings and they have an architectural stateliness and power that is simply unmatchable. However, none of them have the energy of a building like this. For image purposes alone, we need buildings like this. When you combine the old and the new, people will see a city that is built upon a bedrock foundation, with institutions that have stood the test of time, but has the energy and the drive to adapt to modern times. If we just had the older styles of architecture, Detroit would look like nothing more than a real life Gotham City in a Batman comic book (especially with the vacant Book Tower and its hauntingly "gothic" design. | ||
Texorama Member Username: Texorama Post Number: 131 Registered: 12-2006 |
Dtwflyer, great shots. I just think this building brings a needed sense of fun to the area. Look at 1001 Woodward--part of the reason it failed is that it's so dull. Who'd want to shop there? This could attract retail that, as per the recent Charlotte thread, could draw in present downtown workers as well as new residents. | ||
Granmontrules Member Username: Granmontrules Post Number: 284 Registered: 01-2007 |
wow! we just got home from being out of town and saw this in our sunday paper! Great news! I love the design - it will mix well with our current architecture in the area. | ||
Chow Member Username: Chow Post Number: 432 Registered: 10-2003 |
My reaction is mixed... I don't particularly like it, but I really cannot complain especially considering its privately financed and diversifies Campus Martius into a real entertainment destination. The design feels slightly unfinished. It needs a taller tower towards the Cadillac Tower. Think something like Zlote Tarasy in Warsaw (which actually seems like a larger scale version of this project, minus residential plus offices). | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 62 Registered: 12-2007 |
"why does this forum always turn into an echo chamber for curmudgeons who hate modern architecture? seriously, if you can figure out a way to resurrect the masons of your great-grandfather's generation so we actually have a crew of people capable of building the kind of stodgy old buildings you love, give it a try. I hope they're willing to work for $1.32 a day and know a good source of cheap marble and Indiana limestone, too." Yes Wood, with a recent degree in architecture I am clearly against modernism, except...that is not modernism, but you wouldn't know that, modernism is architecture greats like Phillip Johnson, and Mies...I wish I would have learned something in school. Unfortunately, this follows more long the lines of what I like to call Gehry-esque design, which isn't even architecture really...it's sculpture. It's one thing to design a building that resembles a food processor from the outside, but wait until tenants start to move in and realize that they bought into a fad and the spaces don't work like they should. Good "modern" design doesn't require flash and glass; architecture firms such as LTL, Morphosis, RoTo UN studio, MRVDV and CONTEMPORARY firms are producing fantastic designs that function and fit into the urban contexts they are designed for through their efficient use of space and materials to maximize the ability of the structure to last the tests of time. We as detroiters, again, should not just jump for joy over the first Sleek building that is thrown in front of our faces because we our so desperate for something. We have the ability to pick and choose those designs that best make up the fabric of our city as a whole, rather than a "sophisticated" eyesore that will be on "Worst Building Lists" in every architectural publication I read. | ||
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed Post Number: 2469 Registered: 04-2006 |
It reminds me of the Time Warner Center in NYC. | ||
Chow Member Username: Chow Post Number: 433 Registered: 10-2003 |
D_mcc you are assuming quite a bit. First the design will likely be changed significantly between now and when/if it is built in 2009. Second, we have yet to see floor plans, sections, interior perspectives... you know the things that actually allow us to get a complete feel of the building. We have yet to see how all the components are integrated, how the circulation is handled, how entrances are defined, the layout of residential and services, etc. You are over-reacting to a few exterior renders which do not really tell us much about the building. | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 63 Registered: 12-2007 |
Chow, I fail to see where you make your correlations between this particular design and Zlote Tarasy... except for the glass project eden-like glass dome, and curved walls, I cannot see the comparison | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1911 Registered: 05-2005 |
i just don't think that the proportions shown in the renderING will work well on such a small lot (Message edited by gravitymachine on January 06, 2008) | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 64 Registered: 12-2007 |
You are right to say I am assuming much, but based on my education and training, my gut reaction is one of disdain and dislike. I will wait for the components and plans to make a more thorough deduction, but my initial feeling remains. But this is what I see when I see those renderings http://archinect.com/gallery/d isplayimage.php?album=3&pos=23 7 A building that was welcomed and acclaimed when it opened, but which is now the focus of disdain and resentment, not to mention a 300$ dollar lawsuit. | ||
Wood Member Username: Wood Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2006 |
D_mcc, right, next time I'll bust out more masturbatory academic gobbledygook so I can reach you on your level. though I may be some poor simpleton who can't tell the difference between walter gropius and rem koolhaas, I still get frustrated with the backwards-looking j.h. kunstler-ian rhetoric of some of the people here who think every new building in downtown detroit should be designed by the re-animated corpse of wirt c. rowland. this is such exciting news! can't we at least wait a few hours before our personal prejudices take over to complain about the design? | ||
Leland_palmer Member Username: Leland_palmer Post Number: 429 Registered: 08-2004 |
Phallic imagery aside here are some cities far older than our own that are not afraid of innovative, challenging architecture. City Hall: London  The Gherkin: London  Agbar Tower: Barcelona  | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 65 Registered: 12-2007 |
Its simply a matter of time and place, there is a time and place for a design of that type, try...Dubai in 2 months, where the architectural context is ever changing and rapidly evolving. A building of this design style will effect every building that is designed after it in the area. What if this design is a failure, and people hate it, and it sits vacant? What does that do to the prospect of future designs and buildings reaching a completed state? Thinking logically, we have to design to complement the past but to also accentuate the future. This building style MAY work in Detroit in 10-15 years, but there is no bridge between the existing conditions and the building that this design represents. How does it fit into the urban context? How does it relate to the buildings and structures it is adjacent too? All these questions are asked of students in design studios around the world, so as a citizen I believe it is my right to ask these very same questions of the developer. How do the buildings that follow this one continue its design criteria? Do we have a city full of sinuous and ribbon like buildings in the next 10-20 years, in which the building itself only appeals to one sense, vision, and leaves the other 4 out in the cold? How does THIS design play out for the future? I apologize if I have studied, and am concerned about things like this, and I sincerely apologize for expressing my opinion. | ||
Quinn Member Username: Quinn Post Number: 1556 Registered: 01-2005 |
I'd actually specifically call it "deconstructivist architecture," D_mcc, no? | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 66 Registered: 12-2007 |
Yes, I absolutely love the Nouvel phallus | ||
D_mcc Member Username: D_mcc Post Number: 67 Registered: 12-2007 |
"I'd actually specifically call it "deconstructivist architecture," D_mcc, no?" I don't know if it would be considered deconstruction... ok...yes I would, | ||
Wood Member Username: Wood Post Number: 8 Registered: 05-2006 |
it really is a shame that architects are a dime a dozen in this town, and their opinions are worth even less. |
