wholtone

"...The Banks, which is transforming a strip of prime riverfront acreage into parks, residences, restaurants, shops, hotels and office buildings." Note the plural. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120522/BIZ/305220041/Study-Banks-having-92M-impact I'm certain Phase 2 does not include the office building. After all, they are still trying to get the first one built. I suspect the second office will be built during a later phase, when there is demand, hence the horrendous quality of that building in the renderings. All I can tell you is there's no way they're going to build a 15-story glassed-in parking garage on top of the largest underground parking structure in the United States; especially when that building has an unobstructed view of the river, the suspension bridge, and Riverfront Park. That location is far too valuable to be a parking garage when there's already such an abundance of parking spaces.

parking garage..... Parking garage? Where did you get that info from? There's a huge parking garage already built beneath the streets. Also, parking garages are open to help ventilate carbon monoxide and other exhaust from automobiles. If the glass structure were a parking garage I doubt it would have glass on all four sides. Also, it would be a waste because that corner will have a great view of the Suspension Bridge. It would not make sense to build a parking garage there. My guess is that they plan to build an office tower there, but since they don't have the money yet they just threw in a generic rendering as a placeholder. That way, while they wait for funds to build the office tower, Phase 2 won't have a giant ugly hole in the block like Phase 1 currently does. When the Phase 2 office tower is ready it will be built on top of the three-story "foundation." This is my assumption. I just strongly doubt that glass building is a parking garage unless someone can prove me wrong.

Agreed. Out of the new OTR buildings, I like it best. It's modern, but also respects the architectural traditions of the neighborhood. It's interesting enough to stand on its own, but still fits in with the existing buildings without drawing too much attention to itself. Is it perfect? No, but I think its a great direction for new OTR infill. So many architects want to throw up a new glass/steel jumble of boxes, or stark parking-garage-esque concrete, which is OK (I guess) but do that in a neighborhood that isn't a national historic district. 3CDC's architects need to look at the traditions of OTR and then *reinterpret* them in a modern way. That's what the corner of 14th and Vine does.

Yes, the design is a little banal. However, as much as everyone loves OTR, few buildings are very interesting on their own. It's the atmosphere that all those buildings create when put together that makes OTR special. So I don't believe every building at the Banks needs to be particularly impressive. What's more important to me is how the neighborhood will feel once everything is done. When I'm down at The Banks that's how I try to imagine it.

I would think the balcony-less side would face Fort Washington Way, and the balcony-side would face Freedom Way. This would be consistent with the existing building that is already built down the street. Based on the rendering of The Banks below, it looks like an office building was planned to face the west side of the Freedom Center. This would orientate the buildings consistently with my previous observation. So my best guess is that the first image (wavy building) faces the corner of 2nd and Race, and the second image (blocky/balcony building) faces the corner of Race and Freedom Way. Third image faces the corner of Vine and Freedom Way, the fourth is a close up of 2nd and Race, and the fifth the view along Freedom Way facing west.

Well it is.. Johnny Rockets. Not exactly a destination restaurant. I'd personally like to see a Cincinnati chili parlor there instead. The developers at the Banks need to get moving. Where's the hotel? Where's the office tower? Where's the rest of the first phase? Once The Banks is built out I'm sure it will be able to support a good number of restaurants. As it currently is, I doubt it will be able to support all the restaurants that are opening--especially now that baseball season is coming to a close.

Yeah, that's not the argument I was making. I find the elitism on this board somewhat annoying. I often see bashing of anything done in an older style, but some of the modern stuff architects tout looks hideously ugly to me. And I like modern. That's the point I was making.

It's not that it's incomprehensible, it's that I think it's ugly. We're talking about aesthetics, not a science like structural engineering. Needing an architecture degree to "get" a building is like needing a music degree to "get" a modern dissonant orchestral piece. There's lots of buildings (and music) that both the public and professionals love, and no degree is required. I think if we're all being honest, if a degree is required then it's really just not very good. :wink:

I strongly believe this is the most likely outcome. People may have their pie-in-the-sky wishes of what they'd like to be there, but I think we'll ultimately end up seeing an extension of the park here. Not great but it's better than the bland and ultra-modern "minimalist" architecture many tout around here. The kind where you apparently have to have a degree in architecture to "get it."

