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CtownMikey

By CtownMikey
in Providence

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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i was thinking the same thing... gtech is a nice looking building... citizens however, not so much.

I loooove the Citizens building. My favorite in the whole city. The triangular shape is perfect for the split in the river.

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damus Burg

damus

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I loooove the Citizens building. My favorite in the whole city. The triangular shape is perfect for the split in the river.

I like the citizens building too, not quite my favorite though. I have bigger gripes about 50 Kennedy, 111 Westminster, the Westin Building, and the JWU dorms. I think those are all unsigthly, even if 111 is the signiture building of the city.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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I loooove the Citizens building. My favorite in the whole city. The triangular shape is perfect for the split in the river.

the shape makes that location perfect, i'm just not crazy about the looks of the building. i do, however, think something similar to that would be great in that triangular parcel on memorial blvd.

I like the citizens building too, not quite my favorite though. I have bigger gripes about 50 Kennedy, 111 Westminster, the Westin Building, and the JWU dorms. I think those are all unsigthly, even if 111 is the signiture building of the city.

which one is 111 westminster? is that the hospital trust building?

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damus Burg

damus

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which one is 111 westminster? is that the hospital trust building?

"superman building"... hospital trust is 1 Financial Plaza. I don't hate hospital trust .. it's just plain, and the inside is actually pretty nice, too. the "superman" building isn't special inside or out to me, with the exception of the bank's lobby.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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"superman building"... hospital trust is 1 Financial Plaza. I don't hate hospital trust .. it's just plain, and the inside is actually pretty nice, too. the "superman" building isn't special inside or out to me, with the exception of the bank's lobby.

hmmmm, i find the superman building to be one of the best looking buildings in the city... it's very stately. buildings just don't look like that anymore...

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damus Burg

damus

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hmmmm, i find the superman building to be one of the best looking buildings in the city... it's very stately. buildings just don't look like that anymore...

I think it looks bulky and dingy; while somewhat elaborate I think the design isn't that great for a building of that era. I like the turks head better.

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Gusterfell Burg

Gusterfell

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the shape makes that location perfect, i'm just not crazy about the looks of the building. i do, however, think something similar to that would be great in that triangular parcel on memorial blvd.

which one is 111 westminster? is that the hospital trust building?

I like the Citizen's building, but I've always thought it was a bit underwhelming on such a dramatic site. Now that you mention it, I think it would actually have worked better on the triangular parcel, reserving the confluence of the rivers for more of a "signature" building of some sort.

As for the Superman building, It may not be the greatest Art Deco building in the world, but just about any building in that style is a treasure in my opinion. Not nearly enough of them around.

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Garris Town

Garris

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I like the Citizen's building, but I've always thought it was a bit underwhelming on such a dramatic site.

I agree that something more dramatic (and taller) could have been there, but that said, I still like Citzen's a lot and feel that its smaller scaling does occasionally make for some wonderful vistas...

confluencerisdsm9jx.jpg

As for the Superman building, It may not be the greatest Art Deco building in the world, but just about any building in that style is a treasure in my opinion. Not nearly enough of them around.

Agreed. I think it's glorious myself...

supermanfog4ig.jpg

Does anyone more knowledgable about architecture than myself know why Art Deco didn't have a longer run? It seemed to finally gain some traction in the US until WWII. Was it just that the economic, political, and social shock of WWII killed the style like it altered so many other movements and artistic expressions on so many other fronts?

- Garris

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xine Whistle-Stop

xine

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Does anyone more knowledgable about architecture than myself know why Art Deco didn't have a longer run? It seemed to finally gain some traction in the US until WWII. Was it just that the economic, political, and social shock of WWII killed the style like it altered so many other movements and artistic expressions on so many other fronts?

