Has anybody seen this?

[chris holman]

First of all the tower is a joke. Second, the designer is building a 61 stories tower at ONLY 703 Ft high.

Sig Tower is 55 stories at 800+ Ft . That's like a 100Ft+ difference in the two and Louisville tower has more stories.

It's like the designer was playing a game of tetris and got some ideas on a new tower. "OH YEAH"

Sorry but bad design.

[soulbrotha]

I figured out why I don't like it. The bottom legs are very bulky, the top towers are very skinny, and there's a random box on top of the island. Plus, some of the legs and towers stick out over (or under) the island, which makes it look like they had some serious mathematical errors.

buwhahaha. They have designed buildings from New york to China, they know what they are doing. This will be the 1st skyscraper with a 22-story diagonal glass elevator that takes you from buildings located about the corner of Sixth and Main, up into the island in the sky and the museum level. Its one of a kind. Its not just a duplication of other skyscrapers. Thats why they hired OMA.

[urbanbna]

Thats all that can be said. horrible. maybe with time (years) the design will change and become acceptable.

[soulbrotha]

i can't wait untill this gets built. 61 story tower + kentucky = wow

[it's just dave]

Well, guest night in the MidTenn forum sure got interesting.

[linclink]

SoulBrotha,

I think its a great building. If I could change one thing about it, though, between now and construction phase, I'd make it a little less boxy. I think that would give it a fresher, more 2000's look. The boxyness (is that even a word?) does date it a bit. However having said that, I think its still impressive. I love how it looked hovering over those older buildings (main street I believe?) I'm glad Louisville didn't try to be modest in its design, but went for broke. And even if not everyone loves it, I think its better to be a little over the top, but to have exibited some umf, than it is to have a safe, timid building. I just wonder where they are going to put a restaurant and cafe at ground level. It would be nice to see what they are planning for that lower plaza area.

Also, that other tower that never got built was beautiful!! I love how the side mimics a sail... reminded me ever so slightly of the sydney opera house. Is their any chance they could build that in the future on a different lot?

Well, anyways, congrats!

[Nashnoize]

I, for one, have decided that I really think the design has a lot of artistic value. I love the angles and the way they blend with the streets. You can tell that a lot of thought and planning was put into the design. Yes, you neysayers, I did just say that. Congratulations to Louisville for standing behind a bold building that will no doubt transform the skyline for the better. Soulbrotha, don't give up the fight. The people here will eventually learn to like it and wish it was built in Nashville.

[barakat]

I wish they would tear down the Galt House Hotel and build it there. That place scares me.

[tombarnes]

However well planned the building may be, it is graceless and klunky. Sorry, but I just don't see this going forward as projected. The design is an arrogant affront to the cityscape around it. Surely they can produce something better? I find it hard to believe that the architects involved would not expect an outcry. To then hold their heads up and declare that those who don't like it are simply not progressive and forward-thinking is the height of arrogance. If the design is denounced, the architects might choose to listen instead of defending their design to the death. One would hope that a skyscraper could be a "proud and soaring thing." This one is certainly proud, but it squats on the skyline in a most unattractive manner. For once, it would be good to see the citizenry of Louisville send the architects back to their drafting boards and demand something better.

Losing the Galt House would be a good thing too.

[LA_TN]

My first instinct when looking at the Courier-Journal article was yuck - bad pic. But after watching the video and seeing some better pics, I think it is bold and daring. This fits with Louisville very well. I agree about the street level concerns and I'm not 100% sold on the diagonal elevator. Wind should not be a problem; actually the design will help that aspect. This is just down the street from KCFA, science center, and the bat. Location works good with exit off interstate there.

One note: Sig tower will be 700 ft to top of 55 floors with some floors being 'oversized' (like ground floor etc.) so it is in line with the Museum Plaza height of 703 - almost exactly.

I don't think that particular design would fit into Nashville (it would clash), but I'd like to see Nashville step out on a limb. We are still conservative with towers when we should be leading the way...

Good job to the 'Ville!

[Justiceham]

This building has a unique, bold design, especially the angles and island, but the boxyness is rather plain and outdated. I wouldn't want this thing in Nashville, ever. However, it would be perfect in Little Rock, but will ruin Loiuville's graceful skyline.

[fieldmarshaldj]

My Lord in heaven, that thing is HORRIBLE. Is this some sort of early April Fool's joke on the good people of Louisville ? I've seen buildings like that in my nightmares.

[ppassafi]

well it has been well planned, and kept secret for several months now. You have to understand that there was supposed to have been another tower built in that same spot about 7 years ago, but it didn't go through. Louisville will not make the same mistakes twice, TRUST ME.

There will be a free public showing of the models and other renderings in downtown louisville over the next few months.

This skyscraper was announced at the state capital by the Govenor and the Mayor. It will not use any state money, and it will be paid for privatly. The design is unique, but at the same time so is the Humana building, and the aegon tower. But its time for those two towers to move over and allow something even more unique. From the moment this structure is built, it will be the new face of Louisville. And it will be one of the tallest in the south, which I still can't beleive, and am very happy about.

