Quote:
Originally Posted by NESteve
Wow is right. A pretty ruthless, almost mean-spirited summary memo. These are opinions that should have been levied onto Dumbbell and Yard: "the building has an alien character to it"..."it needs to merge into the neighborhood more cohesively"..."need a total rethinking"..."schizophrenic".
Maybe the commission wants to seal the fate of lower Burnside as a wacky, fun-house district as if to buttress sins of the past: "The envelope design...is architecturally very conservative"..."East Burnside is developing into one of the more interesting design districts in town, so there is also more carte blanche to explore architectural form here". They should just come out and say: "with the addition of Dumbbell, Yard, and asphalt shingle skin on the Jupiter expansion...we want and expect peculiar massing, unconventional materials, and extra credit for bizarre fenestration".
It's become a race to the bottom.
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No kidding. It is like they are commenting on a completely different buildling.
I happen to like this design. the blockiness is somewhat dynamic and the push/pull combined with the transparency of the first floor would fit in well with the street and I think would help activate and make the street interesting.