Steal a building for Charlotte...she needs more.

[atlrvr]

Charlotte has a lot of, umm, dull architecture. It could really use some innovative stuff. Since innovation seems to be lacking, perhaps it can steal some architecture from around the world. Here's a condo tower I'd like to steal.

The Red Apple, Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

What would everyone else like to steal? Midrises are more than welcome.

[Charlotteman]

Charlotte has a lot of, umm, dull architecture....

[HopHead]

Well I guess it's a matter of taste. I certainly don't think Heart Tower is dull, nor Interstate Tower, nor BofA Corp Headquarters.

And in the future Encore, the Vue and 210 Trade should add more pizazz.

But if I could steal a building to place in Charlotte, it would be Atlanta's 191 Peachtree--one of my favorite highrises in the States. And at the location of the Packard building, it would be gorgeous (just my humble opinion of course.)

[New Name]

I've always been enamored by Marina City in Chicago. They're not spectacular, but they're unique anywhere they could be placed.

[tozmervo]

Also, there will be dire consequences for anyone that suggests Museum Plaza.

[tozmervo]

But, if no one here is into awesome Russian Constructivist architecture, we'll go for a Renzo Piano out of Tokyo -

[rockhilljames]

Lord yes.

(whoops! had to go out and grab another image....)

[swampfox43]

I'd love to see some modern architecture like the new public library in Seattle.

http://marcelo.sampasite.com/images/SeattlePublicLibrary.jpg

[NcSc74]

Being a lover of art deco I would add the Woolworth building in NY. Charlotte has a lot of glass so she needs some soul.

woolworth building

[krazeeboi]

Here's one I wouldn't mind seeing built in Charlotte: Aqua, the condo tower going up in Chicago:

[RealMadrid]

Torre de cristal ~ Madrid

Or any of the CTBA towers going up in Madrid.

Yes, I love glass boxes. Boring, I know

[davidals]

Frank Lloyd Wright designed a handful of neighborhoods in the 1940s - the goal was a combination of innovative design (in this case, solar or passive solar, open designs that would complement the natural environment and topography) and affordability. The fuzzy pic below is one of the homes in the Wright-designed Parkwyn Village neighborhood in Kalamazoo - a cooperative community envisioned by a group of young scientists employed in Kalamazoo who prevailed upon Wright to design affordable houses they could build themselves. The neighborhood is 40 lots, all with original Wright designs. Charlotte would have been a great place for some of Lloyd's designs - both the climate and topography of Mecklenburg (and environs) would have made for something striking, in the balance between functionality, affordability, and cutting-edge design.

Lloyd's own home, in Illinois.

Tadao Ando's Times Gallery in Kyoto:

Ando also designed the Modern Art museum in Fort Worth:

I really love modernism at its' best...

[cltheel.sdl]

Burj Dubai anyone?

[krazeeboi]

^Ummmm, no.

[RealMadrid]

I've always been enamored by Marina City in Chicago. They're not spectacular, but they're unique anywhere they could be placed.

[AuLukey]

I'm actually extremely happy Burj Dubai isn't being built here. That just screams "BLOW ME UP!" If I were to steal a building and plop it down, it would be the World Tower in Sydney and it would go at the Renaissance property along N Tryon.

thanks to the nature of the green glass in the top floors in relation to the blinds inside, the tower's appearance changes on a daily basis.

One PPG Place in Pittsburgh would look pretty cool nestled in near the new Wachovia building as well. It is strange enough to give Charlotte a little diversity among its structures.

[atlrvr]

krazeeboi....thanks for including Aqua...that was my second choice....what an amazing way to use something utilitarian (balconies), and turn it into something artistic.

[palmetto75]

I can not believe I thought those buildings were a big parking garage for all these years...... I always wondered who would go to the 50th floor to find a parking place .

[monsoon]

We need something in Charlotte other than another vanity skyscraper and dead sports complexes.

How about something that would actually attract and engage the general public.

Such As......

[Appetite for Construction]

Cool topic, this is a tough one to pick for me. Some of my favorite buildings are too tall and would be out of scale with the rest of the skyline. The first building to pop to mind was the Chrysler Building, probably my all-time favorite. Sadly, in addition to the height, the architecture is almost too classic for Charlotte.

A NYC building I would like to see something like here is the Lipstick Building:

I also love the Milwaukee Art Museum building posted above; too bad we don't have a lakefront to put it next to.

[RealMadrid]

I wonder how the WTCs could have looked in Charlotte.

[rockhilljames]

Huge.

[New Name]

Huge.

[atlrvr]

Ok.....to revive this thread....I would love to add the new Apple store that just opened in Boston's Back Bay.

Some pictures (with credit).

Statler at Archboston.com

ifoAppleStore.com

kz1000ps at Archboston.com

[lewy2000]

Charlotte needs a landmark, something Space Needle-esque.