The renderings are one thing, seeing it in person will be totally different. So dog the pictures all you want, but, hopefully, after it is finished in three years, you will come see it for yourself. I can't lie, i love the design, and can't for the life of me understand why everyone out of the city thinks its ugly.

Do I sense jealousy here?. I have watched this unfold on SSC, SSP, and now here. The most jealous and appalled forumers clearly are from Indy and Nashville and other similar, regional cities. Most will probably never admit that, but someone even said somhing on SSP: "You know I hate the design, but I have to admit I am a little jealous."

Everyone on here is jealous that their beloved TN city isnt getting the same 61 story tower. Dislike it if you please...but dont hate on Louisville. Read all about it first before you decide if it is anti-urban. Many of you are making blanket statements but have never walked the Museum District of West Main. They are tying it in with several museums via a green walkway, etc. And this is only 2 blocks further west and one block north of the Humana Building! If you dont like it, say so. But no need to hate guys!

IMO those renderings are horrible. First they show the wrong skyline angle. Second, it doesnt show how well this is going to blend in with the largest collection of cast iron front buildings outside NYC on Louisville's west main st. The public plaza and entrance will be right on Main st.

[fieldmarshaldj]

It looks like something put together by a disturbed child. It would not be an ornament to the skyline of Louisville. In a word, hideous.

A little while ago, I was watching the infamous film, "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade", I think I spotted the architect as one of the inmates.

[fieldmarshaldj]

It may not be for everyone, but it certainly is much more pleasing than the horrific buildings of the 60's and 70's found in so many US downtowns.

But this thing IS a throwback to those structures. It is nothing but Nouveau-Internationalist style on crack, it just screams "1970 !" I watched the video, which is well done, but my jaw was dropped the whole time, and not from a positive perspective. Internationalist style is what we've spending the past 25+ years trying to get away from, as those monsters clutter up so many of our cities' skylines. Even the plaza looks like a soulless "revisioning" of the horrid Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza in Chicago, with those added oil-rigesque "waterslides." Louisville has a very nice skyline, viewed from the Indiana side of the Ohio, but that thing looks like it was dropped out of a Fritz Langian/Kafkaesque nightmare.

[satalac]

Do I sense jealousy here?. I have watched this unfold on SSC, SSP, and now here. The most jealous and appalled forumers clearly are from Indy and Nashville and other similar, regional cities. Most will probably never admit that, but someone even said somhing on SSP: "You know I hate the design, but I have to admit I am a little jealous."

Everyone on here is jealous that their beloved TN city isnt getting the same 61 story tower. Dislike it if you please...but dont hate on Louisville. Read all about it first before you decide if it is anti-urban. Many of you are making blanket statements but have never walked the Museum District of West Main. They are tying it in with several museums via a green walkway, etc. And this is only 2 blocks further west and one block north of the Humana Building! If you dont like it, say so. But no need to hate guys!

IMO those renderings are horrible. First they show the wrong skyline angle. Second, it doesnt show how well this is going to blend in with the largest collection of cast iron front buildings outside NYC on Louisville's west main st. The public plaza and entrance will be right on Main st.

trust me, we're not jealous of louisville for this one. i know i feel bad for them. they deserve to get a building that looks a lot better than this. our disgust is for the tower, not the city. i hope they build something much better looking than this for louisville's sake.

[ppassafi]

trust me, we're not jealous of louisville for this one. i know i feel bad for them. they deserve to get a building that looks a lot better than this. our disgust is for the tower, not the city. i hope they build something much better looking than this for louisville's sake.

Oh come on, you wouldnt take this in Nashville? I dont believe it. What skyscraper enthusiast wouldnt want a mixed use 61 floor tower in their city?

[smeagolsfree]

Only thing I will say is "transformers, robots in disguise"

Very odd looking structure, just think we could have had the monstrosity of a marina proposed for the thermal plant site. I think the ballpark is much better, besides I would bet there are better things coming for Nashville.

[it's just dave]

Well, you're right, our "tall" is on the way. But I believe we're all just as happy as it is to have 300+ stories of new construction spread out a bit in the immediate downtown area. It'll make for great new street scenes. And isn't that really the point?

I'm sure things will fill out around it and it won't be so monolithic. And maybe not. Looks like a lot of eggs for one basket.

[satalac]

Oh come on, you wouldnt take this in Nashville? I dont believe it. What skyscraper enthusiast wouldnt want a mixed use 61 floor tower in their city?

nope. while i'd love a 61 floor mixed use tower, it has to look like it wasn't designed buy a kindergartener with a.d.d. i just believe that louisville deserves something a lot better looking.

[ATLBrain]

Hey, Ppassifi, are you Gych from the SSC forum?

Regarding the reaction from the Nashvillians here, I can attest that a 60+ tower was proposed for property along the Cumberland last year. It was not well received by the folks here. It was way over the top (OK, it was ugly). Judging from their reaction then, I do think their comments on the Museum Plaza is sincere. This group knows their stuff. Just go look at the thread on Encore.

