Thoughts That Occur in the Shower

I realized this morning what's the problem with America's economy, as horror struck at the thought that the 'rescue plan' will only worsen the situation.

America has destroyed its engines of economic growth. Jane Jacobs eloquently explained it to us nearly sixty years ago: cities are the primary source of economic strength. But in America, we have utterly wasted most of our real cities with suburban sprawl. We have funneled resources into a wasteful infrastructure that depends on a self-devouring cycle of constant redevelopment to sustain itself.

So, what's America's plan to pull itself out of this failing economy? Roads. An 'economic expert' on the Today show this morning stated that in order for the stimulus funds to have maximum effect on the economy, a large portion of them must be spent on new infrastructure that will stimulate new development. In other words, more new roads into virgin forests and undeveloped farmland; more big box retail and strip malls; more roads, sewers, and power lines that we won't be able to afford to maintain and will strap local governments with costs that will siphon funds away from sensible development.

If we don't break this cycle now, it will only continue to suck us into oblivion.

Dante, meet President Obama.

City Garden or Gateway One Garden?

City Garden and Gateway One: illegitimate children of Corporate Interests and Incompetent Urban Design.

A horrifying thought occurred to me while walking past the construction site of City Garden the other day: they designed it to compliment one of the biggest urban design mistakes in St. Louis.





City Garden's tank barricades sweep gracefully into the stairs of Gateway One's half-a-mall and hides itself from Chestnut Street.

The color of the stone resembles the color of the stone panels of Gateway One, and the curving walls on the north half of the block take up a similar footprint to the high-rise office park. The half-a-mall plan that cost us the Buder and Title Guarantee Buildings has come back to bite us on the ass, and somebody conned Shaw's Garden [otherwise known as Missouri Botanical Garden] into sponsoring it. It wasn't bad enough to hem 'Twain' into a bumpy park, the corporate sugar daddies had to also use it to enhance their most heinous act upon the city's central green space.








'Hello, AT&T employees, welcome to City Garden.' The view from the main entrance of the AT&T tower.

City Garden, then, is no more than a ploy by the owners of the city-killer glass boxes on the mall to give their properties 'curb appeal' and drain taxpayers' resources. It is specifically designed, like the 'mall' at Gateway One, to discourage public use. Its massive walls and berms obscure street views and sever the space from the little bit of retail space that could serve it. Foot traffic even during rush hour is minimal, with only the weary poor who have to park south of downtown braving the abysmal streetscape of the corporate wilderness.

City Garden genuflecting to its daddy, with the AT&T complex standing smugly and lifelessly beyond. Notice the lack of pedestrian activity in an area densely packed with office workers.

This photo was taken at lunch time on a Friday. No surprise here--there's absolutely nothing to do but smoke a cigarette.












AT&T data center retail space. How do you get in?


There's actually a snack shop in there. The Metrolink station and sheer perseverance are the only explanations for its continued existence.

In my walk from 4th to 12th on Market Street each morning, there is no retail opportunity to buy a paper or a cup of coffee. I walk it for the exercise since there is absolutely no other reason for anyone to be there except to get to and from work. Sales tax dollars by the thousands walk out of downtown and land in suburban strip malls, all because of arrogant corporate looters who took financial incentives to build their monolithic slabs of cubicles and conference rooms, and gave nothing in return for the favor.



















Darth Vader dares you to walk here.

City Garden is a waste of resources and worse, a waste of an urban design opportunity to create dynamic space in the midst of a dead district.







AT&T's skywalks protect its employees from the dangers of dead sidewalks that its buildings killed.





I.M. Pei should have known better. The General American Building is a dead zone, and an uncomfortable hovering mass to walk under.


Meanwhile, the 'Darth Vader' building is set above the sidewalk as if the mere pedestrian is unworthy of the glory of modern banking and unwelcome in an urban center.

Harry Weese's 1010 Market Building is a little better. Its hovering mass almost suggests a canopy [and is welcome respite on a rainy day], but its blank wall implies that human presence, evidenced by the bus stop, was an afterthought.
It does offer retail space, tho set well back from the street. Only a Subway shop has managed to survive in its two lease spaces, even though channel 5 news draws potential customers to its 'Window on St. Louis' in 'Television Plah-zuh'.

The Board of Adjustment Wounds Carondelet

While reviewing plans for the former Coca-Cola Syrup plant on Michigan Ave, the city's ever so introspective Board of Adjustment voted to approve the project with the condition that nine planned townhouses across the street be deleted in favor of a parking lot.

A frakking parking lot!!!

