The Design Rag

The Future Flats

2008-06-29T17:21:00.007-04:00

Larry Flynt's Hustler Club:
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20080609/FREE/379608579/1004/newsletter01

Canal Basin Park:
http://www.gcbl.org/planning/canalway/canal-basin-park

Fritz Haeg Lecture at CIA - Monday, March 31st

2008-03-30T20:55:00.002-04:00

Fritz Haeg
Monday, March 31
7pm, Aitken Auditorium
Gund Building
CIA, 11141 East Boulevard

Lecture is free and open to the public

As a part of Cleveland Institute of Art's 2008 Kacalieff Lecture Series "Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow..." Fritz Haeg will be speaking at CIA tomorrow evening at 7pm. As CIA describes: "Like a contemporary Buckminster Fuller, Fritz Haeg is known as an architect, designer, educator, curator, artist ---- visionary. Although he is about to break ground on the Jones High Desert Residence in Joshua Tree, his current preferred architectural clients are animals. Haeg is introducing prototypical regional model homes as dwellings for a variety of animals that have been displaced through loss of natural habitat and other human interventions through his work known as "Animal Estates."

http://www.cia.edu/tomorrow/fritzhaeg.html

www.fritzhaeg.com

Settler's Landing II

2008-03-24T01:13:00.011-04:00

Settler's Landing and Heritage Park, Cleveland Flats:

birds' eye today

birds' eye tomorrow

just for kicks.

Pop-Up Storefront Cleveland?

2008-03-23T21:46:00.005-04:00

Between April 11th and May 17th, the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York will install their first "Pop-Up Storefront" in Los Angeles, exhibiting "CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed," featuring work by French photographer Frederic Chaubin.

Throughout the year, the Storefront will pop up in cities around the world to host exhibits for a limited time only. As described on their website, they "will avoid the conventional gallery format by temporarily taking over unoccupied spaces in unexpected neighborhoods, to exhibit and discuss pressing topics in art and architecture..."

In April, Pop-up Storefront will make an appearance at the Milan Furniture Fair in Milan, Italy, and in June at the London Festival of Architecture in London, England. Other locations are yet to be announced.

Why not Cleveland?

Of related interest, Storefront's mission statement has some relevence to what emerging Cleveland architects hope to establish in this town through the efforts of Launch Cleveland (website soon to come, in the meantime, visit http://www.clevelanddesigncity.com/):

"Founded in 1982, Storefront for Art and Architecture is a nonprofit organization committed to the advancement of innovative positions in architecture, art and design. Our program of exhibitions, artists talks, film screenings, conferences and publications is intended to generate dialogue and collaboration across geographic, ideological and disciplinary boundaries. As a public forum for emerging voices, Storefront explores vital issues in art and architecture with the intent of increasing awareness of and interest in contemporary design."

Mission Statement for the City of Cleveland

2008-03-16T16:52:00.005-04:00

In case the image doesn't load properly, the sign carrying the City of Cleveland seal reads: "THE CITY OF CLEVELAND MISSION STATEMENT: We are committed to improving the quality of life in the City of Cleveland by strengthening our neighborhoods, delivering superior services, embracing the diversity of our citizens, and making Cleveland a desirable, safe city in which to live, work, raise a family, shop, study, play, and grow old."

While I can't say I've noticed this Mission Statement posted in other locations around Cleveland (and I first noticed this one today after unknowingly walking past it daily for the last year), I find humor in the placement of this sign: at the entrance to a city-owned parking lot under the Veterans Memorial Bridge in the Flats - an inconspicuous location at one of the $1 lots in which there is no immediately adjacent housing, shopping, or industry. This location does, however, find itself a few steps away from the poorly maintained Heritage Park I (in which the Lorenzo Carter cabin can be found), where scrub foliage grows around the historic northern outlet of the Ohio-Erie Canal at the river's edge, fencing around the Carter cabin has fallen into disrepair, and a hole in the boardwalk is patched over with a large street sign.

While its location is a bit ironic, I am most interested in the statement's modest and obvious goals (though likely somewhat typical for civic mission statements). We should see this explicit statement placed on the City of Cleveland homepage, outside City Hall, at prominent cultural and entertainment locations, in its neighborhoods, and on City of Cleveland letterhead. While the future of this City may be stronger with the addition of casinos, convention centers, medical marts, and stadiums, there must be a constant reminder of the daily progress of improving the quality of everyday life in the City for Cleveland that has to occur for the City to be a desirable place for anyone to want to live, work, and play.

The City of Cleveland Mission Statement can be found under the Veteran's Memorial Bridge at the entrance to a City-owned parking lot in the Flats (Google Maps link).

Time to Revisit and Refine Plans for the Lakefront Before its Too Late

2008-03-08T20:06:00.010-05:00

At Friday's Cleveland Planning Commission meeting, city planners approved demolition permits for the remaining Flats East Bank buildings along Old River Road and also approved plans to move Cleveland's port from north and west of Browns' stadium to land east of Burke Lakefront Airport.

While both items were discreet presentations to the Planning Commission, they should be considered in some regards to be intimately related. Specifically, as plans for the Flats East Bank are refined and presented to the City of Cleveland, land being developed north of the freight railroad should be considered as an important precedent for the future development of the surrounding port property.

While my concern has been voiced at ClevelandDesignCity.com and as a response to Steve Litt's weblog post (and subsequently re-posted below), I found it interesting and important to compare Eaton's proposed site within a reconstructed RTA Waterfront loop to the existing configuration of the site as well as the current Lakefront Plan as prepared by the Cleveland Planning Commission.

It is time for the City's plans to be revisited at this portion of the lakefront so that one corporation's move doesn't negatively impact the viability and accessibility of future development and public amenities or set a precedent for similar narrowly conceived developments. The images below illustrate the significant (and sprawling) footprint that the Eaton campus has along the lakefront and its encroachment on existing plans.

existing

flats east bank plan

lakefront plan

lakefront plan and flats plan overlay

******

Bravo Mr. Litt for grabbing a few digital photos of the ongoing development of the Flats East Bank site plan at today’s Planning Commission meeting!

I share the same concern about the Eaton precedent. It appears that the preliminary site plan situates Eaton within an expanded RTA loop connected to the existing street grid with a couple of campus access roads to parking lots and what looks like a pedestrian bridge over the railway.
There is no suggestion of how the remaining lakefront north of the tracks should be developed other than Wasserman’s ‘vision’ of extending the downtown grid to the lake and the City’s lakefront plan which has seemingly dissolved in recent years (the current lakefront plan as published on the City Planning Commission website shows a compact RTA loop as “Mixed-Use Residential” adjacent to several blocks of orthagonal streetgrid framed by a riverwalk and picnic meadow).

There NEEDS to be a master plan, land use diagram, or form-based code that is developed in conjunction with Eaton’s move. Already, a large portion of the lakefront real estate at the river’s mouth is dedicated to Eaton’s campus after the expanded RTA loop with ZERO concern as to what this prime “public” lakefront will become after the port’s move. This development creates an even larger barrier between downtown, the flats development, and the lakefront. Its as though Chagrin Highlands has landed on our waterfront!

This is a complete betrayal to the people of Cleveland if Eaton’s move is not considered within larger plans for the future lakefront. Whether or not the lakefront north of the tracks is dedicated to contiguous parkland and recreation, a new residential neighborhood, waterfront destinations and entertainment, or even corporate campuses, the City of Cleveland needs to clarify a vision for the lakefront before companies carve up their pieces of the waterfront as Sherwin Williams and now Eaton have.

As Litt suggests, Wolstein is holding the plans close. However, as significant as the public investment is in making this project happen on a lakefront promised to the people of Cleveland, there needs to be a public dialogue on how Eaton fits into concrete plans for the future lakefront. More specifically, the land north of the tracks between the mouth of the river and Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Evil Flows Through Public Square

2008-03-08T19:12:00.005-05:00

While many of us viewed the Public Square disaster this week from local news video taken from helicopters above, distant photos of the site in the Plain Dealer, or from a bus window safely behind caution tape marking off Public Square, I had suspicions that something much more 'evil' was behind all of this.

Why the sudden collapse of a street after total reconstruction just last year? Why did Mayor Jackson suggest that offices close early on Friday? Why hasn't there been follow-up footage of the site? And why will it take several weeks to re-open the Square to traffic?

I took a digital camera with me to Ontario and Superior and was surprised by what I captured (see below)...

After doing intensive research on Wikipedia.com, it seems that this isn't the first time this has happened. In New York City in 1989, several ghost hunters found a river of 'mood slime' that fed on negative emotions and released spirits around the city. After some analysis, these ghost hunters found that a great deal of sustained negative energy in New York at the time must have generated a flow of slime that was akin to pure concentrated evil.

Messrs. Stantz, Zeddemore, Venkman, and Spengler have determined that the only way to combat this infestation of slimey spirits is by: 1. tracing the river's origins (in New York it led to a portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Art); 2. playing Jackie Wilson's "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher and Higher" really loud; 3. inspiring the people of the city to be overcome by joy and love...

Coming Soon, The New Cleveland Flats

2008-03-06T22:34:00.004-05:00

Final notes in Thursday's PD article about the proposal for Cleveland port's move add that, "the commission's meeting agenda also includes a review of requests to raze buildings north of the Main Avenue bridge on the Flats east bank..."

After Friday's Leap Night celebration, it looks like the remaining East Bank buildings will finally fall and the construction of streets and utilities will begin. The demolition request and master plan update will be a "Special Presentation" item at March 7th's Planning Commission meeting (9am in City Hall, Room 514).

(Image above shows Flats East Bank from the west prior to initial demolitions)

No choice?

2008-01-31T21:45:00.000-05:00

Another glorious piece by Mr. Kunstler commenting on the finer aspects of our wonderful culture (or lack there of). Here is a taste of what is in store for you:

What remains for now is a terrible grandiose inertia among people who really ought to know better: our culture leaders. The cutting edge has become a blunt instrument unsuited to fashioning the patterns of the future. Everything we do from now on will have to be finer in scale, quality, and character. Exercises in irony will no longer be appreciated because there will no longer be a premium paid for declaring ourselves to be ridiculous. The localism of the future will not be a matter of fashion. It will be in the food we eat and the air we breathe, and we’d better start paying attention.

Also, since we are on the subject of Mr. Kunstler, he has as his "Eyesore of the Month"a much loved local sign post. I think it was reported in the Free Times, but I'll be a bit late and post the link anyways. Plus, tomorrow is a new month! Enjoy.

L.S. Moore

Are you kidding me?

2008-01-16T12:38:00.002-05:00

Anyone who has had the pleasure of walking the future Euclid Corridor from Public Square towards Playhouse Square may have noticed the addition of a few pieces of signage within the past few days.

Talk about ridiculous. While I'm sure the battle to find appropriate places, and sizes, for signage along state routes is one that is hard to fight, why both trying to build a pedestrian and bike friendly, 230 million dollar, brand new transit corridor nicely when you are only going to litter it with signage sized for 65 mile an hour highway traffic (maybe they're going to raise the speed limit to 65 mph, in which case I guess I'm the jerk...).

The picture included with this post, taken this morning (01.16.08), shows the new highway signage located at the intersection of E.4th and Euclid. Is there some off-ramp schedule to plow through the gateway district right onto E.4th? Why in the world would you need to locate a highway sign at the intersection of 4th and Euclid. Especially considering you are a mere few hundred feet from Ontario where there should be directional highway signage. Even more confusing is the fact that as you head east from Ontario to E.9th, there is not one street you would want to take as a shortcut to get to the highway.

The signage, clearly, should be at the intersection of E. 9th and Euclid....oddly enough there is signage there...and it is probably only 1/4 the size of what has been placed at E.4th. I'm sure those who paid for the streetscape study for E.4th will be particularly pleased with this solution to visually overpowering their wonderful (realizing taste is subjective) gateways.

Who is supposed to be keeping an eye on this stuff to make sure things get coordinated so that you don't have a ridiculously scaled sign in a ridiculous location? And I suppose now that it has already been installed on the brand new Euclid Corridor posts, who has the ability to see that the problem is corrected; or at least not repeated?

Considering the massive amounts of private developmpent being triggered by the public dollars invested the Euclid Corridor, I am certainly not trying to suggest the project is not a great step in the right direction for the city of Cleveland. I'm only trying to suggest that when making these positives steps, a more careful attention to the details that separate a good enough streetscape from a great one will make the investments we see happening worth so much more. Demand and plan for the best, the people of Cleveland deserve it.

Temporarily Unbelievable

2008-01-15T23:27:00.001-05:00

In an urban core abundant with vacant land, abandoned buildings, and frequently empty public spaces, it is often hard to view these spaces as assets to the community. While everyone has ideas for what kinds of buildings and spaces should be where, who should design them, and who should be permitted to inhabit them, it is not often we get to experiment with those thoughts in a real way. With all these empty and abandoned assets, I find it quite remarkable experimentation with public space and the built environment has not seemingly found a larger role.

Recently, Pop Up Cleveland, an initiative founded by Terry Schwarz, has received funding from the Civic Innovation Lab, the Sears Swet-land Foundation, and additional support from Kent State University’s CUDC. Attempting to create “temporary events and installations that occupy vacant buildings and activate vacate land in ways that shine a spotlight on some of Cleveland’s spectacular but underutilized properties”, this initiative has a real opportunity to contribute to the establishment of a new culture of experimentation here in Cleveland.

I love the fact that Terry has set out to reclaim this once vibrant space, even if only for a night, and create something so peculiarly fantastic that people will once again be forced, or should I said invited, to experience The Flats East Bank. The evening has every opportunity to benefit all vested interests in the site; from the developers, to area residents, to visitors, potential future residents/retailers, vagabonds, and most certainly the Hustler Club dancers, that have likely not scene that area of the site flood with visitors in....ever.

While the evening will certainly benefit the developers (as it absolutely should) through the re-exposure of their project site to the community, the most important benefit will hopefully be me (as it absolutely needs to). Well not realllyyy me, but me in a different, less obvious (and grammatically correct) sense of the word me…..you (or should I use generally “us”). Anyone who has sat at Shooters on a Sunday evening in the summer and watched the sunset cast a beautifully depressing orange glow over the empty Flats East Bank will at least appreciate the evening for its temporary habitation of an area once flooded with visitors. The city deserves evenings/events like this...hopefully through the successful execution of Leap Night, the city will have yet another creative and collaborative process for activating its vacant urban assets...

Not to mention it is going to be damn cool to see an orchard of dead Christmas trees…anyone have Tim Burtons email? He should be invited…

I would encourage everyone to check out the website, http://www.popupcleveland.com/, and definitely email ideas/concerns via the website.

Upcoming Cleveland Architecture

2007-11-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

You may (or may not) have noticed that there have been several opportunites to attend or participate in architectural events, lectures, and symposia this fall in Cleveland (note an updated "Design City Calendar" at right). Cruise over to TOI Studio, where Dru will keep you abreast of the latest with nearly daily local event updates.

Notables include the ongoing "Cleveland Goes Modern" exhibition and discussion series, Case Western Reserve University's Baker-Nord "Cityscapes" Lectures, KSU College of Architecture and Environmental Design Fall Lecture Series, and the upcoming "Greening the modern preservation movement: Bauhaus at the brink."

Consider along with these events the developing efforts of the newly created LAUNCH and Architecture for Humanity groups and you'll find a ton of ways to get your dose of architecture, urbanism, and design or maybe even contribute a thing or two to a wanting design culture in Cleveland.*

*If anyone reading this has any thoughts on how to coalesce disparate design efforts in some way, how to engage other voices, or how to realize Cleveland as a "Design City" PLEASE attend our monthly LAUNCH discussion this coming Thursday (Nov. 8th) at 6pm at the Prosperity Social Club on Lincoln Park in Tremont. I (as well as others, I'm sure) believe that there continues to be an audible voice missing in the City that comes from an impassioned, creative community advocating for issues in architecture urbanism, and design and providing activity and stimulus outside the grind of our day jobs. Is it a formalized organization a la Chicago Architectural Club, the Architectural League, or others? I couldn't tell you, but I'll be organizing my thoughts this week in advance of the discussion (see the following post for additional thoughts).

Cleveland Sketch Crawl

2007-09-21T13:01:00.000-04:00

Via Brewed Fresh Daily, there is word of a new monthly "Sketch Crawl" debuting Saturday, October 6th in Downtown Cleveland, free and open to all. As additional details become available, I'll post them here. In the meantime, here is the post pulled directly from the Cleveland Sketch Crawl weblog:

This coming October 6th (Saturday), the first Cleveland Sketch Crawl will take place in Downtown!

