Ann Arbor's newest building..

[wolverine]

A perspective of a crappy building that apparently has it's steel frame already completed. Wow, does bland architecture get built fast. This must be the sixties.

This is what the building would look like if you were laying on the ground. This one is for my drunk Wolverines

I don't know if it's the perspective that is distorting the above image, or the fact that the location of the "camera" is from where the center of a building is actually located, but man does this building look out of scale or what?

A closeup view of the corner reveals

A. A closeup was not needed because the building is very bland anyway.

B. The windows will likely match the cladding of the neighboring parking structure built in 1965

C. This building will have 12 foot ceilings???

It's fairly obvious now, that I hate the design of this building. It's a shame it falls outside the zone where there are strict building style codes, because this building would fail every one of them. U of M has been putting up some really cool buildings lately, it's a shame this couldn't be one of them.

I knew a building was going up on this corner, but I thought it was going to be a temporary fix to house the departments that were in the soon to be demolished Frieze Building. I didn't know a six story building would be going up on that lot, and it looks like it's going to be around for awhile.

Thoughts?

[WBG4]

Ugh

[Zissou]

It does look somewhat dated. I think different materials and a slightly different allignment for the windows could have helped out this building.

[wolverine]

Basically, if they were to stick with the concept, it should have looked more like this (just more compact and taller) The below image is of the nearly completed computer science building on North Campus (where contemporary architecture belongs)

This design (done by the same firm) has more variety, texture, and definitely is scaled better than the above building.

I'm just suprised that the regents approved the design because this is being built in an area where they have worked incredibly hard to make sure new buildings are respectful of the early 20th century buildings around them (most designed by Albert Kahn). With this kind of fuss, it's almost as if this building was never approved, and never planned out.