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it. In its zeal to enforce its suburban-influenced parking standards, this board has inflicted a permanent wound on what could have become a pleasant, walkable neighborhood. Poised to take advantage of the next economic upswing, Carondelet was a hotbed of rehab and new development, much of which is now on hold, but some of which is proceeding. The Board of Adjustment had an opportunity to do the sensible thing and allow the construction of a cohesive urban streetscape. Instead, it decided to enforce a lethal gap in a neighborhood that was already walking a delicate line between pass or fail. The project already had accommodation for parking, but more importantly, it had a developer committed to creating a neighborhood in Carondelet instead of another vapid wasteland of cracker boxes floating in an asphalt sea and houses hidden neatly away from the services and traffic they need to be safe and productive.

The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project will consist of 78 residential units and ground-floor commercial space, including a bowling alley and microbrewery. 121 parking spaces appear on the preliminary plans. With one per dwelling unit, that leaves 43 spaces for the commercial tenants, plus street parking. Perhaps they should also pave the park across Michigan, the long-term effect on the neighborhood wouldn't be any worse.

The rear yard of the plant, with room for parking in addition to indoor parking indicated on the plans [photo credit]

So, as the mighty automobile continues its choke hold on a diverse historic community, slick robber-developers will have the ammunition they need to justify more strip malls and wider roads, perpetuating the cycle we have seen in the inner suburbs of strip mall - traffic - road widening - more traffic - dead strip malls - big box retail. Loughborough Commons seems to be the city's picture of paradise.

New Ex-urbanism

Last night, I had to go to continuing education to keep my license. Luckily, work pays my way into the St. Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects' series, which are usually informative, and sometime relevant to my civil service job [no offense to the AIA, I'm not their target audience].

New Town: sterilized, insular, monolithic 'urbanism' [photo credit]

I was skeptical approaching last night's seminar on Serenbe, a planned rural community. After seeing the unfulfilled promise of St. Charles, Missouri's economically monolithic New Town and other 'new urbanist' developments that are essentially just mixed-use golf course developments, and realizing the low density of Serenbe from its website, I thought 'here we go with another watered-down planned town'.

Chattahoochie Hill Country [photo credit]

But the presentation surprised me. Serenbe is a component in an innovative countryside-preservation plan. The Chattahoochie Hill Country is a triangle of farmland somehow missed by Atlanta's cancerous sprawl. With Fulton County threatening to implement infrastructure 'improvements' that would open the area for more of the same automobile oriented development, property owners banded together to see if there was a way to accommodate the growing demand for development while preserving the character of their land.

The Chattohoochis Country Alliance devised a plan that would accommodate more residential units that standard sprawl models of development, yet preserve 80% of the undeveloped land. Using the philosophy of the New Urbanist movement, they instituted development restrictions that would result in denser clusters of development scattered thru-out the territory in a manner that respects the natural character of the area. Thru thoughtful planning and careful design, they are creating walkable and sustainable communities that don't rely on the massive infrastructure required to support sprawl.

Selborne [photo credit]

Serenbe uses natural water purification to handle its sewage and geothermal energy, among other environmentally friendly techniques. It is divided into three 'hamlets', each with a specific focus: Silborne, an artists' community that actually functions as a center of performing, fine, and culinary arts, with programs and facilities geared toward sustaining an artistic presence; Grange, a farming community where houses are tightly packed at the center of a string of small organic farms; and Mado, a holistic center of spas, holistic health services, and assisted living.

The community's plan recalls the grand days of the City Beautiful movement, but on a scale that makes it practical. Sweeping roads veer into tightly-knit communities and open up into long views across the community. The 'omega' shape of the hamlets focuses each cluster on a natural feature while respecting the contour of the land; and each hamlet offers trails and destinations to encourage walking and community interaction. The developer provided a community meeting space/ bakery to further encourage interaction. I like that the mailboxes are centrally located so that people have to go out to pick up their mail, meeting and talking to neighbors.

I doubt that Serenbe--or the entire Chattahoochie Hill Country--will ever be a diverse community since it is rather exclusive by the nature of its planning and lack of public transportation. I don't see accommodations for the service workers who must staff the various restaurants, community spaces, and maintenance crews, so I wouldn't really call it a truly sustainable community. It will still rely on automobiles to bring customers to its shops, restaurants, arts programs, and festivals; the population of the community could never support all of these programs. But as a means of preserving natural landscapes on the edges of major cities, I think it's a highly worthwhile approach.

Theme-park urbanism

Addendum:
After visiting New Town's web page, I was shocked and disappointed to learn that it is the work of Duany Plater-Zyberk. I found the streetcar page especially scandalous.