The Sketch Crawl is a monthly event where sketchers of all skill levels meet Downtown and sketch a series of different locations throughout the city. The sketch crawl is a simple way to explore parts of the city you've never seen. and share your art with others.

The first Saturday of every month, from 10am - 12noon, the Cleveland Sketch Crawl will meet. The initial meeting place is the Downtown Cleveland Alliance's storefront in the Old Arcade (420 Superior Avenue). From there, we will venture out to our sketching destination for that month. The only thing you need to bring is your pencils, sketch pad and a friend, if you like.

If you feel like you can't draw...don't worry. It doesn't matter; you are welcome! Cleveland artist Thomas Roese will be on hand with coaching and encouragement for those who want it.

The crawl is being sponsored by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and is free to anyone that wants to draw, paint or charcoal the city on paper!

Come Downtown the first Saturday of every month ready to draw and explore the city.

Medical Mart at Ameritrust Tower?

2007-09-20T20:58:00.000-04:00

Huh?

The County Commissioners favorite topics as of late have been: 1) the construction of a new Administration Center at the site of the Ameritrust Tower and 2) the construction of a Medical Mart/Convention Center. It may just be me, but I'm having a harder and harder time telling these very different projects apart these days...

At least it keeps folks talking about an alternative future for the Tower, right? BUT, there may be no more awful location for a convention center than one at Prospect, Ninth and Euclid. Says Hagan, "Its one of the sites we think ought to be considered. We'd have to acquire additional property." Have the Commissioners' demolition appetites not yet been sufficiently satisfied? Is there not a billion acres of already vacant land at the city's core and development-ready?

From Wednesday, Sept. 19th on WKYC.com:

CLEVELAND - In the search for a possible Medical Mart location, Cuyahoga County Commissioners are now looking at East 9th Street and Prospect. The site may replace the plan for the county headquarters building.

Sources also tell Channel 3 News that the Ameritrust Tower is also in the running along with the old Higbee's building and the present Convention Center.

Some people are wondering if there is enough room for a Medical Mart and Convention Center.

"It's one of the sites we think ought to be considered," said Commissioner Tim Hagan. "We'd have to acquire additional property. We have not dismissed the County Administration building as a concern. There's only so much you can put on people's plates and accomplish rationally."

Millions of dollars were already spent on the headquarters plan and many ideas are still in play.

On Architectural Blogging

2007-09-15T22:12:00.000-04:00

I must admit, more than 90% of my daily/weekly architecture and design news comes from online newsletters, blogs, and aggregators. There are few print sources in the architectural realm (of the American variety) that satisfy, and many are little more than picture books (or cookbooks) for sensational forms and cutting edge 'decoration'.

One of few magazines I read with any regularity and genuinely look forward to reading is Architect Magazine (maybe its that 'free' thing that makes it so easy to enjoy), providing an often varied insight into practitioners and current directions/influences of the profession.

In the September 2007 issue, architectural blogging and some of the widely-read weblogs fill several of its pages. While the article offers no insight into the frequency practioners access blog-based information as opposed to print media, I suspect that the maturation of aggregators, widespread use of rss feeds (email clients often support site feeds), and increasingly tech-savvy 'whippersnappers' are accelerating the architecture blog's popularity.

"The ranks of small, independently published magazines that enlivened architectural discourse in the 1960s and 1970s have left few direct offspring in print. Instead, that culture of intrepid architectural commentary has re-emerged online, in the form of blogs."

Thus far, Architect notes, most research and criticism is still left to scholars and professional journalists, but blogs have accelerated and intesified the dissemination of "breaking news" as well as bred hybrid topics and provided deeper exploration "deep into the realms of theory, commentary, and fantasy."

Check out the Cleveland Design City for a collection of area architecture blogs - while the interface is somewhat primative (as limited by Blogger's aggregating capabilities), it is a reasonable starting place for checking out what's happening in the realm of architecture, design, and urbanism - at least until something better comes along. Contact the Design Rag or any of the bloggers if you or someone has a blog that should be added to this site.

Cardboard Lawnchair (Launch-chair?)

2007-09-09T19:40:00.000-04:00

A couple of us participants in the monthly "Launch" discussion/drinking sessions will host an afternoon-long Cardboard Lawnchair contest, open for making and viewing to all interested.

Details, including date, time, location, and participation info will be posted here or there (and on the Launch page) and hopefully some other internet/email places shortly.

Call it a spectacle, a "nonsense contest," or simply an excuse to spend a weekend afternoon with creative folks at an area bar - whatever you want to call it, it should be a good time.

Heck, if Frank Gehry can do it, why can't we?

Better Design = Better Living

2007-09-09T18:11:00.000-04:00

I came across this competition series in Singapore a bit late, but as it prepares to enter a third phase (of three phases), it still seems topical. Simply stated, the so-called "10TouchPoints" consists of three interdependent phases: the first, a public vote for Singapore's 10 worst-designed public items; the second, designers compete to redesign each item; the third, winning 'redesigns' are implemented.

The ten items for redesign are public toilets, bus shelters, recycling bins, mailboxes, playgrounds, bicycle dismounting system, hospital signage, takeaway mealboxes, multipurpose IDs, and drains/canals. The Competition Submission for all items closed in July and it appears that winners will (or have) be announced on the website shortly.

10TouchPoints is an initiative of DesignSingapore (a public council steering a national design agenda, of which competitions, exhibitions, and design festivals have been borne as of late) and includes partners and supporters from several corporations and local agencies. What was most impressive was the bredth of engagement in the series including exhibits and workshops where public could comment on the 10 items selected for redesign, a series of short videos by local filmmakers on the role of design in our lives, extensive resources on accessibility, usability, and universality in design, and competition jury workshops with representatives from applicable implementing public agencies to refine each design brief - all of which are available on their website.

An excerpt from 10TouchPoints introduction to the redesign challenge:

"10TouchPoints seeks to demystify design. Not just about relative coolness and high prices, or what you see on the glossy pages for the hip and rich. Design makes up what is around you. Design is about the relationships people forge with things. Design is thus something we value as it has an effect on how we get to work, better communicate and the energy we save.

10 TouchPoints is a call for good design. Good design puts people in the centre of the design process. It incorporates systems thinking, technology, historical and contextual relevance. It is economically viable. It is informed by ethics and responsibility without impeding social and technical innovation. It is beautiful.

10TouchPoints is the opportunity for us all to positively impact our surroundings and how we live. It is a voicebox for you opinions as users to be heard as you vote for what can be better designed. For designers, it is a challenge to produce the best redesign solutions for implementation, while getting the chance to win attractive prizes and bringing your share to better living. For service providers, it is a platform to tap into users' insights and using the best design solutions to remake and enhance existing items and services for the people."

While I admire the charge, I admit that I am viewing this rosy from afar and cannot comment on its real effectiveness in Singapore. However, this presents a convenient excuse to travel to Southeast Asia and stay in the world's second-most densely populated country.

What are you doing this Labor Day Weekend?

2007-08-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

This flyer has been sent my way to 'get the word out' about this must-see Labor Day Weekend event.

Courtesy of our fellow friends at Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, "Building on Our Heritage," will open to the public today and tomorrow to celebrate the historic Cleveland Trust Rotunda at Ninth and Euclid.

I need not say more.

"PV'd" that Cleveland THINKS Solar... and not a whole lot more than that

2007-08-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

This one nearly missed me, and to tell you the truth, reading it made me furious (a newsbrief in this month's Architect Magazine):

"As part of its effort to accelerate the creation of advanced solar electric technologies, the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative has named 13 Solar America Cities: Ann Arbor, Mich.; Austin, Texas; Berkeley, Calif.; Boston; Madison, Wis.; New Orleans; New York; Pittsburgh; Portland, Ore.; Salt Lake City; San Diego; San Francisco; and Tucson, Ariz. These cities are now eligible for funding and technical assistance from the DOE as they develop local initiatives for the adoption of solar-based power technologies. Learn more about the program at www1.eere.energy.gov/solar."

The initiative by USDE and the healthy list of participating major American cities is tremendous, HOWEVER, am I the only Clevelander who feels betrayed by Northeast Ohio electorate, business leaders, and foundations for not positioning the City for federal funding in the proliferation of solar-power?

After a recent swell of solar in this town:

1. the hosting of this year's National Solar Energy Conference
2. an Ohio Department of Development study (pdf) released this summer that suggests a strong commitment from state and federal sources could turn Ohio job losses into a competitive advantage in the renewable-energy industry
3. excessive media coverage on the installation of new PV arrays at Jacobs' Field and the Great Lakes Science Center
4. Cleveland Foundation and Gund Foundation institute new policy of "award capital grants only to building or renovation projects that seek LEED certification"
5. the "one megawatt challenge"?
6. and how about GreenEnergyOhio, E4S, Green Building Coalition, EcoCity Cleveland, and others who's goal is to make Cleveland the green city on a blue lake
7. and not to be forgotten, the freshwater windfarm

Of course, I am not mistaking 'action' with the lip service and feasibility studies (partially referenced above) for a future (sustainable) Cleveland - but I admit that I can be led blindly into manufactured optimism for opportunities to a reawakened economy.

How far has Cleveland REALLY come the last few years that it has not ensured a position on this list?

The Politician Spotted at Mall C!

2007-08-16T22:46:00.000-04:00

In related public art news, this afternoon, "The Politician" sculpture was spotted on Lakeside Avenue on the southwest corner of Mall C - curiously situated between the Cuyahoga County Administration Center, Cuyahoga County Courthouse, and County Justice Center buildings.

Witnesses observed the sculpture now selling "Cleveland's Finest" corned beef sandwiches for the mere price of a 1/4% more than the average corned beef sandwich. "Rumor is that the extra cost will fund something really awesome," said John Buday from Parma. County Commissioners have released a statement saying that they hope to eventually raise the price of all corned beef sandwiches County-wide 1/4% by the end of the year so that they can build a stadium, or something.

And just when it was thought that the large spinning wheels couldn't move the super-sized pull toy an inch in any direction...

The [Cleveland] Politician: A Toy

2007-08-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Via the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog, WCPN reported last Friday that the whimsical "Politician" sculpture will be moving to a new location in the not-so-distant future.

"The Politician: A Toy" has become one of Cleveland's more recognizable roadside icons since its installation at Chester Avenue and East 66th Street in early 1996. The forty-foot, satire-laden mechanical sculpture was designed by artist Billie Lawless and financed under Cleveland Public Theatre with contributions from private sources and placed on private property (thus avoiding opposition from then-Mayor Michael White and roadblocks from city departments).

With the current site for sale, a non-profit group is negotiating its move to another home - a "more pedestrian-friendly location." Which, of course, begs the question: Where should "The Politician" be relocated? (more to come shortly)

Urban Mushrooms

2007-08-12T12:21:00.000-04:00

From Icon Magazine May issue, graffiti with an architectural edge:

"Czaplicki, also known as 'Truth', moved on from traditional graffiti materials after seven years of tagging. His first experiment with unconventional materials used white polystyrene, creating fungus-like shapes. 'I felt I was putting nature back into the city. I was very influenced by the forms of Donald Judd and Russian constructivists like Malevich, so in some ways my idea was to create a sculpture but change its context,' he says. 'I think of them as urban mushrooms. They look like a natural part of the city – sometimes I really can change a building, but in most cases they’re little signs.'"

These abstract forms have been applied to the facades of empty buildings, industrial estates, and homes predominantly in southern Poland. (images from www.truthtag.com)

Cuyahoga's "American Courage"

2007-08-12T00:12:00.000-04:00

I continue to be amazed by these tremendous ore carriers as they traverse the Cuyahoga from river's mouth to steel mills several miles south of Downtown. Pictured is "American Courage", over 600 ft long, built in 1979 and operated by the American Steamship Company. American Courage carries iron ore pellets, coal, and limestone.

Among the others frequently spotted on the Cuyahoga are the American Republic, City of Buffalo, and Sam Laud. Surprisingly, these are the shortest of the American Steamship fleet. Some Great Lakes vessels exceed 1000 ft in length and can discharge 65,000 tons of iron ore or coal in 10 hours without assistance from shoreside personnel or equipment (Lake Carriers' Association)

A recent concern of the local shipping industry and municipal agencies has been the decreased dredging of the systems' shipping channels by the Army Corps of Engineers (which amounts for several feet shallower depths in the Cuyahoga River in some instances). Limited funding for regular dredgings [pdf] and overdue replacement of the aged, failing shore piling (in Cleveland, much of the bulkheading was installed during FDR's presidency) is suggested to be primary to the problem.

As expressed by James H.I. Weakley, President of LCA, to a House subcommittee this year, the shallower shipping depths requires each carrier to hold less draft. The 63 U.S.-Flag vessels working the Great Lakes lose more than 8,000 tons of cargo each trip when forced to trim just one inch from their loaded draft. "Those 8,000 tons of iron ore not carried could have produced steel for 6,000 automobiles. Those 8,000 tons of limestone not carried could have been used to build 24 homes." (Lake Carriers' Association)[pdf]

In unrelated recent ore carrier news, earlier this month a life ring from the carrier Edmund Fitzgerald (operated by Cleveland's Oglebay Norton) which sank 32 years ago in Lake Superior may have been found ashore Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

L A U N C H

2007-08-05T20:13:00.000-04:00

Breuer Tower Exhibition at Ingenuity

2007-08-04T12:46:00.000-04:00

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.

Fallen

2007-08-01T00:31:00.000-04:00

The Design Rag has fallen a bit out of the blogging universe recently. Okay, so maybe it has been completely neglected... for nearly three months...

Welcome back.

What Would you do with the Breuer Building?

2007-05-22T20:42:00.000-04:00

I just happened to come across this and though I would share with everyone...

Call for Entries

photography by: Eric Greenberg 2007

Ingenuity 2007 the Cleveland Festival of Art & Technology architecture exhibit

What Would you do with the Breuer Building?
July 18 – July 21, 2007

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 19, 2007, 5:00 - 7:00 pm.
Location: 1305 Gallery, 1305 Euclid Avenue at East 13 Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Two-thirds of Cuyahoga County’s commissioners want to demolish it.
Architecture critic Steven Litt wants to save it.
What would you do with it?

Sponsored by Ingenuity, the Cleveland Festival of
Art and Technology, this juried architectural
exhibition invites architects, architectural interns,
students, engineers, artists and designers living or
working in Northeast Ohio to answer the question.
The intent of the exhibit is to keep the debate alive
– through both imaginary and real alternatives to
the Breuer Tower’s future. Additionally, this
exhibit offers area design professionals and others
with an opportunity to participate in the
Ingenuity festival and to demonstrate how
architecture can be the embodiment of "creativity,
innovation, culture and technology."

We encourage architecture, engineering and design
firms to participate as well as to support and
recognize their staff members who participate in
the creation of an entry. Firm affiliations will be
noted along side the designer’s/designers' name(s).

To participate, please email
architecture@Ingenuitycleveland.org,
subject line: Breuer Tower.
We will forward the hi-resolution jpeg image to use
in the creation of your submittal.

Submittals:
Rendering using the hi-resolution image of the Breuer Tower
30” h x 20” w mounted on 3/8” white foamcore.

Digital jpeg image, 15” x 10” at 72 dpi.

Drop off/Pick up:
Renderings must be submitted by 5:00pm, Friday June 22, 2007.

Digital images must be emailed by 5:00pm, Friday June 22, 2007.
Email to architecture@Ingenuitycleveland.org

All work will be available for pick-up ?.

Entry Fee: $19.71
Please make check payable to the Ingenuity Festival, earmarked for architecture exhibit
(Fees will be used to mount the show and for the opening reception.)

Jury:
Faith Baum AIA, IIDA, Principal, Faith Baum Architects, Lexington, Massachusetts; Adjunct Faculty,
Department of Interior Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design
Debi Lacey McDonald, AIA, LEED Architect, DiMella Shaffer, Boston, Massachusetts
Etty Padmodipoetro, AIA, Loeb Fellow 2006, Rosales + Partners, Vice President, Boston, Massachusetts
Maryann Thompson, Maryann Thompson Architects, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Gretchen von Grossman, Parsons, Corp., Boston, Massachusetts
Vicky Sirianni, Consultant, Salem, Massachusetts

Jury policy:
Decisions will be based both on quality of work and allowable space. The intention of the

Ingenuity Festival and the What Would you do with the Breuer Tower? exhibit is to
celebrate as many talented designers from the region as possible.

Curators:
David H. Ellison, AIA
Sally L. Levine, AIA

For more information or to register, contact:
Email: architecture@ingenuitycleveland.org
Website: http://www.ingenuitycleveland.org

The Exhibit is sponsored by Ingenuity, the Cleveland festival of arts and technology.

