Another missed opportunity? What modest hope I entertained of Metro's planned central police precinct being a public building of architectural noteworthiness was quickly dashed upon my seeing for the first time the below rendering. There is nothing about this building that says "civic structure." Yes, it's sleek and clean-lined, and I'm sure it will be energy-efficient and offer a useful interior. The building might even deliver a little quirkiness as it will be wedged between the NES substation that fronts Sixth Avenue (seen in the image on the far left and with the lime hint) and the south sidewalk of Korean Veterans Boulevard. I also think I'll like the metal elements. All well and good.
Still, the exterior of the building is excessively bland, lacking definition, a clear entrance, and the type verticality that the south side of KVB so badly needs. In fairness, the architect (Moody Nolan) had minimal physical space to work with (for example, the building's side that will face Sixth will be no more than about 35 feet wide). I would also suppose the design budget was no more substantial than this writer's knowledge of commercial country music.
So with those limitations, I'll try to be optimistic and hope the police precinct building, upon its completion, will grade at least a C-plus (if not a B-minus).
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It's not bad.....actually, not bad at all.
ReplyDeleteFar better than taking up space in Bridgestone Arena.
Solid B.
Good point regarding the arena. The building should be fine. I simply would have preferred something a bit more substantial given this is a central police precinct and deserving of some "design heft." Still, there is some solid potential for it.
DeleteWW
I don't know...has kind of a Don Draper vibe to it.
ReplyDeleteBy that, do you mean mid-century modern? Is so, I got a chuckle.
DeleteJust what we need: another rectangular box! Ugh.
ReplyDelete- Lee
Lee,
DeleteI'm hopeful the materials and colors might minimize the "boxy-ness" of the building.
WW
if the horizontal and vertical black band was a neon color maybe. it needs something to pop.its between boring and interesting.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thought.
DeleteWilliam - Has it been explained to you why the substation was built like that, in prime space nearly fronting KVB? It seems like a big oversight to build such a structure in that position on that site. I'm sure there are reasons.
ReplyDeleteAMous,
DeleteMy understanding is that Metro owns the land. So from a cost-savings move, it makes sense.
WW
For security purposes, isn't a bland building with a dressed-down entrance a good thing? I think the glass with look wonderful in the right sunlight. If the products used for the exterior non-glass areas compliment the Music City Center, it may bring a lovely look of continuity to the street.
ReplyDeleteAMous,
DeleteGood point about the security considerations. Those do, in fact, impact how such a building is designed.
WW
I look forward to seeing this one built. Such a constricted site and MN has done a good job with the design. The one thing that I think will make a tremendous difference will be signage - that will either pull it all together, or it could really mess things up. Time will tell...
ReplyDeleteJohn,
DeleteGood point about the signage. Another key element that could help: tasteful night-time lighting.
WW