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  #21  
Old Posted May 31, 2009, 12:51 AM
Tex1899 Tex1899 is offline
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Your first couple look to be more appropriate for Chicago, New York, or Shanghai.

Make sure your designs have the right proportions. Look at the building that just went up at Gessner and I-10 here in Houston...that crown ought to be on something that's close to 1000' tall. Look at Frost Bank in Austin...that building looks like it was meant to be 750' tall and about 25 stories were knocked out...it looks squatty.

Ft. Worth, in my opinion, is a little different than most cities in that building tall isn't necessarily the objective, but rather instead the objective is building to compliment the existing structures. Someone about 10 years ago (or less) built a new building that was maybe 10 stories tall. If you walk through dowtown FW you might not know it's 10 years old.

I guess what I'm getting at is buildings in downtown Ft. Worth don't make statements; they compliment. Buildings in downtown Houston (or Dallas, to a lesser extent) are built in part to make statements.

Keep up the good work! I would encourage you to have a second portfolio (the first being projects from design studios) of sketches you've made, proposals, etc. If you haven't already, join AIA, ULI, and make as many contacts as possible, regardless of where the architect, developer, etc. lives/works.
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  #22  
Old Posted May 31, 2009, 1:51 AM
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I really like that redesign you did for the Block TU Tower.
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  #23  
Old Posted May 31, 2009, 8:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex1899 View Post
Your first couple look to be more appropriate for Chicago, New York, or Shanghai.

Make sure your designs have the right proportions. Look at the building that just went up at Gessner and I-10 here in Houston...that crown ought to be on something that's close to 1000' tall. Look at Frost Bank in Austin...that building looks like it was meant to be 750' tall and about 25 stories were knocked out...it looks squatty.

Ft. Worth, in my opinion, is a little different than most cities in that building tall isn't necessarily the objective, but rather instead the objective is building to compliment the existing structures. Someone about 10 years ago (or less) built a new building that was maybe 10 stories tall. If you walk through dowtown FW you might not know it's 10 years old.

I guess what I'm getting at is buildings in downtown Ft. Worth don't make statements; they compliment. Buildings in downtown Houston (or Dallas, to a lesser extent) are built in part to make statements.

Keep up the good work! I would encourage you to have a second portfolio (the first being projects from design studios) of sketches you've made, proposals, etc. If you haven't already, join AIA, ULI, and make as many contacts as possible, regardless of where the architect, developer, etc. lives/works.
I did want the towers to complement the existing buildings, but be tall and have an impact on the skyline at the same time. So I didn't make most of them look ultra modern. Most of the buildings I'm making have and will have a look used from older styles of architecture to sort of blend in with the buildings around them (the Block TU and American Airlines Building are the exceptions... especially the AAB since it would be in Sundance Square).
As of right now, I'm workin on possibilities for 20 story+ buildings right now, but I also have plans to work on smaller, 20 story and less buildings after this....

This is what remains (if I don't think of anything else) for this thread.

-New Burnett Plaza
-remake of XTO
-Coversion of the Burnett Plaza
-Firestone Building
-Fill-in of parking lot behind Burnett Plaza garage and south of the building
-FW Pyramid
-Twin Residential Towers
-Sony Tower


And thanks for the encouragement. That's what I'm in school for...
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  #24  
Old Posted May 31, 2009, 11:44 PM
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I really like that Block TU tower design! I especially like the roof accent, "the shades" I think you called it. Like you said, it may be a little too tall for Fort Worth's existing skyline, but even a somewhat shorter version would look very nice.
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  #25  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2009, 1:14 AM
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I am loving all the designs. I always though the parking lots down on Jones and Calhoun near the would make an awesome mixed use area.
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  #26  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2009, 2:24 AM
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Originally Posted by travelinmiles View Post
I am loving all the designs. I always though the parking lots down on Jones and Calhoun near the would make an awesome mixed use area.
Eventually, they will......
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  #27  
Old Posted Jun 4, 2009, 12:48 AM
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New Building

New Burnett Plaza
714 ft'
46 stories



looking up from ground level


Ground level facade


Mini Plaza options

Carts:



Trees:


Monument/statue:


The Water wall in the front corner:


The top of the building:


elevation:


And the comparison to the current Burnett.....




The building it would replace (500 W. 7th):


And my inspirations:

Comerica Bank Tower


60 Wall Steet



and of course.....
the former Medical Arts Building.