Postopolis! at Storefront for Art and Architecture

2007-05-18T00:25:00.000-04:00

Digital dialogue in architecture and urbanism will be featured at the end of May as part of a five-day symposium called Postopolis! at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. Four bloggers of well-respected design blogs from four separate cities will descend upon New York City to host discussions, presentations, and panels, face-to-face. The featured blogs include BLDGBLOG, City of Sound, Inhabit, and Subtopia.

From the Storefront for Art and Architecture (along with the sharp-looking graphic above):

"Postopolis! is a five-day event of near-continuous conversation about architecture, urbanism, landscape, and design. Four bloggers, from four different cities, will host a series of live discussions, interviews, slideshows, panels, talks, and other presentations, and fuse the informal energy and interdisciplinary approach of the architectural blogosphere with the immediacy of face to face interaction.

BLDGBLOG (Los Angeles), City of Sound (London),Inhabitat (New York City), and Subtopia (San Francisco) will meet in person to orchestrate the event, inviting everyone from practicing architects, city planners, and urban theorists to military historians, game developers, and materials scientists to give their take on both the built and natural environments.

For the past five years, blogging has helped to expand the bounds of architectural discussion; its influence now spreads far beyond the internet to affect museums, institutions, and even higher education. Postopolis! is an historic opportunity to look back at what architecture blogs have achieved – both to celebrate their strengths and to think about their future."

Postopolis!

Storefront for Art and Architecture

New York City

Tuesday, May 29, to Saturday, June 2, 2007

Cleveland Competition Reception & Exhibition

2007-05-17T23:57:00.000-04:00

Exhibition 2007

2007 Cleveland Design Competition Awards Reception and Exhibition

Who: Hosted by the Cleveland Design Competition and Cleveland Idea Box

What: Awards Reception and Exhibition of Designs for Irishtown Bend in Cleveland, Ohio

Where: SPACES Gallery

When: Thursday, June 7th

Join us in recognizing the 2007 Cleveland Design Competition award-winning entries presented by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy on Thursday, June 7th at SPACES Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Solutions for the Irishtown Bend competition site submitted by designers in Cleveland and around the world will be exhibited at SPACES the evening of the Awards Reception and Exhibition.

In conjunction with the event, the documentary "Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City" will be presented by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (for more information, visit www.makingsenseofplace.org). The ongoing Shrinking Cities exhibition in the first floor gallery will also be open for viewing the evening of the event (www.spacesgallery.org).

The reception and exhibition is hosted by the Advisors to the 2007 Cleveland Design Competition in conjunction with Cleveland Idea Box (www.ideaboxcleveland.com).

We would like to thank the many competition partners and sponsors; without their continued support, this year's competition would not have been a success: The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, AIA Cleveland, Kent State University's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Cleveland Public Art, the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, FORUM Architects, Ohio City Near West Development Corporation, PROCESS Creative Studios, and the Flats Oxbow Association. To view the most current list of competition sponsors, visit the sponsors page of the competition website.

For more information about the 2007 Cleveland Design Competition or to join the competition mailing list, visit www.clevelandcompetition.com. Contact the Cleveland Design Competition at info@clevelandcompetition.com if you have any questions.

Cleveland Design Competition

c/o CUDC

820 Prospect Avenue, 2nd Floor

Cleveland, Ohio 44115

More details on the opening reception and exhibition will soon follow.

Protest the Demolition of the Cleveland Trust Tower

2007-05-01T10:11:00.000-04:00

Protest the demolition of the Cleveland Trust Tower this Thursday at 5pm outside the Tower on East Ninth Street between Euclid and Prospect Avenues. No shouting, ranting, or marching involved... just show up if you believe in the reuse of the Tower. See the press release below:

For Immediate Release
Contact: Ms. Daryl Davis, event coordinator
216-631-0557 (day) or daryl.davis@sbcglobal.net

TAXPAYERS PROTEST COUNTY COMMISSIONERS’ SPENDING $32 MILLION TO CREATE EMPTY LOT

A coalition of good government and fiscal responsibility advocates, environmentalists and historic preservationists will assemble at 5:00 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2007 outside the Ameritrust Tower, located at East 9th Street between Euclid and Prospect Avenues, to protest the Cuyahoga County Commissioners' plan to raze the building.

Last year the Commissioners purchased the 29-story tower designed by world- renowned architect Marcel Breuer for $21 million. Demolition, including asbestos abatement, is estimated to cost $11 million. On the surface this appears to be a $32,000,000 expenditure to create an empty lot. Upon closer examination the costs associated with the commissioners plan exceed this.

The coalition is picketing in order to call attention to the fact that Commissioners Tim Hagan and Jimmy Dimora ignored input from their fellow Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones and architectural experts who objected to the proposed project from the standpoint of its cost and the loss to Cleveland's skyline of one of its historically significant buildings. The coalition is opposed to the demolition of the tower, whether the site is used to create a new county administration center or not.

Total cost for building the new county administration complex has been estimated at $164 million with contracts of $10 million and $13.5 million already awarded to R.P. Carbone Construction and Robert P. Madison International, Architects. It is likely that the estimated cost is too low and will increase during construction.

Dimora and Hagan have said they want the new administration building to be “green” or “sustainable”. Destruction of the Ameritrust Tower, and the resultant waste of its “embodied energy” effectively cancels-out any legitimate claim the project may make to environmental responsibility.

The “embodied” energy contained in the structure can be estimated at 15 gallons of gasoline per square foot; equal to approximately $11,000,000. Discounting the other environmental costs associated with the demolition of the tower, this figure brings the total amount of wasted public funds to well over $44,000,000.

###

Redesigning Cleveland One Month at a Time

2007-04-15T00:07:00.000-04:00

When you aren't busy completing your Cleveland Design Competition submission for the site at Irishtown Bend (see the previous Design Rag post), visit reDesign Cleveland's new webpage for the results of their first-ever monthly design charrette. The design charrettes focus small design challenges at several Cleveland buildings and sites with the primary goal of re-imagining Cleveland "for Cleveland's sake."

The web-only charrettes are open to all and can be participated in anonymously or with recognition. Because reDesign is in a blog-based format, each submission can be commented on by participants and observers alike. See the webpage for more details about each challenge.

The March charrette examined the old May Company parking structure at Ontario and Prospect in Downtown Cleveland. One of the submissions (shown above) is described as follows:

"The redesign proposal uses the concrete structure of the garage as a scaffolding for a vertical garden landscape. The southern facade features ornamental planters suspended in rows with vegetation of increasing height, from native grasses to flowering shrubs to hardy urban trees, while the western exposure is shaded by columns of climbing vines. When available, rainwater would be recovered in a cistern at the upper garage level and channeled down to irrigate the plants. The daily and weekly parking cycles become re-framed in the new context of the natural seasons of the garden."

April's charrette is soliciting possible solutions for a bridge replacement at Columbus Road Bridge over the Cuyahoga River. The deadline for submitting is April 30th (thanks to Dru at TOI Studio who is "giddy with excitement").

Inaugural Cleveland Design Competition

2007-04-10T12:47:00.000-04:00

Last chance to participate in the design of Irishtown Bend and compete in the 2007 Cleveland Design Competition.

Deadlines for the first annual international design competition in Cleveland are rapidly approaching. The Cleveland Design Competition registration deadline is next Monday, April 16th and the submission deadline is Tuesday, May 1st.

This year's underutilized urban site is located between West 25th Street in the Ohio City historic neighborhood and the Cuyahoga River's edge in the industrial Flats. Complicated for several reasons, physically (soils shifting, topography change, and un-reinforced shoreline) and politically (shared by two neighborhood groups, contains an archaeological site, has been targeted for potential port traffic, and has been suggested for the placement of a multi-purpose trail), "Irishtown Bend" is located between Downtown, Cleveland's historic neighborhoods, and active industry.

Taken from the competition overview: "From the site's vantage along the edge of Cleveland's Industrial Flats, photographer Margaret Bourke-White captured the dominance of industry over a rapidly rising American city. Today, the same perspective reveals a complex urban history of unparalleled industrial growth, rapid abandonment, evolving patterns of immigration, wealth, poverty, and the rise of a rich rust-belt city follow by decades of decline and urban decay."

Cleveland Design Competition is looking for creative ideas for the pivotal Irishtown Bend site. Solutions may include architectural design, engineering, landscape design, planning, or artistic interventions. Check out the competition objectives or the competition brief document for more details. The competition requires pre-registration, but is open to everybody.

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is the lead sponsor for the competition awards. First Prize is $2000, Second Prize is $1000, and Third Prize is $500.

Project 2007's partners and sponsors include: Cleveland Public Art, Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Ohio City Near West, Flats Oxbow Association, Forum Architects, and Process Creative Studio.

Read the article "Cleveland Competition to Focus on Neglected Sites" published in the March issue of ARCHITECT Magazine.

Cleveland's Recent Past is "Immediately Endangered!"

2007-04-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

The Recent Past Preservation Network has declared Marcel Breuer's Cleveland Trust Tower as "Immediately Endangered!"

The Recent Past Preservation Network is "a valuable resource for building public education and awareness of an often misunderstood and underappreciated era of design. We generally define the recent past as a moving window of approximately fifty years time. Specifically, we cover those buildings that are not considered eligible for the National Register of Historic Places because the structures are less than fifty years old. These are the very buildings and landscapes that need the most protection."

RPPN also has a great page of resources and methods for taking action to prevent the demolition of the structures of our recent past. This page includes guidelines for nominating properties that have achieved significance within the past fifty years, points of economic impacts for preservation and reuse, petition writing and online hosting, case studies, and much much more.

(photo courtesy of Mark Satola as published on RPPN)

Sam Miller Throws Down the Gauntlet - Reform Cleveland Government

2007-04-08T22:57:00.000-04:00

Sam Miller, Cleveland business man and philanthropist, has been featured recently in local news criticizing failed pursuit of regional action in Cleveland.

Watch Tom Beres at WKYC interview Sam Miller here.

Does it take the challenge of an exasperated 85-year-old Cleveland business man and philanthropist before anyone takes the time to seriously consider metro-Cleveland government reform seriously? Sam has been interviewed many times over the last several weeks, but will his criticism of an inefficient and ineffective government resonate?

Though Sam states that he has "no ax to grind," and that may be partially true, the opinions of the City's business leaders are the most important to pay attention to. It IS economic prosperity and a climate for entreprenuership that will resurrect this town. I am not confident that a vision for change will come from government leaders who's positions are defunct and should be disintigrated.

Several passionate statements from Miller's interview:

"'Regionalism', to me, doesn't mean a thing. What I'm talking about is 'Countyism.'"

"Why should Cuyahoga County have 1500-some school buses for 31 separate school districts? Why should Cuyahoga County have 489 council members? Why should there be 50-60 different fire departments, fire chiefs, police departments, police chiefs? Do you have any idea what kind of money I'm talking about??"

"How do you attract business to a community? One of the most important items, aside from skilled labor is taxes."

"We have in affect today, a government in Cuyahoga County that was structured for a million people in the City of Cleveland, and we have the same government trying to do the same work for 475,000 people. It can't work!"

"You don't have to invent a new system! Copy a successful [government]. Columbus is one, Minneapolis is another..."

"We're tired, we've given up, we've lost faith in ourselves."

"Oh, legacies, I don't give a damn about legacies! I've got enough buildings named after me. I care about this town!"

"I throw the gauntlet out to this whole town. Do you want to watch it die?"

A Vote for the Cleveland Trust Tower

2007-04-05T14:47:00.000-04:00

Crain's Cleveland Business is polling the public regarding their thoughts on what should be done with the Cleveland Trust Tower. So if you have a brief moment and/or wish to be apart of the relative pointlessness that is an online poll, please vote to save the tower.

L.S. Moore

Alternative Trans-Atlantic Transport

2007-04-04T23:38:00.000-04:00

In my cyber-travels I happened upon a unique way of traversing the oceans of the world, the freighter. For those of us who are slaving away in the architecture profession, it may be beyond our reach, both financially and temporally. However, if you wish the train could take you to Europe, you have a fear of flying, or would just like to take a cruise without two lobsters at every meal and romantic horse back rides through the jungle, then here is your alternative: Freighter World

(Much to my surprise, you can catch these ships right here in Cleveland)

Hoping your sea legs are ready,
L.S. Moore

From the Commissioners' Chambers

2007-04-01T22:58:00.000-04:00

Thursday, March 29th marked the Commissioners' official vote on the fate of the Marcel Breuer-designed Cleveland Trust Tower. An agenda item requesting that the County's Department of Central Services advertise for bids for the abatement and demolition of several of the buildings on the County-owned property, including the 29-story tower, required that the Commissioners make a vote on whether the Tower should be reused or razed. The vote went 2-1 in favor of demolishing the Tower.

While the public attendance was strong, only six individuals spoke due to the public comment book closing at 11:30 sharp (many speakers streamed into the meeting after the book was 'closed' to public comment). Several AIA members were in attendance - Anthony Hiti, chair of the Historic Preservation Committee thoroughly described AIA's positions on the issue.

After public comment (in which Dimora interrupted at least once to argue that the speaker was "lying"), each Commissioner stated their position. Peter Lawson-Jones spoke eloquently about his method for evaluating several factors that weigh important in this particular decision. His "decision matrix" was composed of factors such as design, efficiency, sustainability, and economics. After measuring each of the factors, he explained, he arrived at a decision to re-use the tower. The most compelling reasons were: saving energy from demolition and material from landfill, utilizing federal and state tax credits, the opportunity to showcase designs of several eras on the same site, small floorplates may require internal stairs and creative 'grouping' of departments, and saving costs to strengthen social programs.

After Lawson-Jones spoke (and drew a sustained applause), Hagan and Dimora each summarized their decision in fewer than five minutes combined. Hagan was convinced that architect Madison would leave the public a building that would be widely admired befitting of Cleveland architecture hero, Robert P. Madison. Hagan failed to note that the design will be a mark of New York firm Kohn Pederson Fox, not that of Robert P. Madison International. Mr. Dimora simply disagreed with many of Lawson-Jones points about saving cash in the short term and long term (without justification) and put his confidence behind consultants who arrived at a decision to tear the tower down. Dimora even cited the six architecture firms who competed for the County Administration project by pointing out that five of six firms proposed demolishing the Tower. Like Hagan, Dimora failed to note that the County 'encouraged' each design team to demolish the Tower prior to their design submission.

Marc Lefkowitz further summarizes the meeting and includes several quotes by Commissioners Lawson-Jones, Hagan, and Dimora and architect Robert Madison at GreenCityBlueLake.com.

AIA Cleveland Urgent Bulletin & Statement

2007-03-27T22:13:00.000-04:00

Read the following, taken from an AIA email notice this afternoon:

Cuyahoga County Commissioners to Determine Fate of Breuer Tower

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners will be discussing the demolition of the Marcel Breuer designed Cleveland Trust (Ameritrust) Tower at it's next meeting at 11:30 AM on Thursday, March 29, 2007 at the Board of Cuyahoga County Commissioners Chambers, 1219 Ontario Street, 4th Floor.

All AIA Cleveland Members are invited to attend the meeting and express their views on this matter.

Over the course of the last several months, AIA Cleveland's Executive Board and Committee on Historic Resources has urged the Commissioners to reconsider demolishing the Tower and has called for them to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study of adaptively reusing the Breuer Tower for the new County Administration Center.

If you cannot attend, please call or e-mail your position on this important matter directly to the Commissioners before Thursday's meeting. Their contact information is as follows:

Commissioner Jimmy Dimora
Phone (216) 443-7180
CNJCD@cuyahogacounty.us

Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones
Phone (216) 443-7182
CNPLJ@cuyahogacounty.us

Commissioner Timothy F. Hagan
Phone (216) 443-7181
CNTFH@cuyahogacounty.us

AIA Cleveland Statement

Cleveland, Ohio, January 30, 2007 - AIA Cleveland, a Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, urges The Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners to preserve and renovate the Cleveland Trust (Ameritrust) Tower.

Designed by the pioneering modernist architect Marcel Breuer in 1971, the tower's prominent location, noteworthy design and contribution to downtown Cleveland's skyline, make the building potentially eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. As stewards of the built environment, it is our community's responsibility to ensure that significant examples of modern architecture like the Cleveland Trust Tower endure for future generations.

Furthermore, AIA Cleveland encourages the Commissioners to undertake a comprehensive feasibility study of adaptively reusing the Breuer Tower for the new County Administration Center. This study must thoroughly analyze the overall project development costs to the tax payers of Cuyahoga County and definitively justify the decisions made by the Commissioners. In addition, the impact of demolishing the twenty-nine story structure must be carefully considered from an economic, environmental and sustainability perspective. This study, coupled with a creative and transparent design process, will determine if and how the existing building can best meet the County's needs.

