Quote:
Originally Posted by ozone
I realize it won't actually look like that but it's a move in the right direction. I particularly like the idea of demolishing the ungainly City Hall East. Why don't they just expedite the development by building replacements offices for the CHE, and build a new County Courthouse and Admin building. Then they could tear down those two outdated, oppressive behemoths and replace them with something that opens up the Grand Park with the Cathedral and the Grand Avenue Project.
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Good heavens no. This is precisely the kind of architectural illiteracy and flippant regard for historic preservation that led to the tragic demolition of buildings like the Richfield during the era of Urban Renewal. Late Modern Brutalism may not be your "thing", but City Hall East is an immaculate example of the style and speaks volumes about the history, culture, and context within which it was built. This, and not whether something looks pretty, is the standard against which art and architecture is evaluated.
Just as every architectural style has fallen out of fashion in the decades following it's zenith, each inevitably regains favor at the 50-60 year mark once perspective has set it. Brutalism, like Victorian, Neoclassical, Art Deco, and Mid-Century Modern before it will reach revered status in the 2020s and 2030s, and City Hall East will come to be viewed as an equal (if radically different) landmark to City Hall itself. I pray the city leaders have the wisdom to foresee this before this plan is able to come to fruition...