Dowell Garage

[Spartan]

I'm actually pleasantly surprised he did the firewall with cinder blocks.

Sturdy.

[bchris02]

Would be a great place for a large mural. The design of the building is minimalist and only functional, but it can be fixed pretty easily.

[Pete]

To those who accuse me of "never having met a building I didn't like", I offer Exhibit A (thanks to shawnw for the photo).

And no, this isn't Soviet Russia; Soviet Russia had more flair.

[catch22]

Okay, we get it. You don't like it. You LOVE IT

[Pete]

It makes the blank, concrete AT&T behemoth to the east look busy and overly ornate.

[CuatrodeMayo]

to those who accuse me of "never having met a building i didn't like", i offer exhibit a (thanks to shawnw for the photo).

[BrettM2]

It seriously looks abandoned... and it's brand new.

[5alive]

Absolutely awful. Rick Dowell can build as he pleases but why doesn't he take pride in his work and in the city. Shameful.

[catch22]

I'm glad we have design review.

For this and Chase bank...you know.

[ljbab728]

Anyone want to donate a few climbing ivy plants?

[Architect2010]

I wish all of NW 4th had been redone per Project 180. The trees would have helped a lot.

[Eddie1]

I think ivy would be very helpful here, also add some 'green' to downtown.

[Plutonic Panda]

Maybe a super large mural could go here? Place mesh on the outside and paint a mural on it.

[HangryHippo]

I'm glad we have design review.

For this and Chase bank...you know.

Right?! It's a bad joke at this point. Wasn't Dowell also the one who fought city on P180 so his area wouldn't have to be included? Seems like his developments need all the help they can get.

[HangryHippo]

I think ivy would be very helpful here, also add some 'green' to downtown.

There was a building in Paris that was covered in different colored plants. I'd love to see something like that on this thing to help hide the hideous facade.

[Spartan]

Absolutely awful. Rick Dowell can build as he pleases but why doesn't he take pride in his work and in the city. Shameful.

Here's the weird part: He does

[Rover]

Guess there is no accounting for taste (or lack of)

[Spartan]

Well it's exactly that. Dowell is hell-bent to preserve a certain aesthetic around his projects. It is very unfortunate that he doesn't participate in the public processes where we hone our chosen aesthetic for public spaces, but that is likely because he knows he won't like nor want any part of it.

He would view his taste as old school vs. new school, but it really isn't that when you look at what he did to the old Lincoln dealership at 4th and Walker, or the fact that generally he seems to invest a ton of effort into the Romanesque fortress style. And if there were ever a Romanesque fortress parking garage, for better or worse, this would be it.

His developments alone have become an interesting political case study over urban design and property rights, where all the prior case study looks at density and massing and zoning etc., whereas this is about ugly. He thinks what we are doing (P180) is ugly and we think what he is doing (Midtown Plaza, et al) is ugly.

Can't wait to see that Romanesque fortress apartment high-rise (bring on the pitched roof and ugly stone)...

[Pete]

Behold:

[turnpup]

Please tell me that's not finished!

[Pete]

Please tell me that's not finished!

I wish I could.

The saddest thing about all this is that the first phase was absolutely atrocious and when he wanted to double the size, instead on insisting that the whole thing be finished to a higher standard (the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone), they just let him build more ugliness.

It's really unbelievable this got built at all, let alone very recently.

[bchris02]

That wall would be perfect for a mural or even a large advertisement like what is common on blank walls in Dallas. Is there any chance the city will ever let something like that happen?

[PhiAlpha]

I wish I could.

The saddest thing about all this is that the first phase was absolutely atrocious and when he wanted to double the size, instead on insisting that the whole thing be finished to a higher standard (the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone), they just let him build more ugliness.

It's really unbelievable this got built at all, let alone very recently.

And sadly...it still looks arguably better than the Santa Fe Garage after it's "renovation"

[turnpup]

It's sad that there's no motivation on Dowell's part to make this thing something nice instead of this bare-bones hideous monstrosity. We've seen first-hand here in OKC that garages can be really cool-looking and unique. Or they can be built to blend in beautifully with the existing landscape, such as the ones SMU has erected in recent years. They've done at least three or four new ones, and each is so perfect that it's hard to distinguish it from a real building.



The worst thing about the Dowell garage is how much real estate--in a very visible locale--it takes up. Imagine how much it'd clean up that area if he'd done it right.

[pickles]

soul crushing