Creating Places: A Citizen Observer's Look at Nashville's Built Environment


Writer's Note: William Williams' interest in the manmade environment dates to 1970, at which point the then-young Williams started a collection of postcards of city skylines. The collection now numbers 1,000-plus cards. Among the writer's specific interests are exterior building design, city district planning, demographics, signage, mixed-use development, mass transit and green/sustainable construction and living. Williams began his Creating Places column with The City Paper in February 2005. The column in its original form was discontinued in September 2008 and reinvented via this blog in November 2008. Creating Places can be found on the home page of the website of The City Paper, at which Williams has worked in various capacities since October 2000.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Creating Places: 12South rehab

The 12South building once to Harb's Oriental Rug Service is being given a very tasteful update. Unfortunately, the building's new-found attractiveness renders the adjacent structure (seen only partially on the right in this photo) even uglier than it originally had been (if that's possible). It is almost mind-boggling to think that folks in the 1960s and 1970s thought that buildings with with asphalt caps and multiple brick colors (I counted no fewer than five on the pathetic little structure) were actually attractive. But, in fairness, I thought I looked stylish, circa 1986, sporting pleated light-blue jeans, bulky all-white athletic shoes and a mullet. The lesson is simple: Buildings (and men) will always age well if given timeless exterior treatments.




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4 comments:

  1. myronJune 10, 2013 at 12:14 PM

    LOL... you may have coined a new phrase: "Mind blogging"! It's the first time I've seen such a word, although still a little unsure of its meaning. Or did you mean to use "mind boggling" or "mind blowing"? Guess "mind blogging" could be a combination of the two terms if one decides to blog about it, just like you have done. Ahhh, I understand now!

    ReplyDelete
  2. William WilliamsJune 10, 2013 at 10:09 PM

    Myron,

    Oh, me. That's my bad. Should have been "mind-boggling."

    Good catch,

    WW

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 12, 2013 at 10:57 AM

    William, take credit whether it's due or not!
    Lee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. William WilliamsJune 13, 2013 at 8:48 AM

      Lee,

      I fumble so often that taking credit is easy.

      WW

      Delete

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