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mcheiss

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According to the build blog for the Ozark Hall project, they are using the same limestone.

According to the gallery, they are already putting the limestone window trims in place. I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised by this building when it is done.

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The Ozark Hall addition has different dimensions and a different facade than the original buiding. If the rendering is to be believed it will also be a brownish tint as opposed the orignal limestone gray. By itself it would be very nice but sticking it on the original building is as tacky as when people enclose a garage on their home and leave the concrete driveway running up to it. When I read that they wanted to complete some of the buildings as planned in the 1927 Master Plan I was excited but if this the way they plan on doing it I hope don't move forward on any other of the core buildings.

Mith, thanks for the edit. I'm not sure why it is being so balky- it even takes back to the main Forums page at times. I may need to tinker with my security settings. What browser do you use? I'm using IE 9.

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The Ozark Hall addition has different dimensions and a different facade than the original buiding. If the rendering is to be believed it will also be a brownish tint as opposed the orignal limestone gray. By itself it would be very nice but sticking it on the original building is as tacky as when people enclose a garage on their home and leave the concrete driveway running up to it. When I read that they wanted to complete some of the buildings as planned in the 1927 Master Plan I was excited but if this the way they plan on doing it I hope don't move forward on any other of the core buildings.

Guess I'll just have to see the end results. I do like that they're going to use limestone and not just go with a faux limestone made of concrete instead. But I suppose there's always a chance the actual stone might not exactly match up. With the big time difference I'm guessing the stone will come from a different quarry. As far as the architectural details, I've always thought the details on the east facade differed than those on the west facade. Making it almost seem like a different building. I wonder if the details on the new wing might help tie it in more to the details on the eastern facade. Or maybe it's just all in my head. :lol:

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The limestone on Ozark will match as close as is physically possible, it isn't a different shade. The dimensions are the same footprint with a couple small jut outs like the other gothic buildings have. It is slightly more ornate than the other wing of the building (which is pretty bland), but looks a lot like the parts of the building facing Old Main. This project is actually as close to completing the original 1927 plan for Ozark as is likely to ever happen, and they're paying a lot of attention to making it blend with the original building.

My feelings on the Vol Walker addition have already been made and haven't changed. Blackwell should have chosen a different location or expressed his talents on the interior.

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We'll have to see the final product but standing at the site comparing the large rendering displayed there to the original building there is a large difference. Adding details that weren't on the original wasn't necessary and IMO detract from the appearance of both. Hopefully it wil match more closely in the end.

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The addition will be slightly taller than the other wing. I don't feel like the sides have to be true mirror-images of each other in order to work. Old Main is asymmetrical height-wise, and its beautiful. The new Pi Phi gate has some of the same limestone that will be used in the Ozark Hall addition.

I have a good feeling about Ozark Hall. My only complaint really is those giant HVAC enclosures that they have had to put on top. Those seem to detract from the character of the building in a big way. I don't know what the solution for those things is, but I wish there was one.

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I am more worried about the big new classroom building that is scheduled for Duncan & Dickson. It seems like for every step forward the campus makes towards more traditional, coherent architecture, they take two steps back. Ozark Hall and Founders Hall are good stuff. The new gate is great.

I just hope they don't reveal some cheap-looking monstrosity for that area. Miller Boskus Lack designs cheap-looking architecture, IMO. I don't really care for any of their buildings. Its all the same curtain-wall of storefront glass, boxes and angles. Just crap, in general.

Its a shame they already blocked much of the view of the mountains to the south with the parking garage. It really changes the feel of the campus to not be able to see the hills in that area.

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I am more worried about the big new classroom building that is scheduled for Duncan & Dickson. It seems like for every step forward the campus makes towards more traditional, coherent architecture, they take two steps back. Ozark Hall and Founders Hall are good stuff. The new gate is great.

I like the gate itself even if it's a bit purposeless. I don't like, at all, the very rough surface directly in front on Maple. Anyone know if that's the way it's supposed to be? I have a hard time believing something so rough and jarring was supposed to really be constructed like that. And that's if you're in a car...it's HORRIBLE if you're on a bicycle.

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The rough surface is intentional. Those are a kind of cobblestone pavers. They are there in place of striping, to keep people from driving on that section. I think they could improve people's understanding of the purpose if they would at least outline the cobblestoned section with a stripe. It was done that way for aesthetics. The thinking was that painting the standard diagonal stripes would detract from the "old, historic" look of the gate.

