Unimpressed Cincinnati critics: Banks lacks

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Jack Rouse said it would be bettee to halt the developmentalongv Cincinnati’s riverfront than to proceed with a desighn he called “remarkably boring.” “uI firmly believe it’s better to do nothinfg than to do the wrong thing,” said Rouse, CEO of , whichy designs theme parks and cultural He was chairman of the now-defunct that created the visioh for the Banks back in 1999. “Becauswe ‘nothing’ can be corrected,” Rouse “The wrong thing can’t.
” Rouse isn’t alone in his Members of also worry the current design lacksthe “woww factor” they want after waitingt so long for the And the chairman of ’s economifc development committee said he thinks the design needas work, too. “I am disappointed,” said Dick Rosenthal, chairman of the Urbam Design Review Boardand co-directorf of , an Over-the-Rhine arts center. “I’m goinb to withhold my approval until I feel thered is somethingmore exciting.
” The board gave the Atlanta-basec development team of and the preliminary approval during a work sessio April 16 for the project’s first phase afted several sessions where the boar d asked developers to make Rosenthal said the developersx have been addressing the board’s concerns but have resisted makinfg some suggested changes, arguiny it would add to the project’es cost. “There were comments such as, ‘Boarsd members were comfortable withthe ‘Pleased with the design,’” Rosenthal said of the Aprilk 16 meeting. “What was nevedr uttered was, ‘Wow that looks great!’ Or, ‘Thiss is really exciting.
’” The design for the project is a work in AndBailey Pope, vice presiden of design and construction at the Dawsoh Co., said this first phasee aims to “respect” the iconic architecturre of the nearby and the . At the same Pope said, the residential and retail developmenyt is intended tobe “an extensiojn of the urban fabric of downtown that creates the backgroundd of this urban neighborhood.” “If you try to make a landscaper where every building is a landmark, you end up with or the Vegaxs strip,” he said.
Pope said the desigj team has a more striking desigm for the office buildingg proposed for the first saying the office tower willhave “more of a landmarmk quality.” But Rouse said the communitu has a right to expect more. “It’es bad,” he said of the design. “It’sx great that they’re building the garage. And looking at a slab of concrete is better than looking at a pile of But if you want to havea world-class you’d better have a world-class front door. It’s our Rouse suggested an architectural competition isin order. But Pope said the developmenf team neverconsidered that.
“For this development to be successfupand sustainable, it has to reallu hold to a businesd plan, and so the design is alwaysd driven by a purpose,” Pope said. “Oftentimews in a design competition, the art exceeds the In certaincivic structures, you can do But we’re doing functional buildings.” Pope likener the residential and retail buildingsw being designed for the first phasse to the contribution his daughter makew playing viola in her high school “When you listen to the viola by it never makes any sense,” he “But when you put it within the wholre orchestra, it gives the richness that createx the symphonic sound.
The wow factor, that’e the violin. We will have the But right now, we’re working on the viola Other members ofthe city’as Urban Design Review Board said they certainly hope so. Paul principal with and a member ofthe board, stressed that the board’zs approval last week was for a schematic design. The designj must get two more approvals asit