SMART Tower | 650' | Dead

[Pavlov's Dog]

If built at 650' I wonder if this may end up like the Space Needle in Seattle, drawfed through the years by taller buildings.

Personally I'd rather see this next to the convention center if it's "only" going to be 650'. If it's downtown I think it should be 800' so it will remain the tallest building in town for a while.

I love the architecture and principles behind it. It's a great way of expressing Portland's values while still building high.

[nwroots]

I..LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Very Portland! It fits here..

[MightyAlweg]

I don't find that design to be very attractive, at least not from these first few renderings. It looks rather clumsy and trendy and not at all elegant.

The Space Needle was designed with such elegance that it has really aged gracefully and stood the test of time. The Space Needle is approaching 50 years old, and still looks crisp and fresh and modern. There were several other observation towers from 1960's World's Fairs that weren't nearly as elegant as the Space Needle, and they didn't age well at all. They failed to become symbols for their respective cities because of their clumsy design, and are now looking rather ugly. Ever see pictures of the Tower of the Americas from the 1968 World's Fair in San Antonio? Yeah, you probably haven't because it's an ugly tower that no one is very proud of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_the_Americas

This SMART Tower design isn't very elegant, it looks very much "of its time", and I don't think it will age well. I would need to see more detailed photos to be sure, but from this first pass it doesn't look too hot in my opinion.

Also, with the oval shape to the observation decks, the restaurant will be unable to revolve. The restaurant should revolve, not only for the gimmickry and showmanship of it, but from a business standpoint of having all tables be the best tables. That's why the Space Needle restaurant is still so popular; you don't have to tip the Maitre d' to make sure you don't get stuck with a bad table looking at Lake Union all night. Everyone gets to spin around and see the entire view at the Space Needle.

The SMART Tower has potential, but I just don't think this first pass design is quite it.

[RoseCtyRoks]

If this tower comes to be, I can't picture anything in the next 10 years going any higher......but you never know, this may inspire incredible heights, and the limits as we know them could be history.
I sure wouldn't be suprised if this tower gets the green light and is built in the next 4 years. Seems like Hanna is getting some serious interest from Dan Saltzman, and with all the benefits to the city, this could pencil out nicely.

[65MAX]

Looks really good, better than I'd expected. Sort of evokes a tornado.... appropriate for a tower meant to capture wind energy.

That does appear to be about 650' high. It's shown at Waterfront Park at the Hawthorne Bridge/Yeon building/Salmon Springs fountain. The Wells Fargo tower would be about 1/4 mile behind it from this perspective. However, it's unlikely it will be built there. It will more likely be placed on the east bank, south of OMSI, near the new light rail bridge/station. That area is zoned industrial and also has NO height limits. Since its primary "function" is a power generation facility, the city and PDC should have no problem siting it there.

[IanofCascadia]

Let me first say that I have very mixed feelings overall for this project/design. I love the idea of pushing the limit in the realms of design and height. I'd love even more to have a symbol for our city that we can all be proud of.

However, I agree with MightyAlweg that I'm not so sure how well this tower will age. What I want to see is not merely a design for the age, but one for the ages. The middle multi-helix section looks fantastic, but I'm not that fond of the top and the bottom looks horrendous.

This brings me to my next point. I do NOT like the fact that it seems the major source of revenue for this tower is parking. What, I count 14 levels of parking including 10 above ground. I'm sorry, but you don't express 21st. century green architecture by building the city's largest parking garage. Plus, 3MW is not even that much power. This would produce the equivalent of 1 or 2 wind turbines worth of energy (are each in the 1-3 MW range), but would take a $100+ million tower downtown to do so.

That having been said, I would still love for it to get built... I just hope that the design gets tweaked significantly before it breaks ground.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by MightyAlweg

This SMART Tower design isn't very elegant, it looks very much "of its time", and I don't think it will age well. I would need to see more detailed photos to be sure, but from this first pass it doesn't look too hot in my opinion.

"Of its time".... maybe. If, by that, you mean that it has curves like a lot of new towers being built today. However, unlike some of the office/condo/mixed-use towers going up elsewhere that use curves arbitrarily, just for the "wow" factor, curves on this tower are entirely appropriate given that it's designed to harness wind power.

The Space Needle is very much "of its time". It's essentially the poster child for the 1960's, futuristic, Jetsonesque aesthetic. Nothing wrong with that, but it's just as dated as the art deco Chrysler Building, or the corporate '70's Sears Tower, or even the PoMo Portland Building.

"Elegance" is subjective, but I think most people would find spirals, helixes and curves in general to be very elegant.

Originally Posted by MightyAlweg

Also, with the oval shape to the observation decks, the restaurant will be unable to revolve. The restaurant should revolve, not only for the gimmickry and showmanship of it, but from a business standpoint of having all tables be the best tables. That's why the Space Needle restaurant is still so popular; you don't have to tip the Maitre d' to make sure you don't get stuck with a bad table looking at Lake Union all night. Everyone gets to spin around and see the entire view at the Space Needle.

It would be very easy (costly, but easy) to include a conveyer belt around the perimeter of the restaurant. The restaurant doesn't have to be a circle to do this. Look at the baggage carousels at any airport. They can adjust to any curve as well as go in a straight line. An oval would pose no problem whatsoever.

