Looking for Buildings in All the Wrong Places
Well, we’re back. They still somehow managed to hold an election while we were gone, which Chris Easthope won (for which we take total credit.) And another “right building in the wrong place” was approved. Is there ever a wrong building in the right place?
Today, newly hired “Monday Night Football” announcer Mike Tirico waxes rhapsodic about the Deuce. “Tirico’s life away from the booth is in Ann Arbor … a place he chose because it’s near his wife’s family and a major airport.” Well, not that near, as we found out last week, unless he means Willow Run. But there are even more reasons to choose A2 other than its 45-minute, public-transportationless commute to an airport where the only meal option is Quizno’s unless you’re flying Northwest. “The longer we’ve been in Ann Arbor the more we’ve loved it because the energy in a college town is second to none … And unlike a lot of college towns, Ann Arbor has its own culture and is a wonderfully diverse place for kids to grow up.”
‘Is there ever a wrong building in the right place?’
Broadway Village - should be taller and denser for that site but certainly something should be there.
posted by abc on August 14th, 2006 at 11:55 amBroadway Village - should be less tall and less dense for that site, but certainly something should be there.
posted by Dave Cahill on August 14th, 2006 at 12:48 pmHow about taller, but less dense? Maybe the concrete could be perforated to let air through on the second through fourth floors? That should make everybody happy, since we can all agree that something should be there.
posted by Carolyn on August 14th, 2006 at 12:57 pmYeah, this osmium they’re using has to go. What about a nice lightweight iridium?
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 14th, 2006 at 1:12 pmI’m all for Menger-sponge-like architecture to keep the density (and the dimension) down, by the way.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 14th, 2006 at 1:23 pmYah, real diverse… I didn’t meet a Republican until I was 30
posted by Snarky the Ferret on August 14th, 2006 at 2:43 pmYeah, but think of all the Rastafarians you were exposed to…
posted by Michael McC. on August 14th, 2006 at 3:19 pmYeah, every time I order a pizza.
posted by Dave on August 14th, 2006 at 4:22 pmBroadway Village could be modeled after Xanadu the Foam House in Wisconsin Dells, bringing in extra revenue as a tourist attraction as well!
posted by CMS on August 14th, 2006 at 9:23 pmI would love to see all the buildings on Main Street replaced by the aforementioned sponge-like architecture; least we wouldn’t have to worry about empty storefronts because they’d be filled with therapists and feng shui consultants making big bucks counseling PTSD-inflicted AA yupp- err… town -ies.
posted by Anna on August 14th, 2006 at 10:42 pmWrong Building/Right Place candidate: the “thing” over at state & washington where Olgas used to be. Clearly the space should be used (vs lying fallow) and it should be used for something moderatly high in density, but the building they put there is one of th dullest and frankly, ugliest “heap-o-bricks” in the area. The whole thing looks like it was done on about 70% of the budget it should have been.
Like to see someone try to save it’s ugly face with a fairy door.
Gerry
posted by Gerry on August 15th, 2006 at 10:48 amAnna, heh.
Do you think they’d buy the argument that, sure, the building’s 10 stories high, but it has the lowest Hausdorff dimension in the Old Fourth Ward?
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 15th, 2006 at 10:54 amThey did that just so that whatever goes up in place of the Frieze will look good by comparison.
posted by Dave on August 15th, 2006 at 12:10 pm45 minutes to the airport? Is that with the US23/I94 construction? Before that, I used to be able to make it in 24 minutes without being necessarily the fastest car on the road. Try the I275/Eureka Road back entrance to the Northwest terminal next time, and bypass the rental cars and airport shuttles.
posted by JCP2 on August 15th, 2006 at 3:22 pm“Broadway Village - should be less tall and less dense for that site, but certainly something should be there. ”
It should be a small gingerbread cottage with fairy doors and plum pudding grout!
Or… We could have a real development that would both combat sprawl and add to the surrounding neighborhoods. But that would mean that disembling amber-eyed “activists” would have to stop pretending that “cute” should override smart growth…
posted by js on August 16th, 2006 at 5:41 pmit takes 45 minutes to get to the airport if you ride a horse to get there.
posted by bethie on August 24th, 2006 at 12:08 am