[soulbrotha]

Louisville is ready for this skyscraper. i would say 90% of the response fro mthe city has been positive. Even the fire department has come out and said they can handle the responsiblity of protecting a 61 story building.

the architect said, and i agree with him "If we didn't have any controversy and we didn't have any debate, I think we would be very nervous that it wasn't something exceptional.

"

Though gasp-inducing in scope, the 61-story Museum Plaza slated for Louisville's waterfront should have little trouble filling its 1.2 million square feet of space, say city officials and business leaders who follow the downtown economy.

No component in the ensemble of offices, condos, lofts, stores, a museum and a hotel is large enough to overwhelm its market, they said. And the project officially unveiled yesterday has emerged just as prime downtown office space is nearing capacity.

"The ability to do mixed-use (projects) hedges a lot of your bets," said Phil Scherer, president of Commercial Kentucky, a commercial real-estate firm. "I don't think anybody would go out there and build a huge hotel today, nor would they build a huge office building, nor a huge condominium development."

Led by developers Steve Wilson, Laura Lee Brown, Steve Poe and Craig Greenberg, Museum Plaza will be centered on Seventh Street between West Main Street and River Road, with components stretching along the Ohio River between the Muhammad Ali Center and Ninth Street.

The radical design, shown yesterday to an invitation-only crowd at Actors Theatre of Louisville, was done by Joshua Prince-Ramus of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture's New York operation.

"If we didn't have any controversy and we didn't have any debate, I think we would be very nervous that it wasn't something exceptional," Ramus said of the design.

With construction scheduled to begin next year and be completed in 2010, the $380 million Museum Plaza would be Kentucky's tallest building and one of the tallest in the Midwest at 703 feet.

The project will include 300,000 square feet of office space -- less than half the capacity of downtown's 634,000- square-foot Aegon Center.

The 300-room hotel would add to the 3,900 rooms downtown. It would open about the same time as a hotel with the proposed riverfront arena -- if that is approved -- enhancing the city's ability to attract larger business events, city officials said.

The 150 lofts and 85 luxury condos planned for Museum Plaza fall "within our target in terms of residential development," said Barry Alberts, executive director of the Downtown Development Corp., a public-private agency that oversees redevelopment. Alberts said downtown can absorb 400 to 450 new residential units a year.

"We are encouraging as many projects as possible to have a mix of uses, particularly residential on the upper floors -- and this has a lot of upper floors," Alberts said.

A 50,000-square-foot museum and a 1,100-car parking garage also are in the plans.

"We are not going to flood the marketplace," said Poe, a co-developer whose previous projects include the 615-room Louisville Marriott Downtown and 140-suite Residence Inn. Scherer said downtown has only a 10 percent vacancy rate in the "Class A" category of office space -- offering the most desirable locations and amenities. More importantly, he said, there are few, if any, large pockets of contiguous Class A space remaining.

Thus Museum Plaza should be in a strong position to land a high-profile corporate tenant because, Scherer said, the project will not have any immediate competition.

"I don't really expect there is going to be a lot of discussion about yet another office building," he said, "because you don't want to push that vacancy too far out ahead of the demand."

Bruce Traughber, Louisville metro government's community-development chief, said Museum Plaza will be delivering the new office space "right on time, if not late," to meet rising demand.

Nor does he see any issue with the project's other components.

"Our goal all along has been to seed first the housing market and then to hope that the private market takes over," Traughber said of Museum Plaza's residential units.

Though two relatively large hotels may be coming in at about the same time if the arena project is approved, "they're a pretty good distance apart, anchoring both ends of Main Street," Traughber said. "It's not unreasonable to think there's enough capacity for those."

Jim Wood, president and chief executive of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau, said Museum Plaza's hotel rooms will not only fill up, but the project should fuel demand for even more capacity.

"It will be a catalyst for other projects, for other people moving here and for companies relocating to Louisville," Wood said. "The 300-room hotel will certainly be an upscale hotel

[ATLBrain]

Technically, won't it have 3 towers of 50 or more stories?

While I've panned the style, I think it's good for Louisville. I've always thought that the city could use some height along the wide river. It's also nice to see this much money being put into a Midwest downtown. I still can't get over that waterslide.

[Southernyank]

I still dont know. Computer images are one thing, but I have to see what this thing looks like upon completion, in the daylight. The video was nice, and the way the top part of the towers were visible amongst the rest of the skyline at night was beautiful, but when you get past the top and to the middle/bottom, i just don't like it.

After all, being a "cutting edge" pioneer artistic genius with no shackles to tradition or the human scale is starting to require hallucinagenic, bizarre, and "challenging" gobblety-gook in order to compell other people to go where no man has gone before.

Gobblety-gook.

[it's just dave]

Newtowner, when I go to write my memoirs, will you be my ghostwriter? You're such the great wordsmith.