Most importantly, we urge the County to engage the community during the decision making process so that all voices are heard on this major expenditure of public resources. AIA Cleveland stands ready to provide the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners with assistance and counsel in this most important matter and we look forward to a constructive community dialogue on this issue.

Commissioners to Decide Fate of Tower - Thursday, March 29th

2007-03-27T14:28:00.000-04:00

What: Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners General Meeting
When: Thursday, March 29th at 11:30 am
Where: Cuyahoga County Administration Building (southeast corner of Ontario and Lakeside)

Concerned citizens for the demolition of the Cleveland Trust Tower should attend this very important Board Meeting in which the Commissioners will vote upon razing the 29-story Tower. From the the Meeting Agenda:

"Department of Central Services, submitting specifications and estimates of cost in connection with development of an administrative complex for County government; requesting authority for the Director of the Office of Procurement & Diversity to advertise for bids:

Ameritrust Tower Exterior Asbestos Abatement and Demolition and 1010 Euclid Building Demolition Project"

Meeting is open to the public and will have an opportunity for public discussion. Currently, two out of three commissioners is in favor of demolishing the Tower.

Download the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners Meeting Agenda for Thursday, March 29th here (pdf).

AIA Cleveland: Preserve and Renovate

2007-03-26T22:11:00.000-04:00

Almost missed this letter written to the Cleveland Free Times in the March 14th issue by Beth Kalapos, President of AIA Cleveland.

AIA Cleveland "urges the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners to preserve and renovate the Cleveland Trust (Ameritrust) Tower", suggests a feasibility study into the economic, environmental, and sustainable impacts of demolishing the tower, and encourages the County to engage the community in the decision-making process:

REUSE, RESTORE, RENOVATE
AIA Cleveland, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects, urges the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners to preserve and renovate the Cleveland Trust (Ameritrust) Tower.

Furthermore, AIA Cleveland has publicly encouraged the commissioners, in a letter dated January 29, 2007, to undertake a comprehensive feasibility study of adaptively reusing the Breuer Tower for the new County Administration Center. This study must thoroughly analyze the overall project development costs to the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County and definitively justify the decisions made by the commissioners. In addition, the impact of demolishing the 29-story structure must be carefully considered from an economic, environmental and sustainability perspective. This study, coupled with a creative and transparent design process, will determine if and how the existing building can best meet the county's needs.

Most importantly, we urge the county to engage the community during the decision-making process so that all voices are heard on this major expenditure of public resources. AIA Cleveland stands ready to provide the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners with assistance and counsel in this most important matter, and we look forward to a constructive community dialogue on this issue.

Beth Ann Kalapos

President, AIA Cleveland

Because there has been an influx of new traffic to the Design Rag since the last post, listed below is an incomplete compilation of recent articles and discussion regarding the Cleveland Trust Tower (in no particular order):

The Design Rag
Taxpayers Against Breuer Tower Demolition
Poor Marcel Breuer.
Reviling the Buildings of Our Parents' Prime
SAVE the Cleveland Trust Tower
Historic Breuer Photographs
Dignification
Ugly is Only Skin Deep
SAVE
When "Ugly" Distracts - Cleveland Trust Tower

Farewell, Marcel - Metropolis Magazine
To Be or Not to Be - Angle Magazine
Art museum values style the County wants to junk - The Plain Dealer
Proposal to demolish Breuer-designed county office... - The Plain Dealer
County considers razing Breuer-designed Ameritrust Tower - The Plain Dealer
Point of no return - The Plain Dealer
Reuse, Restore, Renovate - Cleveland Free Times
King Cuyahoga - Cleveland Scene
Raze or Renovate? - GreenCityBlueLake
Tower Power - GreenCityBlueLake
Saving the Breuer Tower - GreenCityBlueLake
Steven Litt says County is going wrong way... - realneo
Commissioners pick architects for admin building - Crains Cleveland
Cleveland Trust Tower - Urban Ohio
A Public Forum on the Breuer Tower - CSU College of Urban Affairs
Breuer Building Forum; Bias Abounds - Improvised Schema
The Breuer - Speak Up If You Want to Save It - Improvised Schema
Breuer's Cleveland Building - Save or Demolish - Improvised Schema
Save the Cleveland Trust Tower - Blog on the City
When should we preserve old buildings? - TOI Studio
I can't go one day without... - TOI Studio
Irony. This is an example of irony - TOI Studio
At least reuse some of the dang thing! - TOI Studio
Cleveland Trust Tower - ClevelandSkyscrapers.com

Taxpayers Against Breuer Tower Demolition

2007-03-22T22:41:00.000-04:00

This tri-fold brochure from "Taxpayers Against Waste" was sent to The Design Rag and has recently been circulating around Cuyahoga County (I apologize for any difficulty in viewing):

Storefront Art Opening: Influence + Imposition

2007-03-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

The art of architectural design isn't displayed in galleries with enough frequency. It may be the volume of budget-driven construction that leaves little time for deeper explorations into design, a "brain-drain" of Cleveland's creative minds that leaves a scarcity of individuals who look at the art of architecture as more than a consumer product, or simply a failure of current architecture design and theory to be accessible to an audience larger than the community of subscribers to Architectural Record magazine.

It may be some of these reasons, or none of them, regardless, it will be a boost to the exposure of architectural design in Cleveland with the exhibition of four local designers' work called Influence + Imposition opening at Cleveland Public Art's storefront next Thursday. As the Artists' Statement describes:

"Influence + Imposition is an exhibition of the documentations and speculations of four young Cleveland designers engaging the built environment.

Sean Burkholder, Patrick Hyland, Jonathan Kurtz, and Bradford Watson have all recently returned to Cleveland after pursuing graduate design educations outside of Northeast Ohio. All work, design, teach, and make locally."

To read the Artists' Statements and Biographies download the PDF document or visit Cleveland Public Art's webpage.

WHAT: Cleveland Public Art open house for Influence + Imposition

WHEN: Thursday, March 29th at 5:30pm

WHERE: Cleveland Public Art - 1951 West 26th Street

Poor Marcel Breuer.

2007-03-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

The March 2007 Metropolis Magazine article "Farewell Marcel" suggests the likely loss of Marcel Breuer's Cleveland Trust Tower in downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland tower's days "may be numbered" says Steve Rugare of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. "Part of the problem," author Kelli Kavanaugh writes, "is that while Breuer is hailed as a master, the public has not always had such a warm relationship with his work."

Thankfully, the article describes the difference in opinion of commissioners Tim Hagan and Peter Lawson Jones for the ability of the existing building to become 'energy efficient' and 'green.' Peter Lawson Jones, "the only one of the commissioners still open to saving the structure, doesn't buy [that the tower doesn't meet the requirements of green architecture]." He argues that "preservation is inherently more sustainable than demolition and that retrofits could enhance its efficiency."

While the merits of its design could be challenged (and it seems as though the local architecture community is generally apathetic towards its significance), the environmental and economical advantages of saving the structure will be the points at which the community could best rally around to challenge the decision of two out of three commissioners.

Click here for tower images at ClevelandSkyscrapers.com.

Grapefruit League

2007-03-18T14:57:00.000-04:00

Back to posting, after a brief tour of Spring Training baseball in central Florida.

Home Opener for the Tribe is Friday, April 6th at 4:05pm against the Seattle Mariners.

House: Case Study Cleveland, No. 2

2007-03-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

Lets take a quick trip back in time...

In 2002, SPACES Gallery presented House: Case Study Cleveland, an exhibition and competition that reexamined the goals of the original Case Study House program in Southern California for a Midwestern, post-industrial city. The basic premise of the Case Study House program was to create superior, architect-designed housing for typical American families.

9 teams presented their designs for an exhibition and competition at SPACES Gallery, of which the winning design would be built on a city-owned lot in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood and put for sale on the open market.

PLY Architecture, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was the ultimate winner of the competition and Architecture Record wrote the following about their Case Study house and PLY's current body of work (August 2002):

“In the exhibition, we tried to show the flexibility of this house, so we laid out the furniture for four different families,” said Craig Borum, one of the four principals (left). “To try to make it accessible and understandable, we chose pretty well known families: We chose the Cosbys; we chose the Cunninghams from Happy Days; we chose Jack, Chrissy, and Janet from Three’s Company; and then we chose The Andy Griffith Show. So we had a single parent. We had three adults sharing a dwelling. We had a full nuclear family with a home office—the Cosbys. And then we had a kind of traditional family with Fonzie living over the garage, which is exactly where Fonzie would live in our house.”

The Cleveland Case Study House was designed as a series of premanufactured loft spaces that can be placed on top of a custom base. The upper floor can be used as bedrooms, home offices, or rental space. The ground floor is equally flexible. “The only thing that’s defined on the ground floor is the kitchen,” said Karl Daubmann, another one of the principals (top right). “Everything else is just a large room or a small room or a medium-size room.”

The construction for the First Prize entry was anticipated to begin in the Spring of 2004. Unless I have stumbled upon the wrong location, it seems the entry was never built (please drop a message if I am incorrect).

The Cleveland Case Study concept is as relevant now as it was in 2002. While a shame that the first house was never constructed, city land bank properties still exist in gentrifying urban neighborhoods such as Tremont, Ohio City, and Detroit-Shoreway. While the rebuilding continues in these neighborhoods, the City of Cleveland sees a steady stream of new housing construction which either recalls an outdated tradition, poorly functions, or simply isn't built well.

The Design Rag suggests that the exploration continues with Case Study Cleveland, No. 2.

archiBlog Portal

2007-03-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

archiBlog has been added to the "Designblog" sidebar. archiBlog is a "portal of blogs about architecture." The site proves convenient for viewing a variety of blog posts and articles drawn from hundreds of sources - its main page is a virtual "daily digest" on architectural news and opinion from the blogging world.

Among the Cleveland area design blogs referenced on the archiBlog international design network are: Blog on the City, Improvised Schema, TOI Studio, and the Design Rag.

archiBlog is a great example of a well-conceived aggregator for architecture opinion and news. I would suggest that over time the Cleveland Design City network could be designed to have the same success for accessing regional design commentary, news, and criticism.

Flats Falling Down

2007-03-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

Wrecking crews have arrived to the East Bank of the Flats where Scott Wolstein has proposed a $230 million residential and retail development, a project in which the City of Cleveland, the Port Authority, Flats Oxbow Association and Cuyahoga County have all placed their support behind.

While the City has issued demolition permits for eight properties north of the Main Avenue Bridge, half a dozen property owners still control parcels within the boundaries of the proposed development. Not surpisingly, demolition has started on the old Joe's Crab Shack directly across the street from a couple of the holdout properties - Larry Flynt's Hustler strip club and Heaven and Earth night club. Barring legal action that would prevent demolition, the former entertainment district will soon be flattened, excepting the handful of holdouts.

While I respect the commitment of the involved entities, I will reserve futher opinion on the project until I see evidence of new construction. My only suggestion until then... if there comes a day in the next several months where immediate plans for construction are postponed due to whatever unsurmountable circumstance (it has certainly happened before in the last decades), scatter a little grass seed, plant a few trees, and allow the public to enjoy this new riverfront open space.

Below, along Old River Road, the properties ready for demolition:

Looking from the West Bank of the Cuyahoga, buildings soon to be demolished...

...and the existing East Bank to remain

Reviling the Buildings of Our Parents' Prime

2007-02-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

In "To Be or Not to Be", Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative interim director Steve Rugare addresses the general aversion to the styles of two 1970's Cleveland structures and suggests the impact of the loss of these buildings doomed to demolition (published in the January/February 2007 edition of angle: a journal of arts + culture):

"...These generational tensions are probably necessary and psychologically healthy, and they’re great for us historians, who have a steady supply of new material ripe for revisionist interpretation. But there is collateral damage. The history of American cities is full of “lost” buildings that had few or no defenders when they were demolished just a few decades after their construction. Right now in Cleveland two buildings are poised to suffer a similar fate. Marcel Breuer’s Cleveland Trust Tower (1970) is likely to be removed as part of the project to build a consolidated Cuyahoga County office complex on its site at East 9th and Euclid. Just down the street, Cleveland State University has set January 2008 as the demolition date for Don Hisaka’s Student Center (1974). Before these relatively young buildings are gone, it’s more than an academic exercise to ask why this is happening and what we’ll lose in the process..."

Refer to the previous Design Rag post for the reasons I am in favor of saving the Cleveland Trust Tower.

SAVE the Cleveland Trust Tower

2007-02-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

Decisions are made slowly by the Cuyahoga County administrators - thank goodness.

Recently, Cleveland Plain Dealer Architecture Critic Steven Litt described Brutalist buildings' (like the Cleveland Trust Tower) popular disfavor in Cleveland and that it follows a national trend of demolition, erasing these cold, concrete fortresses from cities. The knee-jerk reaction is not always smart in every case Litt explains, and for Breuer's tower, a mistake to lose to demolition, "Knocking it down would erase a strong connection to the roots of Modern architecture, making downtown Cleveland blander and less distinctive."

Its not too late for the County to reconsider its plan for demolition. Asbestos removal in the tower won't begin for several months and county officials won't describe their plans to Cleveland's City Planning Commission to obtain a building permit for another week or two.

I favor the reuse of the Cleveland Trust Tower for the following reasons:

Green Building. The County has stressed its desire for a 'green' building, a symbol of its progressive ideology. Reusing the existing 29-story and enhancing its performance would be a most striking symbol of its commitment to sustainability by diverting the building from landfill, reducing the energy use required during demolition, and adapting a 35-year old building to meet 'green' performance standards. There is an inherent design opportunity to incoporate a new 'green' building envelope into its existing modular arrangement or by introducing a second skin of glass.

Local Reinvestment. As suggested by Dr. Elwin Robison a professor at the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University, a renovation or rehabilitation of the existing tower could be largely served by the labor and material of local construction and manufacturing professionals. The construction of a new tower would require the use of materials and specialists (structural steel, for examble) from outside sources. In addition to investing in a high profile urban site, the County needs to maximize its commitment to the local design and construction professionals.

Design Fallen Out of Favor. One of the biggest reasons that Commissioners plan to demolish the Cleveland Trust Tower, is the perception of 'dark' and 'heavy' and 'uninviting.' Only 35-years old, the Cleveland Trust Tower is characterized as 'Brutalist' - a widely unpopular design methodology that has been applied to several buildings in the U.S. in the mid-twentieth century. I would suggest that the 'look' is subjective and shared by a wave of recent disfavor. Similarly, several ecclectic, and often dark and heavy Victorian-era buildings (Gray's Armory is an example that still remains) were demolished to a certain amount of disfavor and replaced with an ordered neoclassicism (in character with the City Beautiful movement). Later in the century, many of the business district's neoclassical buildings were sheathed in a skin of metal panel (the Euclid-Ninth Tower at the southwest corner of Euclid and Ninth is a good example of this) because of a mid-century design movement that looked disfavorably on ornamentation.

I would suggest a good powerwashing to uncover the lighter grays that closely resemble the hue used in the popular Cleveland Trust Rotunda adjacent to the Tower. A little creative intervention could adapt the building to a more satisfying image for the County.

Progammable Floor Area. The County suggests that the floor areas of each level make organizing departments in the Tower difficult and inefficient. Fortunately, to the County's advantage, they own much property to the north of the Tower (at the 1010 Euclid tower) and to the south of the Tower (the low-rise office building at the corner of Ninth and Prospect) and have been inquiring into other surrounding parcels. There is no shortage of buildable land area to either expand the floor plates of the existing Tower or add another office structure. In fact, architect Marcel Breuer originally planned a northeast addition to the Tower in his original plans. There is an opportunity to build the planned addition, instead designed in contemporary concept and material. The complex could be the home to architectural landmarks of the Neoclassical era, the Modern era, and the New era.

Urban Renewal. The County chose the site at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue largely because of its potential impact in investing in Cleveland's commercial center and to the under-construction Euclid Avenue Corridor. The County hopes to bring new life to the corner of Euclid and Ninth, but it needs not to be through the widespread demolition of its property's buildings. In a complete change of use on a Downtown property there has been a requirement for demolition and reprogramming (such as the stadium and arena at Gateway), however, the County has acquired a pre-existing office complex. The danger of slash-and-burn renewal can be seen from the County's most recent built Downtown complex, the Justice Center. The construction of the complex and resultant demolition of a majority of the Historic Warehouse District to provide an immediate demand of parking for the Justice Center (with a promise of future construction) has provided the worst example of urban reinvestment. The Justice Center continues to be a city-block fortress at the pedestrian level and the parking lots have still not been filled with new construction.