I believe you're absolutely right - my understanding is that the general feeling towards Art Deco after the war was that it was not only unfashionable and tacky (think of how we feel about the fern bars and bubble script graphics of the 70's), but that it was too frivolous for the deep emotional scarring and sacrifice of the Depression then WWII. There are also considerable political implications to modernist theory and rhetoric of this time, with socialist themes of equating ornament with the excesses of the wealthy and symbolic of the opression of the working class.

Post-war architecture generally mirrored society's general desire make a clean start on Everything, without looking back. Understandable - who would want to look back on such pain? (And more importantly, what's wrong with society now that we crave the comfort of emotionally-charged nostalgic imagery for our buildings today? Lack of hope? At least the modernists were optimists...)

To digress even further, I believe this is why so many Newport mansions were allowed to be destroyed by neglect in this period - kind of a passive-aggressive architectural version of beheading the monarchy - but I'd be really interested in other theories or information on why this happened.

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Lone Ranger Burg

Lone Ranger

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hmmmm, i find the superman building to be one of the best looking buildings in the city... it's very stately. buildings just don't look like that anymore...

I love it. What I like best, I think, is that it's like having several different skyscrapers at once. It has elements of slab design, as best seen in the GE Building. Some people don't see it, but I do. The best angle to see the Superman Bldg like is from Federal Hill. Look at this pic, especially at what you might call the "shoulders" of the building, and maybe you'll see what I mean.

BofAspreadeagle.jpg

The pic isn't mine, by the way.

It's not very tall, but it has hints of that true tower design seen in so many great art deco skyscrapers, most notably the ESB and the Chrysler Building, as you might see from this angle, for example. Again, the pic isn't mine:

TheSistersclose.jpg

The following sketch shows the building in a similar way. Again, not mine:

coloredpencil.jpg

I love the setbacks, so common to art deco skyscrapers. I love the lantern or beacon, another recurring feature among art deco skyscrapers, namely the Hibernia Bank Bldg in New Orleans, the Penobscot Bldg in Detroit, and the Kansas City Power & Light Bldg.

And what I like best, I think, is that it just hints of symmetry, and yet the more you try to reconcile the building's elements into something truly symmetrical, the more it defies encapsulation into something easy, if you see what I mean.

I think it's a great building. I do kinda wish they would clean up the scum on the lantern. Looks a little nasty, IMO.

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MapmanNo1 Whistle-Stop

MapmanNo1

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To digress even further, I believe this is why so many Newport mansions were allowed to be destroyed by neglect in this period - kind of a passive-aggressive architectural version of beheading the monarchy - but I'd be really interested in other theories or information on why this happened.

Okay, this is decidedly :offtopic:

Last year, the Preservation Society of Newport County created an exhibit called, "Lost Houses of Newport." Fascinating stuff.

That's an interesting psychological/architectural theory as to why so many houses were destroyed. Financially, the estates were too expensive to maintain by 1950, especially after the income tax, the World Wars, and the Great Depression. My "favorite" example is Stone Villa, which used to sit across Bellevue from where the Tennis Hall of Fame is today. In 1957, it was bulldozed for a horrific shopping center. The current owner of the site, Aram Garabedian (who also owns Warwick Mall), is looking to partially redevelop the site. [Live Local] [ProJo]

On a more on-topic note, I have long been frustrated (but not surprised) that Newport is unable to wean itself off the comfort food of historic-clone architecture. Newport is a city that prides itself on being home to some of the nation's best architecture, yet architecture in Newport has been dead since 1930. Imagine what some incredible modern architecture could do, especially downtown along America's Cup, or a new modern mansion. It could be breathtaking.

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Gusterfell Burg

Gusterfell

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Last year, the Preservation Society of Newport County created an exhibit called, "Lost Houses of Newport." Fascinating stuff.