Also, if this tower is placed somewhere close to the Willamette, every view would be a good view....
You have Downtown and the West Hills to the W;
the Pearl and the Willamette to the NW;
the Columbia, the Lloyd District, Mt. St Helens and Mt. Rainier to the N;
Mt. Adams and PDX to the NE;
Mt. Hood, Mt. Tabor and Rocky Butte to the E;
Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Scott to the SE;
the Willamette and Ross Island to the S;
and SoWa, Pill Hill and the Aerial Tram to the SW.
All good views, IMO.

Originally Posted by MightyAlweg

Ever see pictures of the Tower of the Americas from the 1968 World's Fair in San Antonio? Yeah, you probably haven't because it's an ugly tower that no one is very proud of.

Now THAT I agree with.

[65MAX]

Pics bump.....

Originally Posted by dkealoha

The post is up!!

http://www.portlandspaces.net/blog/t...14/smart-tower

[JordanL]

Make it happen Adams. I would love to finally have an iconic symbol of the city, and a building that looks like its constantly in motion, and powers the park it sits in all while overlooking the entire city fits that bill nicely.

[65MAX]

Originally Posted by IanofCascadia

I do NOT like the fact that it seems the major source of revenue for this tower is parking. What, I count 14 levels of parking including 10 above ground. I'm sorry, but you don't express 21st. century green architecture by building the city's largest parking garage.

Cars will be around for centuries to come, but how we park them is what's changing. Remember who's paying for the tower..... Hanna wants to showcase his new mechanical (and space-saving) parking system. First at his new boat storage facility, then here. I don't think he's doing this merely to generate revenue.

Besides, the wait staff needs to park somewhere.....

Originally Posted by IanofCascadia

The middle multi-helix section looks fantastic, but I'm not that fond of the top and the bottom looks horrendous.
........
That having been said, I would still love for it to get built... I just hope that the design gets tweaked significantly before it breaks ground.

I tend to agree about the top and bottom sections, though I wouldn't call it horrendous. They could definitely use a little tweaking. My problem with it is the way the top and bottom transition to the middle section. It's a very abrupt transition that could easily be softened with a more gradual reduction of solar panels as you go up from the bottom, and likewise as you come down from the top. This would help to blend the 3 sections together.

[IHEARTPDX]

I love the idea and design of this tower but it kinda reminds me of the Martian tripods from War of The Worlds:

[tworivers]

Wow. This is definitely the kind of thinking we need right now.

Will it look like a giant gimmick in a few years, without the charm of the Space Needle?

Can they sell it to a risk-averse public? Not to mention flashiness-averse.

The parking garage factor, despite the apparent financial necessity, is a big turn-off for me. And I'd much rather see it downtown rather than the eastside --unless they tear out or bury the eastbank freeway. It just seems to belong on the westside. I'm looking forward to the next couple years of process!

[alexjon]

Originally Posted by MightyAlweg

Ever see pictures of the Tower of the Americas from the 1968 World's Fair in San Antonio? Yeah, you probably haven't because it's an ugly tower that no one is very proud of. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_the_Americas

Why you gotta hate?

Everything at Hemisfair was brutalist, the tower was no different.

[PacificNW]

It is mentioned that the tower would power the electrical needs of Waterfront Park....why not also incorporate enough turbine power to illuminate all the bridges downtown?

[NJD]

Ugly. Worst idea ever. I do not like the tower. There is nothing elegant or 'portland' about the bulbous, organic design. It reminds me of an architecture students' egocentric attempt to do too much and accomplish a 'in-the-now' Ghery/Mayne-esque blob on our skyline. It will permanently change how the city looks and feels, and will 'age' quickly. People thought the CA Bright tower was a good idea at the time, and boy am I glad we didn't build that monstrosity.
I love how everyone jumps for joy for a parking garage on the waterfront just because of the ugly things height potential...

[dkealoha]

I love the idea and love aspects of the design, but part of me is having a hard time visualizing this fitting in with the rest of downtown. Seems like such a huge structure to be basically the ONLY thing built in waterfront park. I'm not sure if location is negotiable at this point, but do you guys think it would look better somewhere on the OHSU Schnitzer Campus land? I think something this tall would help to bring SoWa and downtown together a bit and eliminate some of the empty space.

[PDX City-State]

The C.A. Bright Tower would have been amazing. Portland Architecture is better than average overall, but there's nothing here that's bold or truly great. This type of thinking is what we need.

[sowat]

thanks, but no thanks... N.I.M.B.Y.

this would have to be exceedingly well-designed and very elegant, in order to be embraced by everyone and sit well in the city. If it had the refinement of a Santiago Calatrava design, perhaps, but from this rendering, where they conveniently don't really show the middle guts of this thing, it would look very industrial, and pretty damn ugly. The concept is interesting, perhaps noble, but unless really well pulled-off, it could be an embarrassing eye-sore for PDX. If it goes ahead, let's hope it gets refined. Personally I can't imagine walking up to an 11-story parking garage. Shame all parking can't be underground. An alternate location might allow that. But really, in this economic climate, and with the cost of construction now, this will probably get scaled down to 100', if not nixed altogether.

[tworivers]

The C.A. Bright Tower would have been amazing. Portland Architecture is better than average overall, but there's nothing here that's bold or truly great. This type of thinking is what we need.

Would you mind fleshing that out a bit?

Does anyone have renderings of the CA Bright tower?

[sowat]

Originally Posted by tworivers

Would you mind fleshing that out a bit?

Does anyone have renderings of the CA Bright tower?

http://www.oshatz.com/text/brighttower.htm