On 11/9/2018 at 11:29 AM, ArtMasterCLE said:

I totally agree with CleveFan an YAB0713's observation of The Beacon's contextual impact on the skyline. What excites me is the awesome effect the undulating graduation of the metal cladding will have on the completed building. What NADAAA Architects has done is to take a basic rectangular structure and, through innovative use of colored metal panels and textural variation, created a truly iconic building that sets a tone of design excellence and holds its own against much taller neighboring buildings.

 

Kudos to Bob Stark for refusing to accept mediocrity.

That and the offset windows will have an interesting visual impact. The Key Bank has some interesting reflective properties as well on its crown and the metal poles that run down the windows. Downtown needs more visually exciting buildings such as  these. Most are very bland and boring.

On 11/9/2018 at 1:21 PM, shack said:

That and the offset windows will have an interesting visual impact. The Key Bank has some interesting reflective properties as well on its crown and the metal poles that run down the windows. Downtown needs more visually exciting buildings such as  these. Most are very bland and boring.

 

You think most are? I agree with you on Erieview, The Celebreeze Fed building, the 55 building, maybe the Justice Center, PNC tower and some of the lower high rises built in the international style. But the big 3, the Courthouse Tower, AT&T, One Cleveland Center, The Hilton, Ameritrust, and most of the older lower buildings built 1900-1950 are pretty damn interesting. Some may call some of those ugly, but definitely not bland.

46 minutes ago, Mov2Ohio said:

 

 I agree with you on Erieview, The Celebreeze Fed building, the 55 building, maybe the Justice Center, PNC tower and some of the lower high rises built in the international style.

 

I'll disagree on 55 PS and the PNC Building. I think both are beautifully proportioned.

Just now, Dougal said:

 

I'll disagree on 55 PS and the PNC Building. I think both are beautifully proportioned.

So I will disagree with the time frame @Mov2Ohio mentioned. I would say 1900 - 1940, 1950-1970s architecture disgusts me and is very uninspiring and don't feel very welcoming. 55 PS definitely didn't age well imo and looks out of place positioned around the Big 3. PNC tower has aged very well imo (I believe it was built in the 80s) but the plaza, it's set back from the Euclid and the lack of any retail, takes away from the density/activity of that stretch of Euclid and it doesn't feel very inviting. 

 

Side note: I'm actually a fan of Cleveland embracing more glass structures (Hilton, Lumen, hopefully, NuCLEus). To me, it adds a stark contrast to the skyline without looking too tacky and out of place (as long as the actual design is tasteful). Also to me glass structures age pretty well, much better than metal clad buildings or concrete.

Edited November 11, 20186 yr by MyPhoneDead

Open discussion/debate of downtown Cleveland architecture

My suggestion would be to move this discussion to another thread before these and any future off-topic posts get deleted. I created this thread as a possible location for future debates on downtown Cleveland architecture:

 

I was doing some tower looking online to see what towers would look good in this place from other cities, file this under fantasy.

I took the 18 story Château Frontenac and amplified it a few stories giving it a more prominent figure in our skyline on the lot. By this theoretical height, the pinnacles just pass up Erieview at about 35-38 stories at 535'. I'm in love with historic buildings like this and I only wish we could build more historical-like, rather than building big single facade boxes. Does anyone know the kind of cost it would take to build more Beaux arts / Châteauesque - styled Highrises?

 

Thanks @MayDay for the awesome shot including beacon.

Edited November 12, 20186 yr by tastybunns

22 hours ago, Dougal said:

 

I'll disagree on 55 PS and the PNC Building. I think both are beautifully proportioned.

The PNC building when illuminated at night is a beautiful building.  The accentuated whiteness of the building is a welcome relief to the skyline. 55 PS doesn't do much for me, day or night. Erieview has elegant proportions and has aged quite well. 

On 11/12/2018 at 1:37 PM, shack said:

 55 PS doesn't do much for me, day or night. . 

What I especially like about 55 PS is walking on Superior and seeing the reflection of the TT in its glass.  Putting something up in the Jacob's block will "spoil" this, of course.

Image by thatsclevelandbaby.com

Let's put "spoil" in quotes. ?

14 minutes ago, Dougal said:

What I especially like about 55 PS is walking on Superior and seeing the reflection of the TT in its glass.  Putting something up in the Jacob's block will spoi this, of course.

Image by thatsclevelandbaby.com

Nice shot! Never noticed that before, and I've walked by it many times.

 

Great observation and picture of the TT reflection in 55 PS.  And I agree with Shack’s comment on PNC - the white tower seems elegant to me. The issue of color is so important - I think it can make or break ones opinion of a building, despite height or shape. .  For example, take Erieview. . I’ve noticed that it doesn’t get much media love - often overlooked by  skyline  shots of the city during sporting events, etc. . The  view of the city from the lake that puts the Rock Hall in the foreground and includes Erieview, to its left, seems the most complimentary presentation of the Tower, but particularly from other angles, it can seem uninviting and  industrial, despite its  glass facade and sleek proportions. I think it has much to do with its dark color. I’ve said before that it would be amazing to see it lit in a creative and bold way - that would almost create the effect of adding a new skyscraper to Cleveland’s  evening  sky. 

I've done some dreaming lately... I mean very recently because @KJP got our hopes up once more about the Sherwin Williams situation.

I have come up with some very basic design on a building with some things that would make it a fairly individual new age building.

Sitting on-top of the Jacob's Lot, with 50+ floors giving ample room for expansion and variable tennantship:

 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2019/07/remembering-architect-cesar-pellis-big-contributions-to-cleveland-an-appreciation-steven-litt.html

 

Cesar Pelli died July 19 at age 92 in New Haven, CT.  His work includes the Key Tower, the Clinic’s Crile building, and several other buildings in Cleveland. Probably his most well known work is the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

 

 

 

 

 

^ Nice article. I knew about Key and Crile - didn’t know the others were his too, but that said, the other four don’t do much for me. 

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I have a bit of a strange relationship with Key Tower too. I love the crown and the silhouette, but at ground level it always seemed dated to me, firmly stuck in the 80s, although the recent work by Millenia has helped. 

A more thorough and fitting tribute than the earlier one I posted:

 

Architect Peter van Dijk, who designed Blossom Music Center and helped save Playhouse Square, is dead at 90

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2019/09/architect-peter-van-dijk-who-designed-blossom-music-center-and-helped-save-playhouse-square-is-dead-at-90.html

 

I had forgotten that van Dijk designed the Celebrezze Federal Building and I wasn’t aware of how involved he was in saving Playhouse Square. And Blossom is just such a wonderful facility. Thank you, Peter, for a life well lived. 

Interesting article and discussion with Voinivich / White era planning director Hunter Morrison. 
 

https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2020/03/two-decades-that-transformed-downtown-cleveland-planner-hunter-morrison-looks-back-at-1980-2000.html

 

Lots of good pictures and illustrations with that article. 
 

Edited March 15, 20205 yr by Boomerang_Brian
Added Civic Vision rendering

Why am I sharing a link to a Facebook post about a house in the Library District of Rocky River in the downtown Cleveland architecture thread? Because it's rumored that the 1927 house's builder, Hinckley, was one of the contractors for the Terminal Tower and other buildings in Cleveland. He reportedly built this home using an assemblage of commercial terra-cotta cast architectural pieces that were extras from his sites. Recognize any?

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203417926921717/permalink/690003198263185/