buckett5425

I disagree. While having tall buildings outside of the CBD does give the appearance of having a larger more suburban city(houston for example), it is only true if there are tall buildings in the CBD too! lol. Cities are defined by their downtowns and because of all the suburban high rises, our downtown is lacking and dosnt give justice to our city and downtown skylines are how cities are judged. Just imagine what downtown BR would look like if all of our suburban high rises were in downtown. Sure, its cool to see Shaw Plaza while down I-10, but think about how much cooler it would be if it, the marriot, jacob's plaza, etc, where all closer to downtown or in downtown. Our skyline wouldnt be so whimpy. But fortunately, we are headed in the other direction with all the big developments going on downtown! If only Preis can get his act together, and last i heard from WHL architects, they were still planning on releasing the new and final rendering of River Place at the beginng of next year. Keep your fingers crossed, lol

gotta love them cranes! lol....and the sky looks beautiful!

Well, they did slap on a coat of paint to the exterioir a couple of months ago, lol. Its more of a terracotta now.

Just to make my point more clear. It is not that i dont like the design of the new business school, i think its awesome and will really bring LSU to the next level. My problem is where they have deicded to build the building. The are building it on the east side of taylor hall(ceba). If you look at the master plan picture i posted above, you see that the master plan recommends building a southern quad on the west side of ceba. Wouldnt the new business school make a great addition and begining to forming that new southern quad? Instead, LSU is contuning its traditition of randomly placing buildings around campus, the only difference is, is that these new buildings resemble the old itialian style. LSU continues to not look at the bigger picture and it wouldnt it be great if they built the new business school in an area that would better promote smart growth on campus?

Here are some pics of some of the new developments LSU Master Plan New Graham Hall Student Union Expansion New Alex Box New Business School

Since i couldn't find an LSU thread, i thought i would create one. As we know, LSU has begun ravamping it's facilities and campus as part of the Forever LSU campaign. Construction has begun or been completeted on a new baseball and soft ball stadiums, Football Staduim, new dorms, new practice facilities for basketball and volleyball, student union expansion, music and drama building remodel, and a new business school. These are all great projects bringing LSU into the next century. Mind you though, most of them are sports related and not academic, lol. The new Business school looks great, but it just dosnt keep in the style of the campus and its really bothering me that LSU isnt following the master plan they deveolped in 2003 as they expand and improve the campus facilities. Half of the things LSU has embarked on look great, but in no way follow the plan they paid for, what a great waste of money. here is a link to the 2003 master plan and here is a link to the new busniess school

Hmm, lets hope its something for the hotel. But arnt they going to demolish that empty wing of esplande to build the W hotel? But as for why it has remained empty for so long, who knows. That wing fronts the interstate but you cant see it from college or corporate. I also find it interesting that the rest of esplande's exteroior has been updated, while that specific wing hasnt, i guess the property owner had a hard time renting the space? A W hotel is better anyway, lol

Poor dome

I CANT BELIEVE IT! KCS demolished the Union Tank Car Facility, the geodesic dome in north baton rouge, on Nov. 15. It was the 11th largest by diameter in the world. Im glad i took all of my arch friends there to go see it, who would have known they were going to demolish the dome, when next year it could have gone on the Historical Preservation List. I am very upset. here is the link to the advocate.

Connectivity is the best way to go when people are running errands around the corner, but not when they are trying to cross town. But there are some roads that no matter what are major roads. Although there is no room for it, Lee NEEDS to be widened. Lee, starring(essen), and seigen are the major roads that connect south baton rouge with the rest of the city and I 10. All of those roads are TWO lanes! This is ridiculous. Even the four laned roads, stanford(acadian) and bluebonnet have horrible traffic at peak times. This side of baton rouge has been ignored for far two long. The green light plan needs to be finished sooner, and funding for finishing it faster needs to be done immediatly. All the above mentioned roads are in the green light plan, except for lee and lee needs to be included. I feel sorry for the property owners who will lose their front yards, but couldnt those houses on such a major road be better used as retail such as little boutiques, coffee shoppes, etc., while trying to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood? And for the record, when i lived closer to southdowns, i would cut through the neighborhood to stay off of perkins, acadian, and specifically lee. Even with rouzan being built. People, still cut through the same roads I did, so i really dont think it will add that much traffic to the residential streets.Plus, there is a middle school right there, which brings tons of traffic at the worst times, wouldnt you think they would be used to the traffic by now? lol

I've got some great news! So AIAS held a "firm crawl" where the school of arch could go around and have a meet and great with a lot of the area firms and get to know what they are all about. So i was able to get the down low on some local projects. The Brownstones are on schedule, and in a best case senario will start construction in six months. They will also feature and interior courtyard and a lot of green space behind the deveolpment. WHL has a new rendering for riverplace. It looks amazing and is really eye catching and they took a competly different direction from earlier designs. I counted the floors and it looks to be about 27 stories tall, and still sits on a parking garage, so im guessing it will be 30 stories? But they couldnt give me any info on when construction would start. Also, i dont remember what firm is was, either chevernert or WHL, said they are working on another downtown high rise condo project, and are about ready to reveal the plans to the public, he didnt give me any other details, If i had to guess, i would say the old advocate block?

