Breuer Tower Exhibition at Ingenuity

The "What would you do with the Breuer Tower?" architecture exhibit concluded with the closing of the Ingenuity Festival at Playhouse Square on July 21st. In remarks from curators David Ellison and Sally Levine:

"We asked a simple question. The answers, both individually and as a group, are clever, quirky, serious, complex and simple. But the overriding answer is that the Breuer Building has relevance.

Those who responded to the call for entries have offered fresh and engaging visions for the Tower. From as far as Australia, Dubai and Italy, architects and designers have presented thought-provoking, sustainable and socially relevant themes.This exhibition responds to the bold proposition by the political establishment to raze the Cleveland Trust Co. (Ameritrust) Tower, a 36-year-old, 29-story building designed by the significant Modernist architect, Marcel Breuer."

To view the entries, click here and here. Architecture critic Steven Litt and GreenCityBlueLake respond to the exhibition.

Upon examining the site, one can't help but think that as appropriate a question as "What would you do with the Breuer Tower?" is "What would you do with the balance of the County property should the Tower and Rotunda remain?" Consider that avoiding the Tower, Rotunda, and the building at 1010 Euclid Avenue there remains a large enough footprint on County-owned land to build another building the size of Key Tower (63 stories).

While the County continues to consider the financing and construction of a new Medical Mart and Convention Center, the Administration Center project at the former Cleveland Trust site will be delayed - in the meantime, expect conversation on the controversial proposed demolition of the Breuer Tower to continue.