Below is an incomplete list of discussion and imagery from the last several months regarding the Cleveland Trust Tower:

When "Ugly" Distracts - The Cleveland Trust Tower - The Design Rag
Art museum values style that County wants to junk - The Plain Dealer
A Public Forum on the Breuer Tower - CSU College of Urban Affairs
Breuer Building Forum; Bias Abounds - Improvised Schema
Historic Breuer Photographs - The Design Rag
SAVE - The Design Rag
Ugly is Only Skin Deep - The Design Rag
One man's stand against an army - TOI Studio
Dignification - The Design Rag
The Breuer - Speak Up If You Want To Save It - Improvised Schema
Breuer's Cleveland Building - Save or Demolish - Improvised Schema
Cleveland Trust Tower - UrbanOhio.com
Save the Cleveland Trust Tower - Blog on the City
When should we preserve old buidings? - TOI Studio
I can't go one day without the Breuer Tower shoved in my face? - TOI Studio
Irony. This is an example of irony. - TOI Studio
At least reuse some of the dang thing! - Cleveland Trust Tower part 538 - TOI Studio
Raze or Renovate? - GreenCityBlueLake
Cleveland Trust Tower - ClevelandSkyscrapers.com
Proposal to demolish Breuer-designed county office building stirs debate - The Plain Dealer
County considers razing Breuer-designed Ameritrust Tower - The Plain Dealer
Steven Litt says County is going wrong way - realneo
To Be or Not To Be - angle

If you feel impassioned for saving the Cleveland Trust Tower, write the Commissioners, County Planning Commission by email or post mail. Improvised Schema has listed the contact information here. Write the local newspaper or contact national design publications. (Please notify The Design Rag if there is important discussion about the Tower that has been missed in the above list)

'Design City': The Common Denominator

2007-01-17T23:10:00.000-05:00

'Cleveland Design City' has a new web presence for the community of architecture, design, and urban webloggers in Cleveland, www.clevelanddesigncity.blogspot.com (also, click on the sidebar logo to be directed to the webpage). The new page is the result of the input and efforts (and continued refinement) of its community members. Its ultimate intent is to provide a common link among like-visioned individuals and to establish a physical home for the written contributions to Cleveland design commentary and criticism.

From the "Cleveland Design City" weblog home:
"While Cleveland's history of embracing progress and opportunity inspires visionaries of the present day, the recent establishment has stifled the advancement of independent thought that challenges the status quo.

The Design City is an open forum for comment and criticism. The Design City promotes the spirit of competition and innovation. The Design City is a groundswell of creative thought... Only through the continued perseverance of idea-minded individuals to meet these goals will Cleveland become the next Design City.

To have your voice heard, contribute your architecture, design, or urbanities weblog to the 'Cleveland Design City' online community. Contact any of the contributing blogs for information about joining."

Cleveland Design Competition Weblog

2007-01-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

Note a new addition to the "Designblog Network" sidebar - the Cleveland Design Competition Weblog.

From the the blog home for the annual ideas competition in Cleveland:
"Webpage updates, news releases, and press coverage for the upcoming 2007 Cleveland Design Competition will be posted on the weblog throughout the competition timeline - from launch to closing exhibition and reception."

Stay tuned.

New Noblism in Architecture - Universal Design

2007-01-08T20:53:00.000-05:00

At last, after years of dominent "movements" exposed for ridiculous theories to guise an empty formalism, a large body of designers have begun to embrace philosophies ground in social, ecological, and economic concepts to create design that strives to meet a virtuous AND beautiful result. Precepts of "green" design, New Urbanism, and landscape urbanism have been incorporated into design solutions with a greater intensity than architecture magazines would have you believe "post-modernism" and "deconstructivism" ever did. Above all, with little exception, these new socially-conscious, systems-integrated, material-sensitive design solutions have created better buildings and better towns and cities.

Among these "noble" design philosophies is the seldom-applied concept of "universal design." Much misunderstood as an application of American with Disabilities Act guidelines, "universal design" as first-prescribed by principles published by late-architect Ron Mace, strives for simple and intuitive uses that are accessible to person's of many disabilities and more comfortable for fully-able individuals.

An article in today's New York Times, illustrates "universal design" with the nation's first large-scale residential building to apply the concept to each unit. From Lisa Chamberlain's article:

"While building codes set a minimum standard regarding accessibility, universal design is a relatively new concept that seeks to go beyond those codes to make the built environment usable by all people without the need for adaptation. This might include kitchen islands with adjustable-height countertops, front-loading washers and dryers, roll-in showers, and no-step entrances, eliminating the need for ramps.

But the important point, according to universal design advocates, is that it looks and feels like a normal apartment building. Rather than relying on designs that can segregate people according to their disability (impaired vision versus low mobility, for example), the intent of universal design is to create products and environments usable by as many people as possible, including people with no disabilities at all."

Universal design, while a seemingly common sense consideration, mostly defers to defunct standards and antiquated design paradigms. "Universal" is as simple as reconsidering bathroom design, such as human-comfort dimensions of bathroom stalls, the use of grab bars, and roll-in showers. In a broader sense, at-grade entry sequences, multi-sensory experiences, intuitive layouts, and considered path of travel (vertical and horizontal) of ALL building participants could change the way the core of everyday buildings function - in much the same way that environmental design and systems integration are making better buildings and cities for PEOPLE.

Below: Typical Habitat for Humanity house in Greater Cleveland (at left). Are four steps necessary - or simply the prescribed standard for basic residential design? Could the porch surface be at the lawn elevation (right)? From the moment of completion, the at-grade house will already avoid the sometimes necessary addition of a hideous front-door wheelchair ramp.

2007: The Year of Design in Cleveland

2007-01-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

As illustrated at Blog on the City, The Design Rag looks forward to the new year as an opportunity to make 2007 a memorable "design" year. Among the 2007 highlights:

1st Annual Cleveland Design Competition and gallery exhibition in May

Grand opening of the Akron Art Museum expansion design by Coop Himmelblau

Unveiling of FOA's design for Cleveland MOCA

Nationally-touring (as-of-yet unannounced) architecture exhibition at Cleveland MOCA

Cleveland Museum of Natural History develops plans for a landmark expansion project on Wade Oval (among innumerable developments in University Circle)

Beginnings of a Design Annual (publication and exhibition have each been discussed) of NEO architectural design

Continued refinement of existing and addition of new design+urban weblogs in Cleveland

Master planning and design of Northcoast Harbor

Realization of the Cleveland Design District on the Near East Side

The fate of the Cleveland Trust Tower will be determined (see http://www.savethebreuertower.com/ for updates)

KSU CAED plans for the relocation of its graduate program to Cleveland

Among these and other events and initiatives, The Design Rag will have much to write about in the coming months. Bear with us in the next couple of weeks as we continue to refine the layout and design of the blog interface to best deliver our commentary and illustrations.

Here's to the emergence of the "Design City" in 2007!

Postcards of Cities' Past

2006-12-31T19:59:00.000-05:00

This year's holiday season was the first our family celebrated without my grandmother. At last week's family Christmas, the last of her effects were offered to the family before headed to the trash. Among the display of books, jewelry and knickknacks was a sizable pile of mid-century postcards from a variety of American cities. In addition to providing a snapshot of the landmarks of Detroit, Cleveland, Nashville, Miami, Washington DC, and Chicago, many cards were the medium of war-time correspondence between my grandparents.

Below are a few city postcards among many dozens saved from the trash. A few card descriptions are quoted below:

"The Terminal Tower, Cleveland's newest skyscraper, towers 708 feet above the street level and is fifty-two stories high. It is a Ninety Million dollar project." (1939)

"This night scene depicts part of the one hundred and fifty million dollar Terminal development. The Tower is over seven hundred feet above the Union Station concourse level. An observation room, on the 42nd floor, is open to visitors." (1943)

"Busy Hotel Avenue from 17th and Collins, looking South to 10th Street."

"Bird's-eye view of downtown Chicago. Soaring pinnacles and lofty towers - symbolic of the soaring ambitions and lofty ideals which make Chicago truly the City Beautiful." (1943)

I suspect that many of these snapshots of war-time American cities don't represent most of the same fascinations of these cities today. In Cleveland, current postcards capture Gateway, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the towers of Public Square - how will tomorrow's postcards illustrate the Cleveland of the future?

Cleveland Design Competition

2006-12-23T13:31:00.000-05:00

This past week, messages have arrived in inboxes and discussion has occured on the Clevo-web for an annual Cleveland Design Competition... the inaugural design challenge will be launched in January for the Riverbed hillside at Irish Town Bend:

> From an architecture thread at UrbanOhio

> From Rockitecture

> From Improvised Schema

woot.
email info@clevelandcompetition.com to get on the mailing list for upcoming updates

Euclid Corridor Streetscape

2006-12-10T00:50:00.000-05:00

Above and below are images of recently installed streetlamps along the under-construction Euclid Corridor project (within the Quadrangle). While I applaud the attempt at placing contemporary fixtures along the Avenue, its unfortunate to see a design with fake-functional parts (note the "pivot" where the pole and fixture meet and the "counter-tension" that pretends to hold the lamp in place). The choice of lamp could have still been clean and contemporary without the unnecessary "mechanical" components.

Euclid Avenue, connecting research institutions, medical campuses, performing arts venues, and a planned "district of design" commands beautiful, contemporary, technologically-advanced street objects. In a rare opportunity to replace system-wide infrastructure and lighting, the first of Euclid's street objects I suspect, does not exhibit an advanced application - solar-powered lighting or adaptation of the SmartEnergy Spirals (or other alternative energies) to power the streetlights, electronic communicating ballasts (to dim lamps intelligently for significant electricity savings), leveraging the new infrastructure to monitor environmental data (temperature, humidity, air pollution, noise sensors along the street), or showcasing an alternative to the orange-yellow high pressure sodium lamps.

Fortunately, the system-wide update of the street infrastructure may provide the capacity for showcasing technology on the street in the near future, since it appears the Euclid Corridor streetscape project is primarily focusing on overcoming cosmetic inconsistencies and obsolescence.

CT Gallery of Architecture and Design

2006-12-08T01:31:00.000-05:00

Only steps away from a razed Cleveland Trust Tower on the north side of Euclid Avenue, the new CT Center of Architecture and Design, Cleveland's first architecture center, gallery, and lecture forum (within proposed Cleveland District of Design), assembled from discarded Cleveland Trust panels.

Cleveland Trust Facade Study

2006-12-05T21:18:00.000-05:00

"Cleveland Trust Tower Part 542 - Facade Study" from Toi Studio Blog. Note the use of additional materials cast as panels and integrated into the existing precast concrete curtain wall.

HOME House Project Panel Discussion

2006-12-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

HOME House Project Reception & Panel Discussion

On Wednesday, December 6th attend a reception at the Cleveland Institute of Art's Reinberger Gallery (11141 East Boulevard) to see the HOME House Project's traveling exhibit of 100 unique, sustainable, affordable housing designs and to hear from a panel of practitioners.

Steve Litt, Art and Architecture critic for The Plain Dealer, will moderate a panel of designers and nonprofit and for-profit builders on the topic of making Cleveland housing greener, cheaper, smaller, and better.

The reception starts at 5:00 p.m. with the discussion at 6:00 p.m.

SPONSORS: Cleveland Green Building Coalition, Cleveland Housing Network, Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition, Cleveland Public Art, EcoCity Cleveland, Enterprise Community Partners, Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity, Kent State University's Urban Design Center for Northeast Ohio, Neighborhood Progress Inc., ParkWorks, Shorebank Cleveland.

Image and text courtesy of Cleveland Public Art. HOME House previously discussed prior to gallery opening here.

Cleveland Trust Panel Objects

2006-12-01T01:04:00.000-05:00

(Images above posted with permission from the fella at Toi Studio and his post "At least reuse some of the dang thing! - Cleveland Trust Tower part 538.")

While the County has determined the Cleveland Trust Tower abhorrent and unmanagable, the building could find success in rebirth as... a bus shelter?

I find it incredible that opportunities for the panels' reuse are seemingly infinite, yet the panels' use or adaptation in a new County administration headquarters has been decided by commissioners as impossible and undesirable. Either this reveals a highly specific limitation of the modular concrete panel or suggests an uninspired and regressive Cuyahoga County.

If a Tree Falls in a City - East 12th Street

2006-11-28T00:43:00.000-05:00

While not breaking news, the absurdity of the changing East 12th streetscape above (absent the central median trees) certainly deserves a few sentences on The Design Rag. The above image, taken yesterday morning, shows progress made towards the redesign of East 12th Street in anticipation of the Avenue District development between 12th and 13th Streets.

From an August 28th article by Steven Litt in Cleveland's Plain Dealer:

"Architect Paul Volpe of City Architecture, who is designing a $150 million complex of new loft and townhouse buildings in the area, obtained preliminary 'conceptual' approval earlier this summer from the Cleveland Design Review and City Planning committees to tear out the medians, cut down the trees and replace them with wider sidewalks shaded by new trees."

What will this new stretch of 12th St. between Superior and Chester look like?

Scott from Cleveland vs. The World notes a few details from the August 4 Cleveland Planning Commission meeting (Scott's site is a great resource for checking out the goings-on at each Planning Commission meeting):
"DRC 06-031: Reserve Square, Streetscape Improvements, East 12th Street Streetscape Plan, final approval.
Features angled parking, removal of median and bike path."

In addition to removing mature trees that provide a continuous broadleaf canopy over East 12th St. (will these trees will be replaced with sickly honey locusts spaced thirty feet apart??), the streetscape plan will introduce angled parking on a heavily traveled bus route (nearly a dozen buses during rush hours). Will the suburban planning principals of angled parking (easy to park, and more cars per linear foot of street) give cars ownership over East 12th? Ironically, the decisions to remove the central median, widen already wide sidewalks, and provide more parking on East 12th which were meant to provide a better pedestrian experience, will likely have the opposite effect. Crosswalk distances across traffic lanes will be wider (due to median removal), angled autos will compete for curb space with frequently stopping and passing buses, and deeper sidewalks with fewer trees will intensify the presence of the brutal concrete Reserve Square behemoth.

Of course, the completed streetscape engaged in everyday city-life will be the best indicator of its advantages for street-level retail or pedestrian safety and enjoyment. However, I suspect that this is an exercise in over-planning and a poor project for investing City $$ and resources for failing infrastructure (hardly failing and hardly more deserving than half of Cleveland's city streets).

Dignification

2006-11-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

"Sometimes not only a continuity of form, but a continuity of tradition is necessary."
A. Trystan Edwards

In the Grand Tradition,
L.S. Moore

If the Building Doesn't Fit...

2006-11-20T23:43:00.000-05:00

"...the County has made up its mind, selected its architects, mastered its masterplan and there is little to nothing the community has done to save this historic piece of Cleveland history, nor is there much that can be done. Really, if the building doesn't fit, then the county must acquit, to put it succinctly..."
- SAVE alteration from Dru at TOI Studio

Ugly is Only Skin Deep

2006-11-17T14:49:00.000-05:00

Previous posts include "When 'Ugly' Distracts", "Historic Breuer Photographs", and "SAVE", the source of the above altered illustration.

Sociable Building

2006-11-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

Can architecture be of good or bad manners? I am on the verge of finishing Good and Bad Manners in Architecture: An Essay on the Social Aspects of Civic Design by Trystan Edwards, so a full review and comment will be forthcoming. However, overlooking its somewhat dated prose, it does provide a glimpse at the universal ideas that underlie civic design. Given the recent discussions on Public Square and Cleveland's newest civic endeavor, Cuyahoga County's administrative complex, I though a few select quotes from Mr. Edwards book would be appropriate additions.

"Continuity, sociability, order, a fundamental respect for the thing which is next to it, these are the expression of the urbane spirit which should animate all the arts."

"Sometimes not only a continuity of form, but a continuity of tradition is necessary."

In good manners,
L.S. Moore

SAVE

2006-11-10T23:32:00.000-05:00

Historic Breuer Photographs

2006-11-09T00:45:00.000-05:00

As noted by Bill Barrow from CSU Library, view several historic Breuer photographs, construction images, models, and renderings here at Cleveland Memory Project.

Unfortunately, this election cycle didn't provide an opportunity to cast a vote towards County-level regime change for those unhappy with the inevitable loss of the Cleveland Trust Tower to the whimsies of County Commissioners. Persistent written and spoken opinion and analysis will be the only chance of pressuring administrators into considering the costs and environmental benefits of retaining the tower, altering the tower, or razing the tower.

Since Levin College's community forum, the blogosphere, newspapers and Litt, have been silent...

