^^^ Brian, See the post directly above me for an example of "premium" construction products.
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Originally Posted by Brian.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that I have commented on my position of the architecture of this or any other of the LaGrange projects. I have a vested interest in these structures due to the fact that I work in the precast industry. I am curious of what producers in other areas of the country are doing. I look at these buildings in far more detail then most probably do.
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Then why are you telling us not to comment on the architectural and philosophical emptiness of this project?
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One of the most irritating things is the perpetual comments that precast is ‘cheap’. It will make you probably cringe to know that in general, precast is actually a premium construction product based on its durability, speed of construction, virtually unlimited shapes, color and texture. In comparison for a structure like this, EFIS on a steel frame would be considered ‘cheap’ construction. Sometimes I am just compelled prevent the misinformation of general construction practices.
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I don't think anyone here was complaining that Precast is a cheap or crappy material. I think everyone was complaining about how it is used and how, in this setting, it won't age well in comparison to the materials they are aping with it.
I'm pretty sure that EFIS is banned in Chicago and therefore couldn't even be used here. I've never seen it on anything more than cover-up facades of one story retail spaces and even that might not have been EFIS, but rather a similar looking material.
You are always so concerned that we are ripping on precast, except it only comes up in the LaGrange threads because he abuses it and makes the ugliest and most philosophically void structures out of it.
Yet you ignore the praise that precast has received in other Chicago threads like the beautiful, charcoal grey, precast that they have chosen for the Roosevelt University Dorm tower. Just about everyone in that thread has been drooling over it. THAT is how precast should be used from an architectural pattern. It should express its inherent properties, not be used to mimick other materials. I love how the RU Dorm has a pattern of tiny square insets contained within the larger grid of the panels themselves. This celebrates the fact that it is a wall of large panels while at the same time adding interesting texture and detail. Compare this to the poorly hidden joints on LaGranges buildings where it is quite obvious they are large panels, yet the architect chooses to try to hide it. That's not to mention the fact that the caulk used to seal the joints will likely age differently than the precast itself and only further highlight the fact that these structures are essentially giant playmobile houses made of huge sections snapped together. If that happens on the RU Dorm, it will only make it look better and further highlight the geometric nature of the facade.
So you see, no one has a problem with precast, we have a problem with it being used inappropriately with gross colors in bad architecture. I don't see how you can't find the teal insets on this building repulsive. Teal is a color that has never aged well or looked good. I hate teal precast not because it's precast, but because it's fugly and will probably look like shit in 20 years as the color becomes streaked or faded. The building is cheap, not the precast (though it is in comparison to raw stone).
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