Cousins Tremont Doggett Towers

[Norm2]

2 hours ago, RANYC said:

my opinion doesn't matter here, but what sticks out to me is what a total miss these buildings are aesthetically.  the ashton, lowes tower, portman residential project in process, and many of the low-slung buildings in the immediate area such as the design center are heavily brick.  i find the brick to be authentically carolina, and its concentration in this area adds to its identifiability and charm.  that cousins is running away from it with these designs is rather disappointing.

I think variety is great. Have all buildings with brick facades would be boring.

[RANYC]

1 minute ago, norm21499 said:

I think variety is great. Have all buildings with brick facades would be boring.

a central motif is a way for an urban district to achieve brand differentiation.  i still feel south end is in the early stage of building an identifiable aesthetic, and you can still achieve lots of variety with brick as a design premise.  but of course, people will disagree.

[Norm2]

1 minute ago, RANYC said:

a central motif is a way for an urban district to achieve brand differentiation.  i still feel south end is in the early stage of building an identifiable aesthetic, and you can still achieve lots of variety with brick as a design premise.  but of course, people will disagree.

South End already has an identifiable brand. If it didn't, it wouldn't be the neighborhood it is now.  The brick industrial building vibe is the identifiable aesthetic. A lot of high-rises may move away from this, and that's okay.

[CLT Development]

I don't know about others but to me the beauty of a district lies in its variety and aesthetic differences from one block to the next. Too much homogeny and it ends up looking like a campus. Just look at Legacy Union, I love Brooklyn Village Avenue, but walking up it today I couldn't help but tire over all the blue glass and beige/greige facades. Part of the beauty of the Meat Packing District in NYC is how buildings of so many different styles break away from the warehouse underpinnings of the neighborhood. That's how I see South End — a brick base with tying the district together with pops of terracotta, steel and glass. 

Edited May 30, 2023 by CLT Development

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, norm21499 said:

South End already has an identifiable brand. If it didn't, it wouldn't be the neighborhood it is now.  The brick industrial building vibe is the identifiable aesthetic. A lot of high-rises may move away from this, and that's okay.

We likely have a different view on South End's positioning in terms of the world's or even the nation's renowned urban sub-districts.  I think it has potential but isn't there yet, in whatever way one might wish to articulate "there."  Perhaps my bias is rooted in the relative newness of South End as walkably urban and mixed-use.  Perhaps it's South End's lack of a fabled civic gathering spot, i.e. plaza, promenade, etc.  Again, I see opportunity for a great deal of variety with brick as a premise, but again, all a matter of individual preference.

Edited May 30, 2023 by RANYC

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, CLT Development said:

I don't know about others but to me the beauty of a district lies in its variety and aesthetic differences from one block to the next. Too much homogeny and it ends up looking like a campus. Just look at Legacy Union, I love Brooklyn Village Avenue, but walking up it today I couldn't help but tire over all the blue glass and beige/greige facades. Part of the beauty of the Meat Packing District in NYC is how buildings of so many different styles break away from the warehouse underpinnings of the neighborhood. That's how I see South End — a brick base with tying the district together with pops of terracotta, steel and glass. 

Of course, this is all conjecture and subjective leaning, but take, for example, Boston's Beacon Hill is old, yes, but also tony and intimate and enveloping and even with rampant brick, has an eclectic architectural sensibility.  I think some foundational sameness that is then used to underpin a wide variety of architectural flourish can be a powerful additive to brand development and recognizability. 

Of course, my grievance with the design might very well be misplaced.  What South End is lacking for me might very well be a civic gathering spot such as what a pedestrianized Camden Road could be, and were that to happen, then that foundational unifier I crave would be found in a Camden Plaza, and not so much brick-laced building design.

Edited May 30, 2023 by RANYC

[TheMightyBK]

Just got back from spending time in the Southport area of Boston….which made me think of South End and what it could/should be in the coming years 

[Hushpuppy321]

6 hours ago, ClassicColtrane said:

Sort of leads to a question I've been thinking about - how much collaboration or synchronization is there between developers in South End (or Uptown for that matter) to purposely create a skyline aesthetic from certain angles in the city? For instance, it seems like towers in Uptown are situated so they look great coming down Wilkinson from the airport, or 77 south, or 277 north. Or is it just random and accidental?

I’d suspect that there’s not much if any coordination but I do expect that the ‘Charlotte’ theme of Buildings being lit up in colors at night will progress Southward from Uptown, through South End and even right on into Ballantyne since it’s a very cost effective way Developers can make their buildings more recognizable.