South Waterfront Block 42 | Dead

[BrG]

There are some very nice and very talented individuals slated to participate in that project.

I expect it to be as professional a process as any other real project is. The end result, if judged by any other work that Kevin Cavenaugh has developed, will be pretty progressive.

[MOPIdaho]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

SoWa, that stuff all seems so sterile with the exception of the storm water runoffs.

I never thought about it but the storm water runoff solutions are my favorite aspects of SoWa, weird all that glass being upstaged by some grass and rocks.

[cab]

Not surprise by 14parcels, architects reworking a BOX. Do any of these guys have the capacity to do anything other then the cube form? Its Lego land architecture.

This is a larger topic, but does the Asian world have a leg up on US/European architects going forward. They seem to understand much better the relationship of the circle and nature. We seem to be stuck imposing boxes on our natural surroundings (very 1950's manifest destiny mentality). The Box is a very arrogant form of development. Since the box does not exist in nature, it’s basically a sign of Man's perceived power over nature. 14parcel is hillside location is this really the best way to build and complement this site? Its seems a case study of an industry devoid of any new ideas.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Room 606

No offense, but assuming this is going to be a mess because of your experience in an undergrad studio at Portland State seems to be a leap.

14 parcels + 14 designers is very different than 14 parcels + 14 undergraduate design students.

Looks like a promising project to me.

No offense taken, it was more meant to be a joke about what happens when you get a bunch of architecture egos together to design individual pieces and then get them to work. It usually turns into a mess. The WTC is a good care in point, several high ego architects trying to out stage the others.

But for this project I do like all the groups working on it, so it will be fun to see what a bunch of small local architects can do here and would be nice to see these projects happen more often in town. The small local firms really need to do some serious case study work throughout Portland.


Oh and I agree with you Cab, that is one debate that will never have a final answer. If they were to design with "nature" in mind, would it still be about nature seeing nothing around this site is real nature that hasn't been augmented by man? Although funny you should mention the whole box thing because Architecture W is a firm I am aware of that has one of its owners in Japan and is very Japanese influenced.


MOPIdaho, next time you are down there between the Meriwether and the Atwater, you should check them out. I would enjoy having those all throughout the city, they are quite peaceful.

[brandonpdx]

Originally Posted by cab

Not surprise by 14parcels, architects reworking a BOX. Do any of these guys have the capacity to do anything other then the cube form? Its Lego land architecture.

This is a larger topic, but does the Asian world have a leg up on US/European architects going forward. They seem to understand much better the relationship of the circle and nature. We seem to be stuck imposing boxes on our natural surroundings (very 1950's manifest destiny mentality). The Box is a very arrogant form of development. Since the box does not exist in nature, it’s basically a sign of Man's perceived power over nature. 14parcel is hillside location is this really the best way to build and complement this site? Its seems a case study of an industry devoid of any new ideas.

Asia's leg up on architecture is simply because of their willingness to spend $$$. To use an analogy that could be taken leterally: It costs a lot more to bend metal.

A country such as China is building their unique, curvy, glass towers to show the world that they have arrived and they don't care if they lose money on the building. In the US we usually build for profit and unique design is generally too expensive to pencil out.

[cab]

I don't know Brandon, I'd like to think US architects could design something more in tune with nature (don't get me wrong many have), but they seem to have really embraced the simple, clean line paradigm. Hand Holst an unlimited budget will they really play in a language they don't work in? I think we'd get more of the same, just with better materials. Sorry for this but has economics created an entire generation of architects who are literally stuck in a box?