archBOSTON ARCHIVE

BostonSkyGuy · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

Most of you guys have probably already seen this some where but I figured I'd ask anyways. What's the deal with this building? I'm all for new, modern looks but this looks like they just dropped pieces down and threw a ladder on the side to climb it. It's pretty odd.

It's not like it's a small building either, it's going to be the tallest building in Louisville at 703 feet.

Now I as are most of you, a skyscraper enthusiast--but I'd actually be pretty pissed if this was going to be a major piece of my city's skyline. Am I the only one who feels this way? I figured I'd post to see what you guys think of the style. Feel free to disagree.

Merper · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 227

absolutely horrendous.

Smuttynose26 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 152

I'll give them some points for creativity, but it looks ridiculous. What would go inside? Louisville looks much larger than I would have imagined.

Ron Newman · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1007

What's that on the left -- a ladder for King Kong?

BOSDevelopment · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 293

i actually think that looks really unique. It gives the impression of a skyline in one building. The only issue I have with it is its placement. It would be much more effective if it were clustered amongst the other buildings to the (left) in that bottom photo.

DarkFenX · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1111

This would look good in NYC because most of the towers there will shield our eyes from this monstrosity. This is def. not a work of art. At least make it round. They look like randomly stacked lego pieces. If this was how the design for our city tallest, I rather not have a new tallest. I mean who wants a gigantic eyesore as a tallest. It's like making the Government Center building that high.

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

ItsConanOBrien · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 460

I've been following this project over at skyscraperpage.com and I still think it looks horrible.

A note on the distance to the rest of downtown, the forumers from Louisville say that it isn't very far from downtown as it seems from that rendering, only a couple blocks or something.

ablarc · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 825

Rem Koolhas is the Emperor of Ugly.

He'd be happy to hear that.

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

speaking of new tallests, has everyone been informed about the new one going up in philly? I think its supposed to be as tall as the one menino is urging in boston (a few feet shorter, i think at 975). I may be moving to thta neck of the woods next year (or boston) so either one will keep me fascinated with construction, im sure.

Brian · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 51

Louisville has a lot of potential with all its historic structures relatively intact, albeit a bit gritty and rundown. This sort of development could really get things going there.

ItsConanOBrien · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 460

pmf · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 20

its ridiculous and impractical.

Idea

lets kick the ladder out from under and make it fall over!! could be an improvement

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

I have to come to this buildings defense. Look how much interest it has generated because of its design. Look how much discussion it has generated. Just imagine what the ripple effect of this will be in terms of people whose interest increases in this city, because it will be on the radar screen for so many more than it is now once this is built. I think thats the goal of building it to look like that. It will put this city "on the map," so to speak.

Mike · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 402

^ yup , lot's of attention

like driving by a car wreck, or the hotel commonwealth before it was renovated.

ItsConanOBrien · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 460

Actually, this building wants me to stay as far away as possible from Louisville Laughing

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

oh c'mon, you guys know you would check this thing out if you were in the region! Razz

garbribre · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 459

I did things at age five with my Erector Set (wiki it, for all you under thirty-five...uh, thirty...?) that were more sturdy and easier on the eye than this. I am already scheming to figure out which element I would have to pull at or knock out to make it topple. (Um...terrorista nouveau...a new style...hahaha!)

So, patrick, Portland, ME could use something a bit taller. Razz

And prominent. And increases interest. And here's a great indicator of my point(s) from another 'argument': but to what end? I don't even think NYC could handle this....design....I use that term loosely.

I'm not of the form follows function bullshit, though I admire some of what (unconsciously?) came from that ilk. But, what does this do on that site, with those ungraceful elements, that requires it to look like this?

And if that was a sculpture, it would be BAD!

dudeursistershot · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 715

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

hey I had an erector set and im 21!

garbribre · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 459

^Really? I'm surprised. Maybe because you have so many older family members/siblings/cousins? I have a few friends in their 20's who have no idea what it is.

I read somewhere that there's been a resurgence in toys of that style from the 50s/60s. I'm surpised that they could be sold now with all the safety concerns. I remember cutting myself on the sharp edges probably because I was playing 'godzilla, destroy! my city'. Laughing

And never mind all the small screws and bolts that could be ingested.

Did you ever build anything as ugly as this Louisville building, though?
I bet I NEVER did. Hahaha. Wink

Matt · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 840

well, the prudential is considered by many to be a collossal eyesore...but it was a huge contribitor in turning around boston in the 60s/70s. Maybe this will do the same for louisville...or at least as patrick said...it would at least get people to check it out...hell...did any of us ever seriously think we'd be talking about kentucky??

Bosdev...i hear you on that...but, like the pru was, maybe it's in a down and out area of the city that needs revitalization, with the thought that there will be an eventual connection between the two areas.

Do I personally like the design? no. Do I like the pru? Not really...but I certainly want it there and wouldn't ever say it was a huge mistake or should never have been built (I'll save that for the only set of skyscrapers I don't like -- charles river park...but that's about what happened to get them there, not really about the actual buildings themselves).

Art (like food and wine) is a funny thing....all of that subjectivity going on....................

P.S. I forgot about erector sets!!!!!! man...that's where it probably started for all of us.

