Michigan's Capital City

 

 

 

 

 

 

A recently restored power plant now used as office space

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never cared for Lansing but these are good photos.

Many surprisenly sterile streetscapes

I love the old Knapp's building. I was worried that it had been torn down.

^Yeah, that thing is super cool! 

 

Not sure I quite understand why so many state government's seem obsessed with housing their bureaucrats in symmetrically arranged boxes.

The Knapp's building and the power plant are killer!

 

Lansing isn't a knockout by any means (the location isn't great either- at least Detroit has a huge river and Grand Rapids has some hills and is near Lake Michigan), but there has been a lot of urban redevelopment in recent years. I went there last year and downtown looked better than five years ago. That's pretty impressive given what happened to the economy. Lansing wasn't hit nearly as hard as Southeast Michigan and the census showed the urban population is more stable than the norm in the Midwest.

^Yeah, that thing is super cool! 

 

Not sure I quite understand why so many state government's seem obsessed with housing their bureaucrats in symmetrically arranged boxes.

 

Yeah, I know, but I'll still take their state capitol over ours. At least they built a dome.

The problem with Michigan's Capitol building is that the dome is nice, the base is nice, but the dome + base = horrendous.  The Ohio Statehouse, while nothing remarkably detailed about it, is at least consistant.  Michigan's is a mish-mash of horrid proportions.  I'll take Connecticut's over both.

The problem with Michigan's Capitol building is that the dome is nice, the base is nice, but the dome + base = horrendous.  The Ohio Statehouse, while nothing remarkably detailed about it, is at least consistant.  Michigan's is a mish-mash of horrid proportions.  I'll take Connecticut's over both.

 

They're badly mismatched, as if they were designed by two different architects who never communicated with each other. The building would look better with no dome at all, than with that one.

 

I haven't been to Lansing yet, but I remember a photo thread from a few years ago because of the Knapp building, and downtown looks much better now than it did then. The power plant photos look almost like renderings; the transition in brick colors at the different levels is unique.

Thanks for the Lansing tour.  Despite living in Michigan until I was 25.  I had only been to Lansing a handful of times...maybe 4.  I've never really cared for it.  The city feels kind of dull.  I guess a way to describe the city is "horizontal"  Everything is spaced out, the buildings feel low and flat which I think adds to its monotony and sterility for the fact there's little variation and interest block to block.

 

I'll admit it's gotten better, and they are trying.  The renovations are top notch but the infill and new development are pretty blah.

 

As for the capitol, I have to agree with some of the remarks.  Had the dome been a bit wider and more color matched it would be fine.  What would have been better is a squarish tower with lots of columns that "wedding cakes" as it gets higher.

The beautifully restored power plant/office building is a knockout! (I'll bet it's equally appealing on the inside.)

I worked in downtown Lansing and it is a drab place. The capitol building is nice, and so is Boji Tower and the power plant office building.  Other than that, there's not much to recommend, architecturally or otherwise.