Board members often complain of boring rectangular designs with similar materials. I would prefer a boring rectangular building with beige or red brick to this. I am always thinking about how well the building will be maintained and how the design contributes or hinders this. How do you deal with water runoff, cleaning, refinishing surfaces if needed.
It is sad to see thoughtful beautiful buildings such as the Metropolitan and the adjacent park and then walk a few blocks and see things such as the Lovejoy building. For now, some are placated by the shiny surfaces and fresh materials. I wonder what it will look like in ten years.
We need to be understanding of the fiscal constraints and other needs, but not give a free pass to those who give us monstrosities like the Lovejoy. I would rather have buildings in between gems that are bland than something that is merely different.
On a positive note. Take a look at the Aqua in Chicago. The curtian ended up being a regular curtian, but this building is innovative. I especially like the garden/park on the platform and the illusion presented by the curved outcroppings of the decks. Hopefully you can do that with out incurring too much expense.
I wonder if you could develop a forms kit that would allow you to do curves without increasing the cost too much. What do you think of injecting green space into the designs? I don't especially like parking structures and would prefer that they are integrated with retail, office space, and or residencies, but I like the green spaces that are designed into the parking structure near the pearl water front buildings and the Encore. Speaking of the Encore. I think you guys should give the Encore less criticism and direct your energy towards things like this shack / trailer home that is bolted onto the Lovejoy. It ranks up there with the condos in NW near the Starbucks at the northern edge of 23rd ave.
Would appreciate any comments on the Aqua. The renderings overstate the design, and some photos of the current construction understate the finished appearance. Take some time to look at it. I especially like the green space on the platform that reclaims the space and provides a green contrast. I also really like the visual effect of the curved decks / outcroppings. It seems much more doable after watching the projects progress. When I first saw the renderings, I thought that the Aqua would be ridiculously expensive to build, but I realize that the project is actually simpler, but innovative.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...99367&page=131
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=99367
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It is where we keep all of the cities gardening tools that help make us a "greener" city. See, there is a bright side to this tower 
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