DarkFenX · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 1111

garbribre · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 459

^Yeah. At least the Pru developed over a series of years and schemes and had some design restraint that fit for its time. Yeah, this could be 'the time' for something like this Louisville design. But, as far as I am concerned, this is just a museum display-like study in engineering and aesthetic 'what weirdness can I create.' Not that weirdness is bad. Challenging the envelope of engineering or aethetics is great. This could be its own feat or milestone. Yet from study and museum display possibilities to implementing experiments such as this one, somebody will have to say, 'wow, interesting concept but, no, it has no value, purpose or reasonable functionality' or 'hell, that's just plain stank ass ugly.'

As for Louisville, it's not at all a bad or down and out city, right, BostonSkyGuy? (Asking because you've been reading what is being said on another site, correct?) It doesn't need something like this kind of attention, and seemingly contrary to what Louisville likely is and sees itself as, to make it more prominent. I bet it has far more going for it.

Granted, I was only there once, briefly, but I enjoyed myself and found it to be a unique place already.

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

garbribre · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 459

Bloody hell, patrick. You're 21. You'll likely be re-inventing yourself throughout your lifetime, based on what you say/write here.

Remember a past discussion....how may of us are doing what we actually studied or got degrees in.

Take my experiential advice, do what makes you happy and what you are passionate about, not what you think will make you the most money or stand you in prominence through everyone else's eyes and expectations.

The best advice I ever got the week before I completed undergrad school: the head of a department that was not remotely part of my major said to me, 'don't give up doing this at least as a hobby. I think it will be something you'll regret not exploring further. You could be good at it and may enjoy it immeasurably.'

He was the ONLY person who has EVER said anything like that to me. He was right. Took me a decade to realize it.

BostonSkyGuy · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

esp9762 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

I am actually from Louisville, but i go to BU, so i have a very different perspective on this building than you all. This building is not really something that will "get Louisville going," it is a result of other things that have already gotten Louisville going. Five years ago downtown was run-down and more or less pointless to go to. All the historic structures (Louisville has the second most cast iron facades in the country, behind New York) were abandoned and served only homeless people that broke in. Then, a new baseball stadium was built (triple-A team for the Reds), and then 23 floors condos of next to it, and 12 floors of condos next to the condos, then more condos across the street, basically condos everywhere you could think of. If you look at the skyline rendering, all of those developments are actually to the left of the picture, so there is already precedent for building large things far away from the center of downtown. Most of the buildings between the skyline and Museum Plaza are historic and can't be knocked down; it's being built on what is now a parking lot. All this development coincided with the building of a new park on the Ohio river (look up Louisville waterfront park, it's enormous and incredibly beautiful), and enormous contributions to the night clubs and bars. Downtown was going again for the first time since 1945 or so. All that created the possibility for this building, which I think is ugly, but who cares, you take what you can get in a city like Louisville. It's a liberal city in its politics, but not in its policies towards things like this. This building is going to help Louisville an incredible amount. Also, no one here seems to have noticed that, if you imagine the building as a chair, the 'seat' of the chair is a contemporary art museum, and the 'ladder' is an elevator that goes to the museum from Main street, which is not the street the tower is built on. On another note, aside from being in kentucky, there is nothing bad about Louisville. People who visit are consistently shocked at how beautiful a city it is. It is very much a city of neighborhoods like Boston, with many of them being very old and very well preserved. If you get a chance to go, absolutely take it. I will now return to lurking.

Matt · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 840

cool! thanks for stepping out of lurking mode. I'm glad that you think it will be a good addition to your city.

try to jump back in at some point with pics of the city

BostonSkyGuy · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

esp9762 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

BostonSkyGuy -
I see what you mean about where i said that Louisville is already going, but that this will help an incredible amount. What i meant is that Louisville has seen more downtown development in the last five years than it had in the previous 50, but none of it was very bold. There was a 23 story condo building built above the new waterfront park (not visible in the skyline rendering), and that was the first skyscraper built in the city since the early 90's. This is something that is going to set a bolder precedent for future ideas, and that is something that will help Louisville. At the moment, it's a city the about the size of Indianapolis and Nashville, but everyone knows much more about those two cities because Louisville never does anything bold. So while this will in some ways put Louisville on the map, it's not something that's going to start a ton of development, it's something that's happening because a lot of development has already started. What it can do, though, is change the nature of future development. Although it's so ugly, i guess there's reason to think it might change it in a negative way. I do like the sideways eleveator though, and i do like that it's going to be wayyy taller than anything else in the city (or state). Also, i don't know how to post pics, or even links to them, or else i would be able to give you guys some visual aid.

BostonSkyGuy · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 96

Well, thanks for giving me an insight to the city. I understand better now how this building will have an impact. I don't have to like the building itself, and as you know I don't. But I'm glad to see that it will be a major addition to the city and possible help spur other projects.

patrick0000 · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 2570

briv · Joined: 10 Mar 2005 Posts: 118

Kunstler has made this one his Eyesore of the Month for March.

This building is ridiculous and not the least bit clever or creative. Physically grotesque and repulsive with no redeeming values whatsoever. I really feel bad for Louisville.