That's an interesting psychological/architectural theory as to why so many houses were destroyed. Financially, the estates were too expensive to maintain by 1950, especially after the income tax, the World Wars, and the Great Depression. My "favorite" example is Stone Villa, which used to sit across Bellevue from where the Tennis Hall of Fame is today. In 1957, it was bulldozed for a horrific shopping center. The current owner of the site, Aram Garabedian (who also owns Warwick Mall), is looking to partially redevelop the site. [Live Local] [ProJo]

LOL, I lived and breathed that exhibit last year (I work for the PSNC). The way I've always understood it, these houses fell victim to changing social attitudes, something like xine's theory. When the mansions were built, society saw them as monuments to America's rising power, a sign of the nation having "arrived" as an equal with the great royal powers of Europe. After the depression and WWII, that sort of ostentation was seen as crass and overly materialistic. That, combined with rising maintenence costs and changes in the lifestyle of the wealthy led to dozens of mansions being abandoned. Not old enough to be thought of as historic, they were nothing more than big empty houses, and no one thought anything of knocking them down. Even when the historic preservation movement started to gather steam in Newport in the late forties, the emphasis was on saving the 18th century urban core, not the 19th century estates.

I've always felt that most architectural styles undergo a 30-40 year period between falling out of fashion and being recognized for its artisitc merits. If you look back at what buildings are admired and emulated, and which are targeted for redevelopment, you can follow the trend back at least 150 years. Every generation seems to dispise the previous generation's architecture, while generally admiring earlier styles. As the Beaux-Arts classicism of the 1890s-1910s went through their period of neglect, so in turn did the Art Deco buildings that supplanted them. The International modern buildings that replaced the Art Deco after WWII have recently been poorly regarded, but recently I have noticed early signs of renewed interest in preserving them, as well.

As for Garabedian's proposal for Bellevue Gardens, it sounds much better than the present strip mall, but count me among those who want to see it built directly fronting the road, with parking behind. The buildings across the street are such a beautiful urban streetscape, and it would be vastly improved by similar buildings on the other side of Bellevue Avenue.

On a more on-topic note, I have long been frustrated (but not surprised) that Newport is unable to wean itself off the comfort food of historic-clone architecture. Newport is a city that prides itself on being home to some of the nation's best architecture, yet architecture in Newport has been dead since 1930. Imagine what some incredible modern architecture could do, especially downtown along America's Cup, or a new modern mansion. It could be breathtaking.

I agree completely. It's not that Newport doesn't have its share of modern buildings. Rather, the modern buildings we do have are all bland and uninspiring. I can think of dozens of buildings built in the last half- century that I'd love to take dynamite to. Most new buildings in the last ten years or so have been much better at blending with Newport's existing architecture, but I would like to see a good example of modernism or two.

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jencoleslaw Town

jencoleslaw

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Okay, this is decidedly :offtopic:

Last year, the Preservation Society of Newport County created an exhibit called, "Lost Houses of Newport." Fascinating stuff.

That's an interesting psychological/architectural theory as to why so many houses were destroyed. Financially, the estates were too expensive to maintain by 1950, especially after the income tax, the World Wars, and the Great Depression. My "favorite" example is Stone Villa, which used to sit across Bellevue from where the Tennis Hall of Fame is today. [ProJo]

how cool! here's is our family estate on that list...The Reef

The greatest thing the RI budlongs ever owned, and it basically burned down.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Anybody see the new Providence signs downtown? Also, the Westminster Mall signs are gone! Someone heeded the call.....looks like UP really does make a difference.

I did notice the new signs, I quite like them. I hadn't noticed the Westminster Mall signs were gone, and I walk by them everyday. :wacko: I'm glad those are gone, they totally confused me when I moved here, I was like, there's a mall over there. Imagine my dissapointment to find Cathedral Square. :sick:

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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Anybody see the new Providence signs downtown? Also, the Westminster Mall signs are gone! Someone heeded the call.....looks like UP really does make a difference.

i haven't been downtown in a while (i'm turning into a RI'er and not leaving the mile radius around my house)... :whistling: anyone got a pic of one of these signs?

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