The Med Arts Building was the main inspiration for this building, with the location and all.....
I wanted this building to look like it was built in the 30's... then slightly remodled in the 80's. I hope that's what it seems like.

There's also a mini plaza where people can gather and I wanted that to look more inviting than just a big, grey block you see on 500 W. 7th.

Last edited by JJG; Jun 4, 2009 at 6:34 AM.
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  #28  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2009, 11:24 PM
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I love the fact that downtown has such great street activity. I must say I think much of the newer tall building will close to ITC and the old financial district.
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  #29  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2009, 5:06 AM
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Redo:

XTO HQ
887' ft.
50 stories



With an actual heigh and better, more accurate mesurements.....

The shrotened spires


Ground level with Macy's on one side..... the other side is your imagination. I just couldn't think of what else to put there....




elevation


Comparison with Burnett....



I'm tellin' ya, the demensions are as close as accurate as I can get with SketchUp, but still, the base just seems too big. I don't know....

But I cut the spires down, got the right mesurments (I think), and added a ground floor retal and (your store/restaurant/whatever here) space. So I'm happier with this design.
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  #30  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2009, 7:58 PM
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First, turn of your edges, if you have them on for detail or something you should find another way to bring it. Also, Shadows can make stuff "pop".
But the actuall buildings are cool, there not my style but there very unique and fun to look at. They don't really make me think of Fort Worth but FW is definended by lopsided glass boxes (Skyline wise, that is). I could totally see these in Chicago or LA.
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  #31  
Old Posted Jun 18, 2009, 8:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Austin55 View Post
First, turn of your edges, if you have them on for detail or something you should find another way to bring it. Also, Shadows can make stuff "pop".
But the actuall buildings are cool, there not my style but there very unique and fun to look at. They don't really make me think of Fort Worth but FW is definended by lopsided glass boxes (Skyline wise, that is). I could totally see these in Chicago or LA.
The idea of these were to bring Fort Worth out of the boxy skyline image".

And I see how you would see this more in Chi-town or L.A. because half of these were inspired from skyscrapers in bigger cities like those two.

Thanx for the advice on the edges. I just never bothered with it...
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  #32  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2009, 6:05 AM
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New Building.... and the Burnett Plaza's replacement.....

The Burnett Park Tower
767 ft. (693 ft. not counting the communication tower)





This is my replacement idea the Burn-in-hell-ett Plaza. A free-standing tower with an observation deck and restaurant. I wanted to add some sort of reminder for what once stood there (9 out of every "remake towers" I do has that quality), so I placed the tower inside step design structure, like the back of the Burnett.

Looking at it from street level


The progression to the entrance.



Walking twoards the main entrance, there is a pool in the center with a horse statue standing on marble. And you can see the "Burnett Park Tower" sign across a curved gateway. I couldn't figure out how to put the letters on the curved surface....



Here's the top of the tower, with the bottom part of it being the observation deck, and the bigger, top half being the restaurant. And to have some diversity, I made a silver design in the middle of the "birthday cake".


And here's a loading dock for food or anything else (another part of the current Burnett Plaza I used).


Elevation


Comparison with the Burnett


And while we're at it....


...and...





And I felt like the building was missing something.....


BTW, I have to use lines for some of these pics. It shows the sides of the building better.
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  #33  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2009, 10:18 AM
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I like Burnett, it a good 70's era skyscraper that increases architectural diversity and doesn't look bad or reppetitive in the skyline. Ofcourse, I'd rather have the medical arts building, but ahwell, whats done is done. There are other problems it has but everyone already knows those. IMO Carter+Burgess is the worst looking POS ever, for a decent sized highrise. And horrid at streetlevel.
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  #34  
Old Posted Jun 20, 2009, 4:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Austin55 View Post
I like Burnett, it a good 70's era skyscraper that increases architectural diversity and doesn't look bad or reppetitive in the skyline. Ofcourse, I'd rather have the medical arts building, but ahwell, whats done is done. There are other problems it has but everyone already knows those. IMO Carter+Burgess is the worst looking POS ever, for a decent sized highrise. And horrid at streetlevel.
Well I gotta tell ya, alot of people living in Fort Worth will tell you that they hate the building. Not really because of the design, but because of the size. It just looks too wide. That, and alot of the elders who live in the city hate it only because it replaced the Med Arts Building.

