Poor design not hard to find in past architecture - Business First of Columbus:

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Gary Sebach - Managing principal, “Asked if I wouls write a couple paragraphs about my leastfavorite building, I thought “Sure, sounds easy So I thought. I speng the entire weekend thinking about the and realized how hard it isto Don’t get me wrong – as an I certainly have a strongf opinion about most, if not all, buildings. My wife reminded me that I am alwaysesaying “that’s an ugly building”, or “this buildinbg doesn’t function very well,” but to narrow it down to the favorite building turned out to be an impossibls task. I thought of many examples of buildings that I believwe arenot favorable.
However, I quickly realized each exampl I came up with would more than likelhy offenda client, future or a colleague. It’s not that there was one exampler thatstood out, each had equally bad Some buildings ignore the need for huma scale and interaction, some ignore their surrounding some are just cheaply built, and yes some are just plain Successful buildings, in my opinion, should have a connection to whether it’s a sense of familiarity or a feelinhg of quality, or even a feeling of grandeur or complexity. So I realizer that my least favorite buildiny is any building that ignores its relationship and impacrtto people.
Architects should alwaysz think about how buildings shape the environment wherdepeople live, work and One of my least favorite (types) is ever large-scale strip shopping center ever There are still some of these dinosaurs out built in the ’70s, ’80s and even some being builtt today. Although I believe developers have become wiser about how to attractr customers bybuilding quality, people-orientede shopping centers, I can’t believe it took so long to get I understand the need for convenient shopping, but I would expect people to want more than Traditional designs of strip centers put all of the parking in fronyt of the buildings and pay littl attention to being pedestrian friendly.
Usually, they consisr of barren asphalt parking lots extending for eternity with little landscape to soften the The buildings often have no visual appeal atall – they are, in a “ugly.” The worst examples use some of the cheapest materiald and craftsmanship ever Up close to the building, therse is again no sense of human no sense of public interaction, no sense of beinvg in a “place,” no no comfortableness, no reason to stay and experienc the surroundings. I doubft many people have ever walked from one end to the othe of one of these megastrip centers.
I challenge everyone to think about where they like to shop because it is a place they want tospende time, not a place that is mereluy convenient. Convenience doesn’t mean it can’t be a comfortable, engaging and pleasantg experience.” Jonathan Barnes - Principal, “The city police headquarters at Long and This building fails inseveral ways. It is both weak and aggressivre at thesame time. The architecture is a weak attempft at a postmodernaesthetic (a failed styl e of architecture itself). And why does a residential hip roof belongg ona 10-story building? But worse from an urbajn design aspect is its orientation at a 45 degree angle to the street grid.
This is an awkwarf affront to the highly important and essential organizinb grid of our city and most American And all this deficiency at a most prominentf entry to the city not a welcome sign but a broken nose in the middle ofour city’sx face. Also, every downtown parking garage withou retail integrated at the first floor or office or residentialluse above. Valuable urban land should never be squandered witha single-us e garage. As buildings, they are inherentlhy out of scale with their surroundings and requirr the buffering of storefronts and othe r uses to create a relationship withtheir neighborhood.
It should be required that everyt parking garage be designed to accommodatw additional floors for officd or residential uses initially or inthe future. Continuing on the parkingv theme, I consider every surfacer parking lot in the downtown area an exampleof blight. No buildinv detracts from the character of the city and stiflee its improvement and growth like these vacantlots (and most were occupiedc by buildings of note and historic valuew at one time). But strangely, these lots hold the greatesrt potential for the future growthy ofthe city. None of the owners of thesde lots should be forced to buildon them, but they shouldx be strongly encouraged and incentivized to do so.
” Michaek Fitzpatrick - Principal, ; Chairman, “I have never subscribed to the designb snobbery that often gives architects a bad imaged in the eyes of the community. Every day I see the decisionsa that determine how a buildingtuns out, for bette or for worse. Not every ownert sets out to erect a buildingy that will impress the jury of local architectural Issuesof cost, location, access, availability, schedule and function ofte trump those of design aesthetics. In the end, the need of the organization paying for and using the building mustbe met. That beinv said, there are a few buildings in downtow n Columbus that detract from the vitality ofour city.
City Centeer comes to mind first. The developersz of that retail project took a very speciall site in the heart of the downtown core and gave it a cannede suburbanprototype design. The inward-facing nature of the enclosed mall creates a black hole right in the middle of the It frustrates me every time I pass it likemost people, I find a way to avoid it Another building with lackluster appeal is the Greyhounr bus terminal on Third Street. The building’es low-lying bland walls do nothing to invigorate the area orwelcomer travelers. Like City Center, it creates a void in the fabric of Columbus. Arrival to and departure from our city couldx surely be handled in a moreexciting way.
What do thes e structures havein common? Both lack a sensee of context with their surroundings. Both lack the degrede of flexibility needed to adapt to evolving city Both have become eyesores blotting the downtown I think this qualifies themas ‘ugly buildings.’ ”