Wednesday, February 1, 2006

* Just Another Concrete Cookie Cutter Cracker Box

"A Day Late and a Dollar Short"


by Gary Fuschi


Blogger Bob posted that comment here on the Morse Hell Hole the other day. I clicked back to the photo Craig took of the Adelphi Theater which showed the steel jaws of the crane smashing a giant hole in the back wall and I sat there in front of my flat screen and I felt sick.

I felt sick for Bill Morton and his dedicated group..... I felt sick for our neighborhood as we had to stand around and watch another significant piece of Rogers Park get taken down and end up unceremoniously as resaleable bundled brick and container debris...... I felt sick for our city and for the systematic rub out of our rich, eclectic architectural history.

I thought about all the beautiful prarie style houses that are gone, like the one just demolished on Ashland near Montrose. All the prim little two flats and farmhouse style wood frame houses that are gone because the land is more valuable now than the structure that sits on it. On Washtenaw and the river, there was an old, historic boatyard where old men spent endless offseason hours repairing wooden hull boats. Gone. Ashland Avenue used to be an odd and interesting mix of commercial buildings that was once home to various, succesful businesses that employed people. Gone. And what has progress handed us as a replacement?

A canyon of concrete cookie cutter cracker boxes.

Everywhere you look there are building after uninspired, poorly executed and badly designed buildings that have no sense of place and offer no hint of architectural history. Oh, but let's exclude from this tirade against "insignificant architecture", those structures that feature tiny slivers of limestone trim which really only forecast overpriced, "luxury" granite countertops once you get inside. And don't forget to compliment the architect in his little nod to history when he includes an iron "Romeo and Juliet" balcony in front of a door that goes nowhere, added as a "design detail" to break up the monotony of a bland split face block wall 50 feet higher than it should be. A quick glance reveals balconies so narrow, the only way Juliet could possibly call to Romeo from said balcony, is if she were bulimic. "Wherefore art thou, talented architect?"

And how about those 5 story, monstrously out of scale cigarette packs turned sideways plopped in the middle of a row of modest, 2 story wood frame houses? That works for me. On the 1800 block of Estes and I mean no offense to the neighbors who negotiated their best to downsize the original proposal, the new citywide developer boondogle is to completely turn the whole building sideways. There is no front. The front is on the side to take full advantage of every valuable square inch of profit possible.

What the Heck is Happening to Our City?

I swear, the whole city is being remodeled by the same guy. One untalented, visionless, overworked and highly overpaid basement dwelling excuse for an architect is responsible for turning our city's renowned architectural diversity into a boring shopping mall aesthetic that will have historians scratching their heads and asking, "What happened to that beautiful city?"

The Answers:

1.) Greed

2.) Greed

3.) A charade of developer friendly rules, regulations and red tape designed to discourage community dissent and real participation until after the fact and a loop hole ridden process of impossible to follow paperwork that allows developers to hide their true identities and influence.

Any well meaning individual who attempts to find the true owner of a proposed project, such as the Adephi Theater will enter into a carnival style hall of mirrors. Corporate names change so frequently you wonder if you're coming or going and at $75 per peek at an LLC document, you will soon be going broke. There are so many name changes, quit claim deed and related filings on record, it just makes you wonder. But, we are not supposed to wonder about those things. We are expected to take everything we are told at face value.

Meet the Developer

It's bad enough that the Adelphi Theater is being reduced to rubble. But with the information that has surfaced about this developer, if it is true, makes the loss of that beautiful building all that much more difficult for me to stomach. I wish someone would just lay out the facts for once. The real facts. That should be a requirement of the development proposal process.

Before the community gets to see the design, the long and complex paper trail should be laid out in it's entirety and all the financial statements should be made available in the spirit of full disclosure, similar to an election requirement. If the building that replaces the Adelphi Theater is so beneficial to the progress of the community and the architecture so much more "significant" than the Adelphi, why would the true owner of the property hide behind a paper trail? What is there to hide? I think we deserve to know who is making a killing in our neighborhood. I think we deserve to know who is tearing down the Adelphi and replacing it with just another concrete cookie cutter cracker box replete with all the inspired details that will surely land 7070 North Clark Street on the list of historic buildings.

This building has it all and more. In a moment of divine inpiration, the architect added a clocktower and how appropriate that detail is because in my view, that clock symbolizes our architectural history. Every minute that goes by, another concrete cracker box is being proposed somewhere else in our great city.

And as long as this developer friendly process remains intact, our objections to these projects will always be "a day late and a dollar short".