Here is the other angle, full sized: http://www.annaleegordon.com/EMS/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012_07_02-The-Banks-View-1-email.jpg

I'd like to see at least a block of it as another park, although more like Hauck Botanical garden with lots of trees and plantings along a defined trail. A forest-like oasis in the middle of the city where you can escape all the concrete. No grass, please--Smale Riverfront park has the grass covered.

Obviously, it's still Over-the-Rhine. However, it is useful to clarify the difference between South of Liberty and North of Liberty, which there is a difference. If you don't like it, too bad. Maybe I'll start using it more if people make a fuss over it. :evil:

If you have to cross 7 lanes of traffic to go from one side of Central Parkway to the other (i.e. into OTR or Pendleton), I don't see how that's going to make the casino feel like it's part of the neighborhood. Yes, I noticed the terrible use of space. I thought we were promised restaurants on the south side of Central Parkway? Hopefully they'll put some trees or something there to hide the sub-mediocre looking walls. Looks like the architects they hired only had experience building in the suburbs.

Maybe I'm not following you here, but a stoplight at a roundabout would be redundant. The purpose of a roundabout is to keep traffic moving. My opinion on roundabouts is that I LOVE them, if used properly. When it comes to keeping traffic moving in complicated intersections they absolutely excel. But, as City Blights pointed out, they aren't very good for pedestrians. At the current configuration by the casino I don't see a reason to use a roundabout. I think one place one could work well is at the intersection of Liberty St and Reading Rd, where 5 different directional roads meet, and there's always a mess of cars trying to get onto the I-471 onramp at rush hour. I'd like to learn more about the roadwork on Reading by the casino. It looks like there's going to be some big changes, possibly expanding that incredibly narrow sidewalk on the north side of Reading in Pendleton?

I used to buy Street Vibes but not anymore. If I did I would feel like I'm enabling the extremists in the Homeless Coalition. It's a shame really, that this, like everything else in 2012 America, has become political. Washington Park is the tipping point in SoLi (South of Liberty). It's obviously an overwhelming success, and I think that scares the pants off of the people who fear change.

Oh brother. The last time I checked the President of the USA was a minority. Can we get back on topic?

There needs to be a Cincinnati Chili parlor at The Banks. I mean, this is Cincinnati, right?

These last few summers have been pretty oppressive. I think they'll continue to be more oppressive than not. Also, skywalks are great when it's raining. Also, many great photos of the street have been taken from the skywalks. Tearing them all down would be foolish.

Don't know if anyone has ever actually created a real mosaic before, but I have. It takes.... FOREVER. No really. FOREVER. Creating a design is one thing, but cutting each piece and gluing them to sheets is another. Guess it would depend on the size of pieces you're working with. A whole set of steps would certainly be a group effort.

^Exactly! Finally, someone understands. Skywalks didn't kill shopping downtown, the depopulation of the city to the suburbs did. The car is the real culprit.

Without tourism many European countries would have a much smaller economy, and undoubted those people would be a lot worse off. So, although all that artwork might not have helped the peasants who paid for it centuries ago, it's undeniable that the artwork helps modern Europeans. (I have the credit card bills to prove it.) At least we can agree that OTR is an important investment for Cincinnati.

Why the hating on the skywalks? They are part of the city's character. I believe their removal will be something future Cincinnatians will regret, just like many of us regret things that our forbearers demolished.

Sure, the Vatican could have taken all the duomos in Italy apart piece by piece and sold the art to feed the poor, but then again, all that "elitist" art brings in the majority of the country's GDP (tourism), which in turn feeds everyone. It will continue to feed generation after generation.

That is true. They were inspired by Italian buildings, but weren't by any means copies. I was in Italy for a few weeks last year. I could see some resemblance, but the average OTR residence is a lot more elaborate than the average Medieval Italian residence. Yes, the important Italian buildings (like the city's duomo) are far more elaborate than anything in OTR. The churches I walked through in Italy blew away anything I've ever seen in the USA.

Yeah, I wasn't advocating faux Italianate. I don't buy stripping all the style and character off a facade and claiming *that* is a style (i.e. minimalist). It's just a cop out for lack of real inspiration if you ask me. Let's save the stark concrete for our parking garages, thanks.