Oh no, you cant get rid of the white building, its just an ugly duckling. That building has a great design, it just needs some pampering. Even with a modest renovation, that building could look very modern and new, because it has such a great shell to work with. ALthough, if a developer came in and suggested building a high rise there, i wouldnt complain, lol

speaking of odor and sewage plants. The sewage plant on gardier needs to be moved, or cleaned up. The smell is horrible and everyone i know always comments on it. On many days, you can smell sewage anywhere from south kennilworth parkway all the way past bluebonnet while driving down burbank. Maybe if pinnacle gets there casino built right there, they might have some influence on some action being taken?

I stumbled across this video on the Visit Baton Rouge website. I wasnt sure who else may have stumbled across it to, so i thought i would post it. Its a neat video and does an amazeing job at portraying baton rouge.

hey guys I dont know if some of you guys might be interested in this, but the LSU School of Arch host a lecture series where some very prominent architects come in and speak to the school. Im pretty sure the meetings are open to the public, although a lot of the time its standing room only anyway. But, I can forward information to here, and if anyone wants to come, your more then welcome. All lectures will take place on a wednesday at 430-5ish and last for about an hour, as for specific dates, im not sure yet. This was the guy that came and spoke to us this past wed. He had some amazeing creditentials, includeing working on "the burj," which is now the tallest man made structure in the world. The School of Architecture Lecture Series is pleased to present a lecture by Marshall Strabala. The lecture will take place Wednesday, September 12th at 4:30 PM in the Design Building Auditorium. The School of Architecture would like to thank Gensler for sponsoring this lecture. J. Marshall Strabala, AIA, LEED AP Mr. Strabala joined Gensler from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in Chicago, where he was an Associate Partner and Lead Designer. He brings 25 years of architectural experience to his new role at Gensler as lead designer. Some of the most notable examples of his work include projects at Canary Wharf in London for Morgan Stanley as well as the award-winning building for Credit Swiss First Boston at 15 The North Colonnade. A noted expert in the design of office buildings, convention centers, and performing arts venues, Strabala spent a year in Asia designing the iconic Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Strabala has lectured on architectural design to a wide range of audiences around the world and has completed projects in locations ranging from Mainland China, Korea, Europe, to the Middle East. He was the SOM Associate Partner in Charge of Design for several "supertall" mixed-use projects, including the 5-million-square-foot "The Burj Dubai" in the United Arab Emirates; at well over 160 stories, it will be the world's tallest building upon completion in 2008. An award-winning architectural designer, Marshall Strabala is recipient of the prestigious Burnham Prize in 1996 and the AIA Chicago Chapter-Grand Projects Award, and he is an Affiliated Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Numerous books and periodicals have featured his work, including Interiors, Context, Designers West, Metamorphosis, and Space. Mr. Strabala holds a Bachelor of Arts in Design from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University.

Im excited to hear this. People that live on this side of Baton Rouge have had very little in shopping, with out driving to college, bluebonnet, or seigen. The South end of town needs this kind of development. And as for it not being nice, i doubt that. So it might not be a "town center" or "perkins rowe" but in terms of one stop shopping, target is at the top of that list, in terms of asthics. If i had to choose between a walmart being at that location, or a target, i choose target any day. But i guess it really dosnt matter since they are building a walmart on the eastern end of burbank anyway. lol. Im afraid though that, that area may become over saturated. Because there is now going to be a win dixie, a wal-mart neighborhood market, and now a super target all right on that corner? Maybe it will promote a little competion amoungst the stores, because that win dixie is a little expensive.

lol, yes, the video was weird. But i LOVED it, it was funny and insightful. I showed my friend who was a construction management major, he loved it also. Being the losers that we are, we are planning a trip to go see the old river control stucture, and on the way we were going to go the st francisville way to ride the ferry, and maybe see if we can catch a glimpse of the new bridge. After hearing about the "buckyball" train yard on highway 61, we want to make that part of our road trip also! thanks for recomending the video!

Yea, i can completly understand him putting in long hours For the first year, most of our projects are based on design and flow, and really dont involve much "architecture." We also learn the basics of design, and the thought processes you must go through, also drafting and such. Its a lot of fun, and ive met some really interesting people. If your thinking about arch, then do it, atleast try it, and if not, then you can move onto something else that intrest you. But i will warn you, you will have a couple over nighters, even first year, lol

Hey Everybody, I just wanted to take this chance to introduce myself. I have been stalking these forums for months now, and finally felt it was time to become a memeber! I am a second year architecture student at LSU, and what can I say, I love development and urban planning. Im from small town Louisiana, Deridder to be exact, and living in baton rouge is exciting for me, because of all of the interesting things going on, a HUGE amount of projects compared to DeRidder, lol. Anyway, thanks for the welcome!