Cleveland Design City

2006-11-03T18:19:00.000-05:00

When "Ugly" Distracts - Cleveland Trust Tower

2006-10-27T10:36:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, a forum held at CSU's Levin College of Urban Affairs presented the history and relevance of Marcel Breuer's Cleveland Trust Tower, its opportunities for re-use, and alternatives from demolition. Sadly, the first public discussion to consider the reuse or preservation of the tower may have been too late. The effort to educate the community on the significance of Marcel Breuer's career, his design of the tower, and the challenges and advantages for rehabilitation should have happened concurrent with the County's architect selection process. Hardly a whisper from the public about the importance of keeping this building, whether as an important piece of existing urbanism or as a landmark architectural design, determined the fate of this highrise months ago. Even as the presentations from panelists representing County government, architecture, preservation, green building and construction technology concluded yesterday evening, there was no clear consensus of its design significance or, simply, of the advantages of adapting the structure for another use or another "look".

While the public forum has come late in the decision-making process (final recommendations are expected from the Commissioners in three to six months), it still provided an opportunity for the design community (represented by the panelists and a large percentage of the forum's guests) to show a certain amount of unanimity about whether or not to keep the building. Hampering this conclusion has been, from the earliest discussions about the tower, its appearance and design merits. The question of whether the Cleveland Trust Tower is "ugly or not" has led the community in circles, further leaving the fate of the building solely in the hands of Commissioners who see a dark and oppressive building - an unsuitable image for the requirements of the County, which aim to paint as rosy an image of itself for their constituents (a major reason the site was chosen in the first place - the location of one of the universally-loved icons in the City, the classically-designed Cleveland Trust Rotunda).

I would suggest that instead of debating the design merits (of which there are argueably few and at less than forty years since its completion, are difficult to determine anyway) a serious decision should be made about the importance (or not) of retaining a piece of the city which took an incredible amount of energy and effort to create, remains structurally-solid and reasonably achievable to reoccupy, and is sited respectfully to adjacent buildings and to pedestrians at street-level. While stylistically there are infinate variations of new construction, adaptive re-construction or preservation at the site (of which the public need not be concerned about immediately), there are only two choices to decide the future of the Tower's framework: the structure should remain or the structure should be dismantled and placed in landfill. Consensus that the structure (in whatever form) should remain, will be the only chance the tower will survive.

IF efforts to retain the Tower are successful and the County Commissioners begin to seriously consider its reuse, incredible opportunity presents itself for creative adaptation of Breuer's Tower, one of many late-modern brutalist structures that have fallen out of favor in recent decades. I have yet to be convinced of Cleveland Trust Tower's historical significance, however, respect the influence of Marcel Breuer in modern design and commend his exploration of precast concrete design and its role in re-creating envelopes for skyscrapers - a departure from the more-than-common curtain walls that define Mies' predecessors in mid-century American cities.

My vision for the new County administration headquarters would retain the structural frameword of the existing tower, make required floorplate additions on Euclid Avenue and south of the tower on East Ninth Street. The curtain wall, after removal for asbestos remediation, would return in another form: partial replacement of Breuer's panels (located appropriately in response to solar conditions - likely at the south elevation), and installation of a modular precast and glass curtain wall on remaining elevations (an attempt to successfully re-interpret Breuer's concept in the twenty-first century, integrate with the deep-set existing panels, and fashion an image reflecting the cycle of rebirth of a City that continues to re-tool). The challenge to Kohn Pederson Fox's design team would be daunting, requiring respectful adaptation of one of the works of a Modern master while creating a landmark that can be beloved timelessly as the Rotunda has. The decisions of the County would be admired, investing heavily in local labor and materials for the renovation of the Tower and Rotunda (opposed to new construction which requires significant international production), and standing behind Cleveland as a city that needs not to raze the values and accomplishments of earlier generations to reach prominence once again.

For further information, read Steven Litt's, Art museum values style that county wants to junk, published in the Plain Dealer last week, CSU Levin College Forum's Love It/Hate It? Renovate It/Raze It? A Public Forum on the Breuer Tower (a video of the event is archived somewhere on the site), Breuer Building Forum; Bias Abounds at Improvised Schema, and a gallery of images at ClevelandSkyscrapers.com.

(Of particular interest, compare the debate surrounding the Lollipop Building designed by Edward Durell Stone at 2 Columbus Circle in New York City which is under reconstruction.)

EDIT 11/21/06. See a gallery of Tower images at ClevelandSkyscrapers.com.

Green Cleveland, The Home House Project

2006-10-23T19:58:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Dru at TOI Studio, take note of an upcoming gallery show at the Cleveland Institute of Art Reinberger Galleries: Green Cleveland, The Home House Project. On November 3rd, a panel discussion, "Housing the Future: New Definitions of Affordability" and an opening reception in CIA’s main gallery launch the month-long exhibition of 100 award-winning designs for sustainable, affordable housing.

Some background on the Home House Project (from TOI Studio): “In 2003, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) held a competition based upon affordability, design and sustainability in housing. The open competition drew 440 multi-national entries which were based on the typical layout of Habitat for Humanity’s three and four bedroom designs.” See Dru’s site to view CIA’s postcard advertising the show.

It’s curious that the show begins in a little more than a week, as there’s been no mention of its opening from area publications and newsletters or directly from the sponsoring organizations (EcoCity Cleveland, Cleveland Public Art, Parkworks, among others). Not to mention, area architecture organizations and institutions are not directly involved. Regardless, find an opportunity to visit University Circle for Green Cleveland and visit the Cleveland Museum of Art for Barcelona & Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali (October 15th – January 7th).

A Natural Flats?

2006-10-15T20:18:00.000-04:00

As extant maritime and rail dependent industries left Cleveland's Cuyahoga River Valley over the last decades, the image of the densely-built industrial Flats at the height of the machine age has been filed away in digital libraries, local archives, and history books (see the new Images of America publication "Cleveland's Flats".

Interestingly, years of abandonment has provided Mother Nature an opportunity to swallow the scarred valley floor with native shrubs, trees and grasses. Whether the future of the Flats will continue a natural de-volution or develop into a blend of industry, recreation and commerce is still a question - regardless, the few who venture into the valley today notice Nature's reappearance in and around bridges and bricks, gravel piles and river bulkheads.

Cleveland Public Art and Don Harvey recognized the "evolving natural environment in an area of Cleveland commonly thought of as the industrial heart" with the May publication of The Natural Flats: A Field Guide to Habitat in Unexpected Places, a self-guided tour of the Flats' wildlife with images from Harvey and writings from region's naturalists. The Field Guide is available for purchase from CPA and guided walking tours are being given by the Canalway Center of the Cleveland Metroparks.

In the continuing "greening" of the Flats, Mittal Steel recently announced the reintroduction of native plants around its property south of Downtown. Dr. James Bissell, Curator of Botany at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History was hired to oversee the project of green buffer zones along the Cuyahoga River and along property edges. Among the dozen or more plants being tested in the tainted soils are wafer ash, staghorn sumac, prairie dock (shown above) and switchgrass (each illustrated on WCPN's Thursday interview "Adding Green to the Mittal Steel Landscape"). Planting has commenced at the first of three sites, a terraced hill at Independence and New Campbell roads.

Mittal spokesman, Dave Allen, says in Wednesday's PD, "we live in downtown Cleveland and we have a great plant, but it looks like heavy industry. We want to dress it up so it looks like a great plant." Interestingly, this hasn't been the first time Flats industry has polished its look for the public. As related in Images of America, the Cleveland Press sponsored industrial valley tours by bus rides and excursion boats or self-guided car rides in the 1950's. Standard Oil built tourists a model of "number one" refinery and set up an observation porch overlooking its operations, sightseers navigated beside U.S. Steel Company's shipping fleet and tourguides narrated the history of bridges and manufacturing along the route.

Could sightseeing expeditions happen again? Fifty years ago, Clevelanders witnessed an unparalleled dominance in refining and manufacturing. Today, a new story has developed, one which describes a more complete history of growth and decline in Flats' industry, and poses a challenge of Clevelanders to consider new images for the Flats, today and tomorrow.

Chamber Music on Tap

2006-10-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 11th (see the attached flyer) Allegra will present a performance by members of The Cleveland Orchestra at the Great Lakes Brewing Co. Your favorite brews, food, and world-renowned music are all included - expect an impressive evening organized by the Junior Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra. What better way to spend an autumn evening in the city?

Selling the City in Lights, P.III

2006-10-07T19:15:00.000-04:00

After covering the limits noted under the new billboard ordinance this morning, I documented a few of my preferred public art "billboard" locations (alright, large purple daisies may be a bit absurd...). See Selling the City in Lights, P.II for a little more background.

Please bear with the self-amusement of this exercise (not that each post thus far hasn't been for my own selfish enjoyment) - regardless, I hope you were able to enjoy the beautiful Saturday afternoon in whatever way you chose to spend it.

A few considerations:
High frequency of passersby, visitors
Location affords an opportunity to be appreciated from near and far
Placement catches natural light for much of the day
Proximity to parks, plazas or seating (inc. outdoor dining areas)
Low potential for new construction to obstruct views, create shadows
Opportunity for art billboard to become an ongoing tradition for a neighborhood or place

Warehouse District

Public Square

East Fourth Street

Gateway District

Selling the City in Lights, P.II

2006-10-05T21:59:00.000-04:00

The following amendment warrants a follow-up to August 15th's post and discussion on allowing Clear Channel Outdoor to place billboards within the CBD (previously restricted under Cleveland ordinance), Selling the City in Lights.

From last month's Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting, found on local planning blog Cleveland vs. The World (text taken directly from Scott's weblog which regularly documents Planning Commission Meetings):

Ordinance 1282-06: Amends sections of various ordinances related to wall murals and airport land protective districts, and authorizes the city to enter into a lease with Clear Channel Outdoor to erect a billboard on land at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
The wall murals will be located within the CBD and Flats Oxbow District. There will be six total –one will be public art. They can only go up on walls that are unsightly, needs to cover 8% of the unsightly wall, and can contain no more then 30% text. The Planning Commission has yes/no authority over any particular wall, location and the way the sign is placed on the wall. Once the wall is chosen, the image (which will be high resolution art/photo) can change every six months without review. The community will review the one wall that will contain the public art element.
Coyne: Expressed concern about how the ordinance ties the city’s hands as far as regulation is concerned.
(Passed: 4 to 2)

My understanding of the ordinance is that there is no limit in size (a minimum of 8% "unsightly" wall coverage), that advertisements are limited to two-dimensional banners, and imagery will be an overwhelming majority of the billboard. The images used, other than the public art element, will be unreviewable (only the placement of the advertisement). These descriptions, I expect, will keep billboards out of Playhouse Square (no electronic displays) and Public Square (no empty building faces) and will instead find a home on a bare wall in the Warehouse District or Gateway District (plenty of building faces, and much viewability).

While I doubt these five ad-billboards will change the look of Downtown much beyond adding a little color, light, and commercialism (unless Doritos are mounted tastelessly on the blank facade of the Standard Building backdrop north of the Old Stone Church), I am excited to see a commitment to a new piece of public art - another to contribute to the rich collection the City already enjoys, and a new, ever-evolving display for two-dimensional design. I can imagine a great tradition beginning with this timeless "canvas" as it's passed from generation to generation.

Maybe I will stumble upon a sunny weekend afternoon to capture a few locations where this public art canvas could have a great visual presence. Stay tuned...

Wind Spirals

2006-10-03T19:51:00.000-04:00

Could this new urban windmill and developing wind power technologies take a new place among the water towers and smokestacks that dominated downtown skylines in the earliest part of the twentieth century? President Michael Schwartz would like to see a green and white SmartEnergy Spire placed on Cleveland State's downtown campus.

PD's Chris Sheridan writes about this fiberglass corksrew-shaped wind machine designed by CSU professor Majid Rashidi and its well-timed introduction amidst increased federal funding for solar and wind power and the creation of a County task force examining alternative energy strategies.

If this design concept is successful (and pays off financially), expect to see variations of the corkscrew wrapping telecom towers, incorporated into highrise spires or perched atop existing office buildings. As this technology develops, could entire buildings incorporate turbine components to capture wind bursts?

EDIT (10/04/06) A collegue directed me towards Turby, another such urban wind turbine product that can be placed atop buildings and afixed with LED lighting to create messages/logos as the blades spin.

Making Sense of Cleveland

2006-09-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, Cleveland's PBS affiliate debuted the documentary in the latest Lincoln Institute's Making Sense of Place series, Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City.

Confronting Decline like the first film in the series, Phoenix: The Urban Desert, "seeks to educate and inspire citizens to engage in a better-informed civic dialogue about social equity, diversity and economic opportunity. The goal is to promote this dialogue across a wide range of residents, policymakers, elected officials, civic leaders, advocates, activists and opinion leaders, by providing information and context for future planning in Greater Cleveland's growth and revitalization. While Cleveland is the case study in this film, the personal stories and narrations about the forces that shape current growth patterns are applicable to many other cities and regions across the country."

This one-hour documentary puts much focus on the periodic decline of the center city, the recent plague of widespread no-growth sprawl, inclinations of much of the population towards urbanism (manifest in new "urban" lifestyle centers), the decline of the area's first suburbs that resident and retail populations have left behind, and the implementation of counter-measures (such as residential and industrial land banks, brownfield cleanup, land conservancies and economic restructuring) that have become national examples.

The film describes center-city decline directly affected by migratory land-use patterns, in which infrastructure is left derelict, socio-economic classes are left behind and tax burdens become overwhelming with the demands of new infrastructures, schools and services in new urbanized areas. It is my hope that this documentary delivers the choice of "smart-growth" urbanism to the living rooms of suburbanites who have already considered a certain "moral responsibility" when purchasing a hybrid Honda, giving to Harvest-for-Hunger, recycling their soda bottles, voting, yoga-ing, eating their vegetables.... but still live in an Avon cul-de-sac, unaware of the opportunity to make a choice on where they live that will benefit a large part of the region's population as well as create a healthier life for themselves.

The film will next air Sunday, October 1 at 11am on WVIZ. In the months ahead screenings and discussions will be scheduled locally and Cleveland: Confronting Decline in an American City will begin airing on other public television stations across the country.

Below, a number of images of derelict industri-urban fabric from recent explorations of Cleveland's Flats:

Kunstler, P.II

2006-09-29T13:02:00.000-04:00

Today, I came across "A reflection on cities of the future," published yesterday in the Energy Bulletin. In this article, James Kunstler responds to architects' contemporary visions of cities' futures from Le Corbusier and his Plan Voisin to the new generation of "mojo architect savants" to the New Urbanists. Kunstler applies his observations of the present and predictions of the future described in The Long Emergency to these future cities.

"A reflection on cities of the future" seems to be reasonable Cliff's Notes version of Kunstler's full length book (if one doesn't read Emergency anytime soon)- as well a great complement to my in-progress reading of Kunstler's The Long Emergency.

If You Build It

2006-09-26T18:05:00.002-04:00

To attract tourist dollars and resurrect dying (or emerging) urban centers, it has become common practice today in American cities to blend cultural institutions, convention centers, sports venues, and luxury housing accompanied by a brand-name architecture. In this weekend's NYTimes, Nicolai Ouroussoff considers the new cultural monuments designed in Midwestern cities' Minneapolis, Denver and Toledo, the latest among those looking to capture the "Bilbao effect."

While skeptical of most big plans that he describes as "developer-driven formulas: an insipid blend of cultural tourism and corporate homogeneity that can produce urban centers littered with a range of architectural statements yet nonetheless hollow at the core," he notes that in many Midwestern cities, "the civic spirit often feels more vigorous than in global cities like Los Angeles and New York, which increasingly resemble playgrounds for the rich. The result (in the Midwest) is often a more experimental brand of architecture" and seemingly more successful.

Generally, Ouroussoff looks favorably on the latest additions to these cities, recognizing the "sincere effort to repair torn fabric." In particular, he notes that Toledo's new Glass Pavilion is "a project that revives one's faith in the ability of architecture - in its purest form - to have lasting impact on how we experience our cities." Among other buildings reviewed, Denver's new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater and the Minneapolis Public Library.

With the latest round of completions and announcements of local cultural landmarks: Akron Art Museum, MOCA, Cleveland Institute of Art, Natural History Museum, Cleveland Museum of Art, Convention Center, casino, Medical Merchandise Mart and recent revitalization efforts through the completion of the Gateway Sports Complex, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Great Lakes Science Center, it seems Greater Cleveland is as determined as any other city to shed its soot-covered overcoat for a new silver city. In concert, it still stands to be seen whether these monuments will elevate the city to a hightened maturity, or litter urban areas with monumental design mistakes.