Mayfair Condos on the Rise

The Roberts Tower will start rising out of the ground soon. I'm a tad excited. We're finally getting a major building downtown that a] was not designed by HOK*, and b] exhibits some depth of thought in its design. It will be a good backdrop for Old Post Office Square, and add a bold architectural statement to the neighborhood. It will also take some attention away from the Garage Mahal and the hopelessly bland Renaissance Hotel garage. I'm hoping that it has the effect the Equitable and Boatmen's Bank buildings have on the Old Court House. By quietly receding from the historic structures around it, it will help to enhance them.

Time will tell. It will also tell what's really on the other side of this rendering. I know it's a blank wall, but is it a visible blank wall?

*Nothing against HOK; they've done some great work. Unfortunately, none of it is in downtown St. Louis.

New West Cahokia

The attacks against 'Twain' continue. Richard Serra's monumentally-scaled tour-de-force is under attack yet again, but these vandals have the city's blessing. Gateway Foundation and Shaw's Garden are building 'City Garden' in the two blocks east of 'Twain', using forms and materials that completely contradict the straightforward simplicity of the Serra sculpture.

The earlier renderings I saw of City Garden showed an open, visually accessible landscape that extended into the 'Twain' block, integrating the sculpture into the section of the mall isolated by the Gateway One disaster. But what's going up is entirely different. Massive concrete walls clad in rustic random ashlar limestone and mounds.

Yes, Virginia, there are mounds in Mound City.

The result is that the view of the sculpture is completely blocked from the north side of the mall, and hemmed in by a mound on the south side. The horizontal emphasis of the sculpture comes to an abrupt end scarcely a hundred feet from its easternmost point. Instead of being an environmental sculpture, it is now a display piece; just as the Wainwright building has been framed-in with bland modern neighbors, 'Twain' is now framed in with dirt. The arrow pointing boldly down the mall now points meekly at a bank of earth. [For the record, the State's additions to the Wainwright are one of the city's great modern works; it's what surrounds it that ruins its context.]

Precious few people understand the subtle beauty of 'Twain'. I'd venture a guess that most of its detractors never truly experienced it. 'Twain' is about its context. To appreciate it, you have to walk around and thru it, observing the city and experiencing the way it frames your surroundings. Go inside, and the clutter and noise of traffic are cut from your perception, leaving the city around you as the sculpture. This is public art at its most humble, and it deserves better respect than it gets.

I don't know if Shaw's Garden [yes, I still call it Shaw's Garden, MoBot is too impersonal] had any impact on City Garden's design, but it's shaping up as yet another wasted opportunity in the history of St. Louis public space development, unworthy of the Garden's immense contributions to our city and to the world of botany. In stark contrast to the head-noddingly boring federal courthouse square [the English word for plaza], it appears overly elaborate. Its massive walls and berms already block views from the street, divorcing it from its urban context.

For urban spaces to work effectively, they must be welcoming, and they must have active adjacent uses to feed them. Neither the federal square or this New West Cahokia achieve these. I'll admit I may be premature on my assessment of City Garden, but indicators are not favorable. Old Post Office Square should prove successful for these same reasons, and should enliven their surroundings. I expect retail space around it to become prime property, and that it will fulfill its aim of emulating New York's Bryant Park. City Garden and Federal Square lack any active adjacent uses. One obstructs views and the other is a parched lawn with furniture that looks painful to sit on, even more so to look at. Workers who park south of downtown have not one single retail opportunity until they reach Olive Street; a wasted opportunity to have a vibrant urban neighborhood.

The Gateway Mall has been doomed from the start, when Corbusian urban design eradicated its relevance with its inward-looking corporate neighbors. It has been nothing but a somewhat-pretty lawn for corporate aristocrats who have since sold their holdings out of town. What it needs is retail space--real storefronts, and adjacent residences. 1010 Market by Harry Weese is a good building, perhaps even a great one. I.M. Pei's General American Building is a pretty street-killer. The rest of the private buildings facing City Garden are mediocre, and calling them street-killers is being generous, especially in the case of 'Gateway One on the Mall'. The city must require retail storefronts on all new downtown buildings, and should offer some serious incentives for the conversion of existing ground floors to retail. This is the only way the Gateway Mall and City Garden will have a chance of becoming relevant urban spaces.

Otherwise, we should just give it up and turn it into the Gateway Shopping Mall.

St Louis: a Case Study in Sprawl

St Louis loves sprawl so much that we've perfected it to an art. Our outer suburbs are a fashionable display of fussy strip malls and quaint light posts dividing seas of cookie-cutter vinyl boxes, occupied only by strands of lurching cars under the twinkling red-amber-green of traffic signals. Here in the central city, we are so impressed by this sterile beauty that we are turning our historic core into a shadow of suburbia.

