Downtown OKC 2033

[mkjeeves]

Right on, Rover.

[AP]

I think current architecture that is inspired by and borrows elements of classic architecture of old is fine and great but when it is just trying to be a movie set it is like Las Vegas. OKC's history and culture isn't exactly Parisian, or even Bostonian. Using modern materials and styles while integrating lessons from our past is great. Hopefully OKC's great developments of the future reflect who WE are and what our heritage is, not some trumped up wanna be style. When we learn to be great on our own we will be GREAT. As pointed out in another thread (Lincoln Park golf course), OKC does not have a "style". We need to evolve one, not copy one. We don't need to be LIKE anyone to be great ourselves.

This is one of the issues I have with dogmatic new urbanistas... cities don't need to be made cookie cutter and predictable whether it is the current suburban or the new urbanist enclaves. Cities evolve and reflect a lot of history. They are messy. They are organic. They can be quirky. Every street doesn't need to be a perfect uniform grid, two lanes + one bike lane + parking with buildings up to the street and totally mixed use with all the same types of shops, restaurants, etc., all made of limestone and granite with ornate elements to look like faux Paris. Cities need to be different and interesting and reflective of the people who live there...warts and all. And, cities need to age...like wine...and become better and better.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[hoya]

But that's the thing, Rover. Cities do age. They do develop their own style. It happens automatically. I'm not saying that we need to be Vegas, and build a copy of New York and have a guy in a gorilla suit climb a 1/6th scale Empire State Building every night at 7. I am not asking for a brick-by-brick recreation of Paris here in downhome OKC.

But since we're talking about it, let's look at it for a moment.





This is Art Nouveau. Google says this is in Latvia. It looks like fancy stuff to me. We don't have anything like this in OKC because people built it back before there was an OKC. Now, we could build something in this style and it would still be OKC. Take that building and give it a Native American theme. Make the big faces Indians with headdresses. Call it the Cherokee Building. It'll be very Oklahoman. You can construct buildings like they have in other cities without it being a complete copy of another city. Little bits and pieces from here and there will combine to make a separate whole. You will use local materials in some places that change the overall appearance, the combination of buildings and how those buildings interact with the street and the park will result in an entirely unique experience.

That's how a city develops its own style.

--

I always saw the First National Building as our own little Empire State Building. Obviously it's much smaller and the specific details are very different. It's a limestone Art Deco tower with a spire on top. People don't criticize First National for being an ESB ripoff. Instead it's a cherished part of our city. There's no reason to think that trying to build high-end midrises in an older architectural style will label us copycats.

[mkjeeves]

Little bits and pieces from here and there will combine to make a separate whole.

Postmodern architecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Just the facts]

I am not exactly sure where Rover's post contradicts New Urbanism. Vernacular architecture IS new urbanism. I wonder how many people 'like'ing Rover's post also like Devon Tower - when it could be plopped down anywhere in the world (and in fact - very similar buildings by the same architect and developer are). And then of course, OKC had the Baum building - designed after the Doge Palace in Venice 500 years earlier but a fan favorite in OKC (so much so they saved parts of it and put them on display)

[hoya]

My disagreement with Rover applies only inasmuch as he is in agreement with mkjeeves. The idea that if we build something today designed to look old, or mirroring an older architectural style, that we're building Disneyland. I've had to run to court a few times today and so my responses have been broken up, so perhaps I didn't fully clarify what I meant.

There are a lot of gorgeous architectural gems in very expensive neighborhoods in Paris, New York, Chicago, London. While we can't recreate these buildings (I wouldn't want to see the Mystery Tower turn out to be a brick-for-brick duplication of the Chrystler Building, for instance), it doesn't mean that we can't use similar architectural styles to create our own high-end residential area. We can certainly be inspired by places like the Upper East Side and try to duplicate the same type of development. I think a big expensive 15 story building that looks like it belongs in a more glamorous city would sell very well here.

[Just the facts]

The thing is - OKC does have a local historical architectural style (look at 430 W. Main if you want to see it). Granted we tore a lot of it down, but it is there. Our problem is our local builders and business people don't embrace it. They are too busy with EIFS and 24 sq. foot panes of glass.