It must be considered, that recent complementary projects of corridor and infrastructure rebuilding, residential construction and planning, and building rehabilitations suggest an indication that these monuments may be (or have been) the lynchpins in smart urban re-growth. I have yet to decide - regardless, the next decade will be fascinating to observe.

Note: In October, after a visit to Toledo's new Glass Pavilion, expect images and additional commentary.

The Long Emergency - A Prologue

2006-09-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

After a strong recommendation (and disclaimer about the sleepless nights that will follow) I have just begun to read The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twentieth Century by James Howard Kunstler. Having read Kunstler's The Geography of Nowhere a few years ago, and considering it among the more intriguing social commentaries of the evolution of the American urban landscape (and one which had significant influence in my developing urban 'ethos'), I look forward to diving into Kunstler's latest undertaking. This time, he states, he will concern himself with what he believes is happening and what will happen or is likely to happen to our lives in the post-industrial decades to come.

It begins:
"Above all, and most immediately, we face the end of the cheap fossil fuel era. It is no exaggeration to state that reliable supplies of cheap oil and natural gas underlie everything we identify as a benefit to modern life. All the necessities, comforts, luxuries, and miracles of our time - central heating, air conditioning, cars, airplanes, electric lighting, cheap clothing, recorded music, movies, supermarkets, power tools, hip replacement surgery, the national defense, you name it - owe their origins or continued existence in one way or another to cheap fossil fuel... The blandishments of cheap oil and gas were so seductive, and induced such transports of mesmerizing contentment, that we ceased paying attention to the essential nature of these miraculous gifts from the earth: that they exist in finite, nonrenewable supplies, unevenly distributed around the world."

Expect reaction and commentary within the following week...

Thank you!

2006-09-16T10:14:00.000-04:00

On a general note, I just wanted to recognize our regular and consistent readership and the few who have subscribed to The Design Rag since its beginning only a few months ago. While replies continue to be produced between The Design Rag contributors, your presense is acknowledged and very much appreciated. We expect that your quiet consistency is a gesture of support in our endeavor. As always, we encourage you to join in the discussion, whether comment, tidbit or criticism. Many of you are local (while we hope to be relevant to a universal audience) and likely familiar with our discussion - your thoughts are a welcome addition.

It is our intention for The Design Rag to be an experiment as a sort of digital journal of relevant architecture and urban topics. While we hope that our experience in this forum can lead to the creation of a print publication (in some capacity in a not-so-distant future) what the blog format allows (unlike any print journal could) is an instant and facilitated means to respond. We hope to continue to fully utilize this advantage. In addition, any input on the presentation or format of The Design Rag is also appreciated - contact the new Design Rag email address designrag@gmail.com for this or any other reason.

The Design Rag

How to Improve an “Architectural Masterpiece”

2006-09-12T18:47:00.000-04:00

In the past few years, several contemporary libraries have received considerable attention in the architectural media, particularly Rem Koolhaas’s Seattle Public Library. I have always been curious about how well these structures serve library patrons. A recent Seattle Post Intelligencer article entitled “Too Many People Getting Lost in New Downtown Library” by Kery Murakami sheds light on one problem with Koolhaas’s design. As the title explains, patrons are getting lost within the building. It is ironic that libraries’ purpose is to connect people with their information needs and the architecture is actually interfering with that process.

However, successful library design is requires more than clear layouts and Koolhaas’s design may be successful in other respects (I have heard mixed reviews ranging from an excellent place to too cold and inhospitable. I have yet to make it to Seattle to form my own opinion.).

The problem is being resolved with a $49,000 way-finding consultant that will place signage throughout the building. This move demonstrates that the problem is rather large. Librarians are not printing out paper signs and posting them. Rather the library requires outside assistance.

If I were Koolhaas, I would be embarrassed that an outside consultant is needed to realign the architecture with the institution’s purpose. But then again that is just me.

Ethnic Arteries

2006-09-06T23:01:00.000-04:00

A long bus ride to Chicago last weekend gave me plenty of time to catch up on a little reading. While taking the I-90 ride through Cleveland's westside exurbs, past the University of Notre Dame, through gritty Gary and within spitting distance of the White Sox new home (while proudly sporting my Tribe ballcap), I read through much of "Cleveland: A Metropolitan Reader", a collection of essays compiled in the late nineties on the history of social, economic and cultural change. The "Metropolitan Reader," suggests that Cleveland's history of change typifies the struggles and successes in the histories of most American cities - proposing, "Cleveland is a composite of the issues and movements that generally constitute American urban history... Central among these characteristics are privatism, economic restructuring, and ethnicity and race." The book grew from a lecture series at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs in '90 and '91 in which one set of lectures titled "Changing Urban Practice: Lessons from Cleveland" recounted practices in planning, policy and economic development that changed the City for the better and had instructive value for urban practice in other cities.

After spending some time in a new Polish neighborhood north of Chicago and reading reoccuring commentary on the importance of attracting new populations of immigrants to re-inhabit Cleveland's older urban neighborhoods, Edward Miggins' essay Between Spires and Stacks: The People & Neighborhoods of Cleveland was of particular interest. The essay follows the growth of Cleveland through its waves of ethnic groups and how the villages and neighborhoods created a cultural "mosaic" of development instead of the mythical melting pot that American cities are typically characterized as. While I, as well as most Clevelanders, understand the notion of ethnic "places" such as Little Italy, Slavic Village, Irishtown Bend and Chinatown, some which have retained its character and others since extant, Miggins identifies a more striking pattern of ethnic migration within the city along major arteries. He identifies "Detroit for Irish; Lorain for Germans; St. Clair for Slovenians and Croatians; Mayfield and Euclid for Italians; Kinsman and Woodland for Jews, Italians and Hungarians; Broadway for Poles and Czechs; and West 25th for Ukrainians and Poles." Typical in industrial cities with a history of early suburbanization, these ethnic "conveyor belts", seemingly, are more identifiable as the centers of these nationality groups' history instead of old-world-style village centers.

I traveled two of the west-reaching ethnic arteries from Downtown Cleveland to the postwar suburbs. Above is an aerial graphic locating Lorain Road (top) and West 25th Street/Pearl Road (bottom). Below are a few images from each route, tracing the Polish artery from Cleveland to Parma and the German artery from Cleveland to Fairview Park.

What can be drawn from these local migration patterns? (In my estimation)
Historically, the notion of neighborhood is described with definable edges or centered around shared public spaces. Consider, however, that most American urbanism centers around major public/private corridors and a history of moving in one direction or another along a corridor (yesterday a streetcar route, today an interstate highway) - instead of the melting pot or ethnic mosaic, a city composed of linear strands creating urban 'fabric.' Euclid Avenue, Lorain Avenue, West Sixth Street, Mayfield Road, Coventry Road, I-271, for example, reveal tradition and define the culture and character of this City better than Public Square, Lincoln Park or the Public Mall ever will. Recognizing that the heart of Cleveland commerce and public life is along these 'strands' can focus successful future planning and development in a way that crosses boundaries, connects feifdoms and reverses the direction of migration back into urban neighborhoods. Coordinated efforts to re-focus incentives and reconstruction along these multi-municipality corridors, in much the same way the Euclid Corridor project aims to achieve, will have a strong effect on creating a new healthy City. The tradition of American (especially Cleveland) urban spaces does not concentrate around neighborhood parks and plazas but around its streets and highways.

I highly recommend picking through the "Metropolitan Reader." An easy read, some of the essays include Cleveland: The Making and Remaking of an American City; Politics and the Development of Public Housing; Urban Populism, Fiscal Crisis, and the New Political Economy; Who Governs: The Corporate Hand; Housing: New Lessons, New Models.

Alien Spaceship Landing in Akron

2006-09-01T15:29:00.000-04:00

While visiting downtown Akron this past week, I was able to capture a single photo of progress on Coop Himmelb(l)au’s Akron Art Museum before my camera’s battery died. Unfortunately, it was not the best weather for photographing either. Better photos (and commentary) will be posted in the future.

Rock'n RNC?

2006-08-23T07:21:00.000-04:00

While I'm excited that the Republican National Convention will put Cleveland in the national and international spot light, I'm not so sure about this:

Rock'n RNC? If Cleveland is the Rock'n Roll capital of the world, whoever chose this slogan should know that Rock'n Roll and Republicans do NOT go together. War, corporate greed and advancing the police state are all values of rock'n roll? The irony sickens me, and I am a glutton for irony. But really the issue isn't about the Republicans and their policies, its about those who chose this slogan. Cleveland has milked this Rock'n Roll legacy enough. Rock'n Roll is dead. It died decades ago. Its time to be serious and endeavor to find something else of value to rest our laurels rather than an expensive and ill-conceived museum.

On a side note, the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America is in the process of publishing a book, Classical Architecture: A Handbook of the Tradition for Today. A description of the book can be found on The Classicist Blog. Although incomplete, several pages outlining the 5 orders and basic molding components are available for download, which I highly recommend doing. Once published, I would recommend purchasing it at the Classicist Bookshop.

L.S. Moore

Artifacts, II

2006-08-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

The weathered plaque above the entrance reads:

Federal Works Agency
Public Works Administration

John M. Carmody
Federal Works Administration

Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States

Cuyahoga River Improvements
Columbus Road Bridge
1940

The City of Cleveland
Harold H. Burton, Mayor

The pair of images above show the Columbus Road lift bridge and bridge 'shed' in Cleveland's industrial Flats. In several locations around the Flats, these bridge 'sheds' stand unnoticed and unused, while residential developments grow ever-closer in at least two of these locations (Columbus Road lift bridge and Center Street swing bridge).

At Columbus Road, Irishtown Bend Townhouses have risen across the street (behind the photographer in the above photos), while Lolly the Trolley 'train barns', the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op, the Cleveland Rowing Foundation boathouse, a future towpath trail extension and other plans are quickly displacing industry in this area of the Cuyahoga River basin.

Today's public dollars support recreational and residential growth where New Deal investments for industrial recovery were once built - creating an exciting opportunity for the rusted saviors of the past to be economic engines for a new era of growth in the Cuyahoga River Valley. Among architects and urbanists designing, researching and planning within the architypical industrial context, how will the forgotten artifacts of the City's past re-emerge to define new urban paradigms? Can the challenges of forgotten industry establish a local design culture or 'school' of thought?

Above, an image of the bridge shed between the Center Street swing bridge (not captured in this photo) and the Cuyahoga River below. Beyond, the growing Stonebridge development on either side of the old Superior Viaduct.

Note: For interesting surfing, see Save Our Steel, "A grassroots effort to preserve Bethlehem's past while ensuring its economic future." Be sure to view the photos of a model for a mixed-use redevelopment of the former Bethlehem Steel plant which includes a slots casino, SteelStax concert venue and a hotel.

Immoral Architecture?

2006-08-18T11:34:00.000-04:00

I recently had a conversation with an architect about carbon dioxide emissions and architecture. He recommended an informative site entitled Architecture 2030 that challenges architects to take an active role in combating global warming.

Our discussion covered all the normal topics until one point. He explained that architects have no choice but to design green architecture. I replied that the design community does have a choice, although continuing current practices would harm the environment. He responded that choosing to design without green concessions is “immoral.”

Now, the word “immoral” is getting thrown around a lot lately. However, this is the first time I have ever heard him say it. His word selection interested me… he did not use unprofessional, irresponsible, unwise, or even stupid. (Perhaps he could have used “unethical,” thus stripping some typical religious connotations, but this may have lessened its impact on some people.) Nevertheless, “immoral” goes beyond unprofessional, irresponsible, unwise, and stupid; it involves consciously choosing to perform an action defined as wrong. This is a tricky area: individual moral standards vary within our society. I would guess that most architects have no problems with their design processes. Is the continual design of energy-eating buildings an immoral act?

If an architect accepts that global warming is occurring and it will create problems for future generations, then concessions must be made to significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions in constructed designs. When doctors discover that a patient is dying during a procedure, doctors have an obligation to change their actions in order to save this individual. However, the “patient” in architecture is fuzzy. Architects’ primary obligation is to paying clients. However, architects also have a responsibility to the building occupants through regulations such as ADA and building codes. But what about the population that will never enter the building? Since their buildings spew toxins into the outside world, architects should consider the environment.

Who is responsible for advocating green design? Perhaps the government should pass stricter regulations. Obviously, architecture schools must advocate green design. However, professors cannot assign eco-friendly projects to designers outside of the school walls.

To me, the responsibility primarily falls on architecture firms. However, this may lead to finger pointing. The architect says that the client will not pay for green features. Architects are doing their clients’ bidding. In addition, interns and young designers believe they have no power in the firm. However, at the risk of sounding cynical, many baby-boomer architects may not see the full effects of current design practices in their lifetimes. Older architects are passing the buck onto the next generation while young designers follow their orders and adopt their practices.

The previously-mentioned individual also believes that his age bracket (baby boomers) will be referred to as “The Generation That Knew, But Did Nothing.” Hopefully, the younger generations will not receive even worse titles. Should we consider designing energy-wasting structures to be an immoral act?

How else do we describe the blatant disregard for the environment and its implication on future generations?

How else do we gather the amount of attention that this topic deserves?

How else do we make a turnaround in architectural practice?

Hello Cleveland!

2006-08-15T17:50:00.000-04:00

Thanks to today's links on Brewed Fresh Daily and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog, The Design Rag has seen a spike in Cleveland traffic this afternoon.

Welcome, if you are new to The Design Rag - here are a few suggested links to significant recent posts:

Reactions, speculations and discussion on Public Square recommendations with parallel commentary at fellow design/urbanism pages Blog on the City and Improvised Schema

Thoughts on the Cleveland Clinic proposal to close Euclid Avenue to auto traffic through the medical campus. Blog on the City's take.

A better future for you! (One way is to become a famous architect)

And lastly, for those who admit they don't really read the articles anyway, see here and here.

The Design Rag

Selling the City in Lights

2006-08-15T07:30:00.000-04:00

After a settlement between the City of Cleveland and Clear Channel Outdoor (as a result of the City unconstitutionally banned billboards advertising alcohol), the two may reach an agreement to allow six downtown billboards/murals/displays and one new billboard at Hopkins International Airport. Read the PD's story here.

Currently, Cleveland ordinance restricts the issuance of permits for billboards Downtown. As the Code states, "Billboards shall not be permitted in Cleveland Landmark Districts, Public Land Protective Districts, Business Revitalization Districts or on the opposite side of any street bordering such districts" (much of Downtown is described under the 'Public Land Protective District' designation). However, most recently, permit was issued to install Nike's LeBron James banner on the arena-facing wall of the Medical Arts Building (within the Protective District) and in the last few years Playhouse Square has added to its collection of electronic tickers, television displays and Broadway signs and lights. Similarly, lighted logos have been placed at the tops of downtown high-rises, the most notable addition a red key at the top of Key Bank's downtown headquarters, the tallest building in Ohio.

The addition of six new LeBron-sized banners, murals or digital displays and the precedent set for more to follow will have a significant (and exciting) impact on the appearance of Downtown Cleveland. Years of zoning codes and regulations have restricted advertising and signage to an unfortunate extreme, such that the Charter would lead you to believe Cleveland should be mistaken for Burnham's White City. Why discourage the use of ad signs and lights at the confluence of thousands of downtown workers and huge entertainment and nightlife crowds - the region's center for commerce, culture and entertainment?

The existence of zoning restrictions, however, positions Cleveland at an advantage for the placement of these new ads - only under Council's careful control will signs be placed and designed (preventing the standard highway billboard from making an appearance). Their likely additions at Playhouse Square and in the other downtown business and entertainment districts will certainly enhance the liveliness of the city and take a further step against the excessively-deliberate planning and zoning regulations and continue to encourage a more finely textured, organically changing downtown character. And of course, as an admitted product of the culture of consumerism, I rather enjoy the lights of Broadway, Shanghai's Pepsi (Nanjing) Road and Cleveland's LeBron (remember the Browns' Brian Sipe on the side of a since-destroyed Warehouse District building?). If the habits and traditions of a consumer society has as significant an influence over our lives, shouldn't the shape the cities we live in have the ability to reflect this character? Is much of the slow resurgence of this City and similarly plagued rust-belt cities a result of an inflexible form (outdated regulations, policies and attitudes) that struggles to adjust to a changed society?

Note: If you find yourself just as fascinated with the 'archaeology' of signs and ghost ads check out Cleveland SGS. This Flickr site contains nearly 900 photos of signs, advertising and ghost signs from around the city.