11 comments:

gf said...

craig-

thanx for the post and for giving us the opportunity to discuss these important issues. before the debate starts, i would just like to say that i am not in the "preserve everything, no progress, hate all developer camp".

i happen to respect the fact that responsible developers and investors are willing to risk capital in rogers park. i think this is a healthy and long awaited recognition of our neighborhood's potential and history.

however, i believe a fair balance can be struck between progress, profit and preservation. with some guidelines in place, developers can begin to change the current image that exists that they are concerned only about raw profit.

building quality architecture, that contributes to the expressed needs of the community, can still be profitable. this would allow devlopers to contribute to the progress of our neighborhood and become part of a long term solution.

i'm not trying to structure the debate. i don't think that would be possible here at hellhole. i'm only expressing an opinion and my hope for that possibility.

gf said...

gf is gary fuschi
i wrote this essay on january 25 on 24/7 howardwatchers blog. there is a more recent essay that posted yesterday that explores this issue in a larger context. maybe you can take a look if you have the time.

qa and luntave.- my first comment on todays post relates to what luntave's concerns are. developers shouldn't be the easy targets they are. in this particular case with regard to the adelphi, issues were brought up at the time about ownership changes etc. that were a concern to everyone.

as far as saving the adelphi, my question and regret was that, within the development process, there didn't seem to be an effort made to at least consider saving the facade and lobby. the building was not salvageable as is, but i think the facade would have made a great entrance to a new building. there was a rush to declare that the whole building, including the facade, was not "architecturally significant"

qa- the design "guidelines" would occur naturally as a result of a thorough review process. if the architect and developer knew that the alderman and community expectation required a quality product, they would design it that way.

the process now is, design as cheaply as possible and add details if there are concerns expressed by someone at a meeting. the design process is upside down.

gf said...

rogerparker-

black comedy is an acquired taste. there is no drawing board. these renderings are spit out of a database of existing designs. i guess it's an eny miny mo selection at that point in terms of which one gets presented.

Hugh said...

> Once again, people complain about things and arnt willing to put there own money where there mouth is.

No one should be allowed to voice an opinoin on the Pivot Point project unless they themselves are willing to cough up at least $10,000 for Citizens for Joe Moore. That's what Nic Kopley did! We all have a contitutionally-garaunteed equal right to purchase the Alderman's view. if you don't have the dough, you should just shut the fuck up.

Toto said...

Toto sez: From the Edgewater Blog.

With Love,

http://www.suntimes.com/output/business/cst-fin-house01.html

Your Broken Heart...
Will tell on you...

gf said...

lakefrontlibby-

there can be a process set up that is a balance between what currently exists and overly subjective architecture by committee.

currently, a developer will present a plan with the architects stamp who has not visited the site because the budget doesn't support his services. the plan that is presented is the cheapest possible route available to construct the building. if residents don't raise concerns, and many people are not
capable of articulating those concerns, that plan gets built as is.

with buildings being constructed like this, everywhere we look, our expectation level for decent, not even great architecture has been lowered to such a degree that there is no expectation of even a decent building being built.

if,in addition to the quality construction guidelines you suggest which i am in agreement with, was the expectation that the developer and his stamp need to present the absolutley best building possible within his budget or his project would not be approved, better plans would be presented. additionaly, less time would be spent dressing up the original bare bones plan.

this is not architecture by subjective committee, but better building by raising the expectation level and putting the burden of higher quality on the developer and his stamp where it should be, not residents. in a process such as this, developers have been known to add a little more just to ensure the approval of the project.

Charlie Didrickson said...

I like the way Lakefront Libby thinks.

gf said...

charlie-

i do too. LL, i'm not a big fan of the limestone castles either. but what is being built downtown and being built here for the most part are on opposite ends of the spectrum.

don't you think it's worth the effort to expect better than what is being produced now? i would imagine you would have some strong feelings about the current trend towards architectural mediocrity everywhere you look.

Anonymous said...

LL - I agree with your observations. I think design by committee is a disaster; heck, most collaborations by real architects are disasters. If you need an example of how wrong design by commitee can go, take at a look at most public memorials sculptures. Enough said.

Better construction standards that are actually enforced, and veto power over stuff that absolutely stinks would be a very good start however...I also think the existing zoning could be expanded somewhat to close "loopholes" that lead to things like the building with no front...

Knightridge Overlook said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
lafew said...

If you want the Prairie homes to remain, then not only invest in one, but maintain it. If you can't maintain it, then hope that you find someone that can before it dilapidates. I practice what I preach, but can afford the upkeep. Many can't and if you know someone who can, then encourage them to live in the community, don't chase them out with horror stories that are aberrations.

Promote, don't demote our community. Find what is good and do good. If everyone removed as much graffiti as I did, there wouldn't be much left. Also, remove it the moment it goes up.

Use goof off from Home Depot in Evanston on Main (until we get an HD in RP), don't goof off.

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