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I've tried to like it, but I've decided that the Marlon Blackwell stuff truly is hideous.  Someone explain to me what separates his typical buildings from any low-slung commercial building from the 1970s.

 

Look at any of the non-descript, cheap, curtain-wall flat roof commercial structures that are gradually being torn down along College Avenue.  His buildings are just these, only new, and typically larger.

 

Its like the architectural equivalent of an episode of punkd.  And his structures are all the same tired re-run and I keep waiting for someone to point out that we've all been duped into admiring them. 

 

The real secret to his work is that he is apparently incapable of drawing anything other than a straight line.

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I think just in general.  His buildings are just boxes clad generally in cheap or cheap-looking materials.  The Vol Walker addition has some limestone, but its going to be faced with frosted glass.  That just says cheap storefront.  It speaks to his arrogance that he insists on using the university's millions to plop that building down where it is going.  Such a waste.

 

The only time of day his buildings look somewhat interesting to me is at night. 

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I walked around campus a bit today and I can report that the stone is going up on the south side of the Ozark Hall addition, and that it is indistinguishable from the original stone.  Its amazing how closely it matches in color and cut.  I think some on here will be pleasantly surprised by how well the addition fits.

 

It looked like they were adding a roof to another of the low slung engineering buildings down on Dickson, which will make the view from the Greek Theater a little nicer.

 

Founders Hall is huge. 



I think just in general.  His buildings are just boxes clad generally in cheap or cheap-looking materials.  The Vol Walker addition has some limestone, but its going to be faced with frosted glass.  That just says cheap storefront.  It speaks to his arrogance that he insists on using the university's millions to plop that building down where it is going.  Such a waste.

 

The only time of day his buildings look somewhat interesting to me is at night. 

I'll expound on this a little since I've considered it more.

 

I feel like Blackwell's work relies on contrasting with other beautiful architecture or settings too much.  Standing alone, his buildings are unremarkable, at least from the outside.

 

Sure, they create a "dialogue".  But if you threw a dead cat into a wedding reception, people would talk about that for years. 

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Here are some photo update for projects around campus. The first is Founders Hall. This building is remarkable for the way they fit it into the space available at that site. It is a very efficent use of that lot. The second is of the Ozark hall addition which is turning much better than the rendering depicted. The only major deviation from the existing building is the use of bay windows which while noticable is not a terrible distraction. There is a small area where they have applied the new rock facade and it does indeed match the existing facade and does not have the brownish tint that the rendering has. The third is the Vol Walker addition. Until the glass and limestone cladding are installed it is hard to tell what impact this building will have in that area.

DSC_0201.jpgDSC_0199.jpgDSC_0198.jpg

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Here are some photo update for projects around campus. The first is Founders Hall. This building is remarkable for the way they fit it into the space available at that site. It is a very efficent use of that lot. The second is of the Ozark hall addition which is turning much better than the rendering depicted. The only major deviation from the existing building is the use of bay windows which while noticable is not a terrible distraction. There is a small area where they have applied the new rock facade and it does indeed match the existing facade and does not have the brownish tint that the rendering has. The third is the Vol Walker addition. Until the glass and limestone cladding are installed it is hard to tell what impact this building will have in that area.

DSC_0201.jpgDSC_0199.jpgDSC_0198.jpg

Cool, thanks for the pics.  :thumbsup:

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You of A wants an executive hotel and conference center between the business school and the Harmon deck. 125 to 150 rooms is the goal. WMR mentioned this elsewhere over a week ago but it hit the newspaper this morning.

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You of A wants an executive hotel and conference center between the business school and the Harmon deck. 125 to 150 rooms is the goal. WMR mentioned this elsewhere over a week ago but it hit the newspaper this morning.

This a positive for the UA but it would seem to lessen the chances of a 4 star hotel being built on the Ren Tower site downtown. According to the article it would be the second largest hotel in the city. This hotel may be targeted at a specific type of customer but I imagine anyone will be able to rent a room.

 

On a another subject- I stopped by the Highway Dept. meeting about the Razorback Road improvement. It looks like a basic widening project without major changes to what is there now. The presentation also included information on the next phase going on up Razorback and going east on Maple. I was disappointed that a more imaginative approach isn't being taken on the section next to the stadium. I had hoped that a project that widened the road and somehow created space to finish out the west side façade of the stadium to match the east side would be considered. Creating a tunnel with a plaza above it on the west side of the stadium with that improved façade seems a worthy goal.

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