Our administration imported a celebrity planner from Toronto, and have proven themselves just as good at ignoring him as they were at ignoring a long line of his competent predecessors. We have a plan, tho. One more expensive master plan that the board of aldermen will never adopt because it will threaten the 28 fiefdoms we have incorrectly labeled as wards.

A stunning downtown plan was nullified mere months after its completion when the administration fought like caged beasts to demolish an architecturally and historically significant building in order to build a parking garage for the Missouri state courts. They deceived the National Trust for Historic Preservation into funding this demolition that severed an awe-inspiring streetscape in a late-eighteenth century urban canyon. They shamed a successful loft developer who dared to suggest that the building could be saved and still provide the court's parking needs while adding to the city's inventory of residential lofts and unique commercial space.

Now, they're building a cookie-cutter Walgreen's and its asphalt lagoon between two of the city's most important historic district. Bohemian hill was to have been a cutting-edge urban infill project of affordable and market-rate housing with [omg!!!] office and retail space mixed in. This dire threat to sprawl had to be put down! So, they pulled the eminent domain card. Luckily, they got smacked down on that one, but land had already been assembled so here comes suburbia to the big city yet again.

I think that very soon, if the housing market ever recovers, the north side will be indistinguishable from Wentzville. Our brave politicians helped the former president of a large contracting company assemble large tracts of land there in secret. He acquired stable, occupied houses and evicted their occupants, then left the buildings open to vandalism and deterioration. In spite of the growing presence and success of independent rehabbers in the area, the administration helped him get legislation introduced to state government that would give huge economic benefits to developers who assemble large tracts of land in 'distressed communities'. The legislation encouraged land clearance along the lines of the failed urban renewal programs of the 1960's, and threatened to destroy existing neighborhoods. But this was o.k. with the powers that be in St Louis because it would put 'marketable' [read suburban] housing in the north side. Also, one must conclude, because it helped their campaign funds.

The latest developmental whimper is the scaling-down of Ballpark Village. In a desperate attempt to get development--any development--our fine city fathers are pressuring the Cardinals to move forward with the remnants of the old Busch Stadium site. There must be an election coming up, but to be fair, the Cardinals left the site in deplorable condition. The Riverfront Times did the best story on the situation in 'A Village Runs Through It'. The current plan is to eliminate most of the housing and scale back the commercial space, effectively rendering Ballpark Village a pretty set-piece rather than a neighborhood.

It's like I always say, 'If you can't build it right, don't build it at all.'

My First Blog Post

I'm an aspie.

Asperger's Syndrome gives me the gift of viewing the world from a different perspective. Aspies tend to be frank and detail-oriented, so you should expect these posts to be very direct and drone on endlessly about seemingly trivial issues. Hopefully, I'll be able to do this in an entertaining manner.

I'm an architect.

I've had a life-long fascination for the built environment, and adore monumentalism. Every city should have a senselessly grand space and be dotted with random acts of beauty, but between and behind these, should be intimate, walkable neighborhoods that offer their residents everything they need within a short walk or tram ride. American suburbs are abominations that need to be eradicated from the face of the earth. They are wasteful and anti-social. Over time, I hope my readers will become active in demanding quality urban design and learn to appreciate a sense of place.

I'm a Pagan.

I've always had an affinity for trees. Even when I was a little catholic boy in the suburban fringe, I was shocked at the carefree way developers bulldozed the land all around our barren little subdivided patch. Cernunnos called me even back then, and forty years later, I finally got the clue. He has led me on a rewarding journey in which I continue to discover the awesome diversity and power of our world. Thru his alter-ego Shiva, he has drawn me toward Hinduism, which is my latest area of spiritual study. More on that later as I continue to discover this rich traditon...

I'm a classicist; my tastes are strongly biased toward Greek and Roman precedents in design and philosophy. As a classicist, I embrace Hindu religious philosophy as the source of classical religion. Cernunnos is Shiva; both emerged from the same prehistoric archetype, just as the Celtic pantheon of Cernunnos came from the same prehistoric tradition as the Hindu pantheon.

But I'm a dreamer foremost. Autism has given me the ability to know an alternate world of my own creation which I have built as an illustration of my ideals, and I plan to reveal it here and in my ongoing writing project, "The Book of Baddite", a farcical scripture with a very serious spiritual message.

I love to learn, and welcome reading suggestions and links.




OK, enough of the dry introductions...