I kinda feel like Burnett Park shouldn't have an office building behind it, but rather something else that would make it seem even more like an urban park...... jf that makes sense.

And the Carter+Burgess is horrible. I gotta agree.
I've always though of remodeling that building as well, but right now, I'm not focused on it.
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  #35  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2009, 12:53 AM
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I think the XTO Tower looks a bit like the Rivercenter Marriott.

I really like the stars on AA.

Last edited by Schertz1; Jun 21, 2009 at 5:11 PM.
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  #36  
Old Posted Jun 21, 2009, 1:10 AM
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Wow, very good designs JJG... I like how you're thinking about your buildings.

I think Ft. Worth definitely needs a new tallest, but beyond that, there needs to be something to break the cycle of all of the flat rooves. The color scheme of the skyline is fine, even the the size is ok. But virtually all of the buildings are flat tops. For Houston, I think that's one of the most important things about BOA center... it's one of very few buildings without a flat top in the skyine. That alone would really add more interest to Ft. Worth.

BTW, I'm in DFW today (after a wedding). I'm enjoying it, but kinda ready to get back to MY metro.
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  #37  
Old Posted Jun 22, 2009, 4:21 PM
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Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX View Post
Wow, very good designs JJG... I like how you're thinking about your buildings.

I think Ft. Worth definitely needs a new tallest, but beyond that, there needs to be something to break the cycle of all of the flat rooves. The color scheme of the skyline is fine, even the the size is ok. But virtually all of the buildings are flat tops. For Houston, I think that's one of the most important things about BOA center... it's one of very few buildings without a flat top in the skyine. That alone would really add more interest to Ft. Worth.

BTW, I'm in DFW today (after a wedding). I'm enjoying it, but kinda ready to get back to MY metro.
I try to add more diversity. The only tall building in Fort Worth I can think of without a flat roof is Pier 1 Place (I know it's Chesapeake now, but I refuse to call it that...). So I wanted to add something different.

BTW, here's what's left on the list.

-Firestone Building
-Fill-in of parking lot behind Burnett Plaza garage and south of the building
-FW Pyramid
-Twin Residential Towers
-Sony Tower
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  #38  
Old Posted Jun 30, 2009, 3:40 AM
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New Building

Firestone Tower
450 ft.
27 stories



This building would be in that grassy space across from the Firestone Appartments (hence the name). It would face 7th Street.
It's a mixed use, office/residential building.... and before you say anything, I ment to show some sort of retail use at the bottom... but truth be told, I just kinda rushed this one.

Here's the top of it...


Looking up from street level.


The two top recreation floors and the Firestone 'F'.


Balconies and the side window design (I think I should have made the balconies longer....)


Groundfloor from the sides.... again, there's supposed to be some sort of retail there, but I decided to just stop there and show you the building itself. There's ALOT more that I want to do with this one....


Elevation


Comparison with the Burnett...


The colors are pale red, tan, and an off-white. I wanted it to match the appartments across the street. On top of the lobby, the first 8 floors are office space, and the next 16 are condos. The top two floors are recreational areas with an arcade, pool, exercise area, and open air space, featuring a red glass retaining gate. On the side, there's two mirror step designs and an alternating, red/white pattern. On the top inside the squares is the classic Firestone 'F' logo which would light up at night.

Last edited by JJG; Jul 2, 2009 at 3:39 AM.
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  #39  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2009, 3:34 AM
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New building

W. 7th Bank of America Building
406 ft.
24 stories




A look up next to the Burnett.



The crown of the building



The entrance



elevation



Comparison to Burnett



This is one of the only 2 buildings that are strictly office. And I gotta tell ya, I LOVE this design the most. It just looks right! From the side, it kinda looks like the Stanley Cup.... so there's the building's nickname right there.

I like this building's style so much that I wanted to do a twin tower.... but we've already got the Bass Towers, so fuggitaboutit. I've got a visual of what this building would look like next to the Firestone and Burnet Park Tower. Now all I have to do is add the new Burnett and the hotel I'll make next and that area will be complete.
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  #40  
Old Posted Jul 4, 2009, 3:35 PM
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New Building

DoubleTree Hotel
24 stories
446 ft.



Like the Omni, it's a hotel on the bottom and condos on top. I wanted it to have a green-bronze scheme to sort of match the park.





Entrance



View from Burnett Park



Elevation



Comparison with Burnett

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