RFID, Humans, and Architecture

2006-08-06T11:48:00.000-04:00

[I apologize if this entry is a little off-topic… However, I think it is thought-provoking and relevant to designers]

What will future architecture be like? What new technologies will change the way we see and experience space? I believe that Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) may create major changes in architectural design. Whether we should openly accept them is another question.

Simply stated, RFID tracks and identifies materials using radio waves. Scanning devices broadcast electromagnetic energy through radio waves. When a tag enters this field, it responds by broadcasting its information. Tags need to be within a few inches of the scanner to be read. There are several types of tags, with some more secure than others. RFID has several applications. RFID security badges are replacing many magnetic swipe badges. “Smart” credit cards use RFID to increase consumer security. Wal-Mart requires pallets and shipping containers to incorporate RFID for easy inventory. Some libraries use it for quick circulation of materials. Farmers track livestock using RFID. Pets often have implanted RFID tags in case they get lost. A veterinarian simply scans the pet’s tag which broadcasts a number that corresponds to a record containing the pet’s information.

This entry was inspired my recent research into RFID and the Thursday August 3, 2006 WCPN program of “90.3 at 9.” You can listen to it or download it here: http://www.wcpn.org/podcast/nine.xml. The radio program featured two guests: John Procter of the Verichip Corporation and Chris Ling of ACLU of Ohio. They discussed Cincinnati-based CityWatchers’ decision to offer VOLUNTARY RFID implants to employees for security purposes. The tags, implanted in employees’ arms, allow for quick secure access to certain areas. It is said to eliminate the problem of employees borrowing others’ security passes. Googling Citywatchers will give you some articles about the decision.

As the program mentioned, human-implanted RFID has useful, although controversial, medical applications. An implanted tag can instantly notify paramedics of important patient conditions, such as diabetes, hemophilia, etc. Even still, I believe many people will (and should) be wary of implanted RFID.

Overall, the radio program’s discussion was basic and introductory. However, I feel Ms. Ling of the ACLU did not have a full grasp of the technology. She relied primarily on scare tactics and poor terminology. This is not saying that I support implanted RFID, rather I think her presentation did not address some major issues. For example, she missed a great opportunity when the RFID hacking was introduced. A caller mentioned the interesting Wired article entitled “The RFID Hacking Underground”. Mr. Procter of Verichip dismissed the prospects as negligible, however I think the topic required additional discussion.

As mentioned, privacy concerns require careful attention. While tags broadcast a number that has no meaning without a corresponding database, it coulf be easy to determine the proper database by following an individual into a building or hacking into various systems. Therefore, implanted RFID requires careful evaluation by the public and lawmakers. In addition, individuals must make their own decisions about implantation. However, as the program mentioned, people can be pressured into ‘volunteering.’ While I do not believe that this is a corporate (or government) conspiracy to control our lives, I believe that are major, legitimate concerns that must be addressed.

However, let’s put aside the controversy for a while. What can RFID change in architecture? Image a tag (whether worn or implanted) that only contains personal preferences (i.e. how much light, sound levels, etc.), and not security purposes. Architecture can take on an Active, rather than Passive role. The architecture responds to its occupants. While RFID cannot “track” individuals, placing multiple scanners in carefully positioned locations, such as chairs, doorways, and desks, can determine which people occupy a room and their average lighting or temperature preferences. Computer systems can automatically shut off lights in empty rooms. Energy can possibly be saved with these systems. Smart refrigerators can read tagged products and determine its contents and expiration date. While these are practical solutions, the physical space / experience may also change as people move through it. People interested in responsive architecture (not necessarily RFID implementations) should check out Interactive Architecture Dot Org .

Obviously, RFID has implications beyond creating responsive homes and workplaces. Its impact on architecture is (probably) very small compared to other sectors.

Our world has become more interactive and intrusive through measures beyond RFID. We often give up privacy for better (?) service. Every time I visit Amazon.com, it provides me with pretty good book recommendations that are based on my past purchases. At the grocery store, printed coupons on receipts are based on Advantage card records. Frequent credit card users can easily have their daily lives indirectly tracked by credit card companies. I have to say I like coupons and book recommendations. I think others do too. However, at what point will people prefer privacy over its potential benefits? Should we stop before implanting chips in our bodies? Should architects and designers specify / incorporate these systems into their designs? Do they have a choice?

In 50 years our implanted RFID tag may be keeping us physically comfortable and saving us money while we wonder what all this fuss was about. Are opponents standing in the way of progress? On the flip side, I see corporations (or governments) with access to every detail of our existence. Are opponents trying to save us all? Without a doubt, RFID will continue to make its way into our culture through commercial usage (inventory, etc.). How far will it permeate our lives? Where the line is drawn is (hopefully) up to us.

Infill Housing Incentives

2006-08-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

A few programs worth reading about that provide incentives for the creation of new housing within aging urban areas. Aside from tax financing packages to offset costs of re-claiming urban lots, the following cities are attempting the following initiatives to make new residential construction more financially competitive with suburban greenfield housing.

Sacramento
From the current Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse newsletter, the City of Sacramento is featured for its new initiative to provide pre-approved house plans for infill housing within the city. The 'Infill Coordinator' with the City of Sacramento notes that "a 2002 report indicates that over 5,000 vacant and/or blighted properties exist in Sacramento. The report estimates that these properties cover over 2,500 acres and have the potential to provide space for over 17,800 dwellings. Of this total, 70 percent, or 3,500 vacant parcels, were 10,000 square feet or smaller." Pre-approved house plans can be purchased from the City and expedite beginning of construction by as much as six weeks.

Portland
The Portland Living Smart Program arose as a response to infill development queries on vacant 25-foot lots. The City of Portland initiated a design competition to create the Portland Catalogue for Narrow House Designs (Dec 2004) to provide a resourse for building on these parcels. From the Living Smart Program website: "After the competition was finished, the City wanted to take Living Smart one step further by providing the public with affordable plan sets of well designed narrow lot houses. BDS contracted with two designers, who were both Jury and People's Choice award winners, to prepare a set of house plans that would be available to the public." The selected designs were granted 'permit ready' by the City Council and provided owners and builders a simplified process to building well-designed houses (as determined by the public and competition jury) on narrow residential lots. The image above is Bryan Higgins design for a house which was one of two selected from 426 submissions to be granted 'permit ready.'

Cleveland
To encourage the development of vacant parcels in Cleveland neighborhoods, the Department of Community Development maintains one of the nation's first residential Land Bank s. Lots are compiled and categorized as one of three types: non-buildable lots, $100 buildable lots and future development. To purchase a property from the City's inventory of buildable lots and build a house, a written request for the site and a detailed proposal must be approved by Council. After approval, the property is sold for $100 to the new owner who must commence construction within the following three months and finish construction in one year's time.

Lost Relevance

2006-07-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

The following experts come from an article "The Story of Cleveland" written by a Henry E. Bourne and published in the New England Magazine, August 1896:
(My notes are in italics.)

"...They(the railroads) might bring traffic to the city, but they could also, and did, carry by to other markets, freight which in the earlier days had to be at least trans-shipped at Cleveland. For this reason, in the latter part of the fifties(1850's), the city seemed in danger of suffering from arrested development, if not from actual decadence..."

"The career of Cleveland, like that of many other cities in the middle West, has been remarkable; but many years must pass by before it will become a city with a distinct civic individuality. It controls 300,000 or more inhabitants, scattered for ten miles along the Lake and five miles inland, and yet it is hardly more than a group of towns. A careful map of the city would show here a New England town, there a half dozen German streets, over yonder a Polish or Bohemian or Hungarian settlement, still further on a little Italy. Cleveland's sagacious business men have been very successful in welding diverse pieces of metal into great engines of power and good. Will they be equally successful in merging all these types of men, with their conflicting ideas, into a strong and loyal, broadly sympathetic body of Clevelanders?"

Has Cleveland lost her relevance in a global age? Has the global "rail road" passed her by? Has racism and "conflicting ideas" alienated her citizens and cast her once great neighborhoods into forgotten ghettos and fiefdoms? Where are her "sagacious" men and women now?

Despairingly yours,

L. S. Moore

FAT’s “How to become a Famous Architect”

2006-07-28T09:56:00.000-04:00

FAT is a British firm that offers a stinging How-To guide entitled: “How to become a Famous Architect.” I encourage everyone to read it and enjoy before reading further.

While the guide over exaggerates and ignores the hard work (?) and talent (?) it takes to become a “famous architect,” it presents several valid discussion points.

First, does “noteworthy” architecture prefer style over substance? According to the How-To guide, success relies on shocking firm names, photoshoped designs, and mystique. FAT explains that “if it sound good, it is good.” Take a look in many architecture books or periodicals: lots of pretty images and little writing. I would assume design decisions are based on intellectual reasons, but they are rarely presented. Without commentary, many designs appear intellectually shallow. They are simple formal or spatial plays that ignore the outside world. History, politics, religion, and pop culture present exciting opportunities for architecture, yet their influences are either ignored or not discussed.

On a related note, vague goobley-gook about ‘space’ and ‘form’ (derived from the mystique) is not an acceptable substitute for logical discussions about design. However, logical dialogue should not be confused with simple-minded discourses. It takes extensive intellectual ability to explain complex reasons with reasonable clarity – but surely this is not beyond the minds of the world’s best designers.

Taking this concept further, architecture can be seen as an argument – a physical construction of an architect’s ideas. Without logically-stated reasons, critics cannot judge whether the design succeeds or fails at conveying them. This is especially important in the “anything-goes” game of contemporary design. Instead of discussing design, architects emphasize novelty and pseudo-intellectual sound bytes. Since it is “unique,” it is “good.” Perhaps some architects, as FAT recommends, avoid comprehensible discussions to save themselves from well-deserved criticism.

Next, does the media and academia form our opinions on “good design”? As a recent graduate of architecture school, I felt professors’ philosophies were often shoved down my throat. Instead of allowing students to develop their own design philosophies, they are read from the gospels of Gropius, Mayne, and Gehry. In addition, a design was thought to be “pushing the envelope” because it was featured on the cover of Architectural Record. From my experiences, students accept the media’s and academia’s opinions with little object. If the “authorities” - who developed their opinions through instruction from the previous generation of “authorities” - say the design is good, then it must be good.

What would happen if major architectural journals started to feature only classically-inspired designs? Would people follow like lemmings? (Initially, I would say probably not… contemporary and modern architecture has deep roots in the architectural community … people tend to fight change (i.e. a return to classicism). But after some time passes, who knows? Note: I have nothing against classical architecture, it is merely an example).

However, the effectiveness of the (architectural) media appears to be limited to architectural circles. This is likely an oversimplification, but most homeowner prefer traditional houses over modern designs. Maybe they just “don’t get” contemporary designs. On the other hand, maybe they do!

It is unfair to portray the media as an elitist organization dictating design preferences. Books and journals serve an important purpose: they document new designs that most people will never see in person. In addition, not every project can be featured; therefore few buildings will be selected from the masses. My criticism is the media’s often-assumed authority on good design.

Obviously, there are exceptions to my comments. Many architects have intellectually stimulating designs (If anyone has some suggested designers, post them!). Likewise, I am not condemning contemporary design; rather I am stating my hopes for, in my opinion, better designs.

Now excuse me, I have to design my atom[ICK] decay house…

Artifacts

2006-07-26T15:18:00.000-04:00

Above, street car rails recently unearthed from excavations for the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project. The new Bus Rapid Transit vehicles that will travel Euclid Avenue between Public Square and East Cleveland, will be a subtle throwback to the streetcars that once traveled the corridor (visit Toronto to ride some of the old Cleveland trolleys). Anticipated completion of the new Rapid Transit Line will occur sometime in 2009.

Urban Conventions

2006-07-24T23:47:00.000-04:00

With work commencing on an expanded Javitz Center on New York City's Far West Side, a recently opened riverfront convention facility in Pittsburgh and other convention centers built or planned in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Cleveland, American cities have been racing to capture converging convention populations to revitalize aging city centers. By providing “insta-population” density, elected officials and business leaders hope to boost business at downtown restaurants, shops and hotels and attract a critical mass of people to encourage private investment in the urban core. While the economic benefits of these new and expanded downtown convention centers is debated among urbanists, undoubtedly, these new glass and steel behemoths are swallowing city blocks and imposing enormous, decorated warehouse volumes on pedestrian-scaled streets.

In this week's New Yorker, Paul Goldberger reviews Massimiliano Fuksas’ design for a new convention center in Milan. (See A Daily Dose of Architecture for coverage of its opening) The "most exciting convention center in the world," known as Fiera Milano, isn't located anywhere near the Italian city. Instead, the enormous Milan Trade Fair Complex sits at the site of an old gas refinery near an intersection of highways not far from the Milan airport. This new center, taking advantage of its sprawling site, is divided into "eight halls, each as large as a medium-sized American convention center... placed on either side of a central axis, an elevated street a mile long." As a result, the structure functions smoothly and efficiently and avoids the problem of overshadowing pedestrian-scaled urbanity. In contrast, designers’ recent response to urban convention centers’ challenges, often sacrifices the flexibility of expansive, uninterrupted exhibit spaces by separating and re-scaling volumes in a futile attempt to lessen the obtrusive presence.

The International Exposition Center in Cleveland, with over one million square feet of exhibition space, is one of the largest convention facilities in the world. While its incredible spans can accommodate auto shows, boat shows, and conventions of any size, it fails to offer the significantly more intimate meeting spaces and current comforts and amenities that newer facilities offer. As a result, its location adjacent to Hopkins International Airport has been planned for future airport expansion. The City of Cleveland along with local business leaders have identified the need to replace the aging IX Center with a new urban convention facility in Cleveland’s Downtown core. With a virtual guaranteed site behind Forest City's Tower City complex, continued discussion to attract a Medical Mart (read this week’s Crain’s Cleveland for an update) to become a critical component of the new project, and years of planning to gain public support and a plan to finance the construction of a brand new structure, Cleveland is likely to abandon the current convention center location south of the city to open a new urban convention facility sometime within the next decade.

“Convention-goers are expected to stay in Milan, and most of them travel to and from the city center via a new underground rail link. The Fiera is only a convention center – not one of those ‘edge-city’ nodes like Tyson’s Corner outside Washington, or the Galleria section of Houston, which try to provide all the elements of a traditional city amid suburban sprawl and end up draining the metropolis to which they are attached. The Fiera has no shopping, no cineplexes, and, for now, no hotels – nothing to fulfill the current mantra of ‘mixed-use’ as the obligation of all large-scale urban-development projects.”

In Cleveland, the anticipated convention center will complete the unfinished southern end of Tower City Center and sit on a site that cascades from the City streets atop the Downtown bluff to the industrial valley below. Among the final Downtown site selections, this site best avoids an uncomfortable confrontation with existing, more intimate context with a location at the southern edge of Downtown. In addition, it will connect into an already expansive office and entertainment complex, will provide an opportunity to connect truck and auto traffic to major interstates without significant interruption on the Downtown grid, and allow travelers to connect to the region’s airport via rapid transit.

A better opportunity to completely separate the sprawling and ever-changing functions and requirements of this exhibition ‘factory’ from the center city has been lost in the critical need for a revitalized Downtown. A regional convention facility, much like an area airport, does not need to occur at an urban center for the health of its city and metro area. A better-performing convention center and less invasive structure, that can still provide the same opportunity for hotel and restaurant dollars to be used Downtown, would be ideally situated in the way Milan’s Fiera has. Either replacing the existing IX Center and extending the airport rail line or building on a similarly located site can, like Milan Fiera, allow the convention center to be the best version of a convention center. Committing a convention center for a site which could better be used for hotel, office and retail expansion (located conveniently at Tower City’s rail hub) to serve an outlying facility, will follow the missteps that other American cities have already taken. The result will stifle an opportunity for a plagued urban center to refine its gritty character through organic demand and subsequent growth, by landing the human equivalent of an airport hangar at the heart of a steadily resurging city.

A Better Future for You

2006-07-19T21:38:00.000-04:00

For all of you out there who, like me, just can't get enough of the wonderfully innocent consumer images of the mid 20th century, then this website should satisfy your appetite. Cars, radios, industrial propaganda, fantastic images of our future, this site has it all. I highly recommend browsing through the decor section and definitely "the DT's"! Your life will not be complete without seeing this site. All your friends and neighbors have. Isn't it time you have too?

Your Partner in Mass Consumerism,

L.S. Moore

Turn on the Lights!

2006-07-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

Cleveland's Terminal Tower's arrived at her 75th anniversary celebration this year dressed in a cloak of steel scaffolding. For the next few years, Cleveland's historic tower will be undergoing an extensive restoration project on its stone exterior. Those familiar with the normally fully-lit tower have, sadly, seen it disappear each evening - leaving a much emptier Cleveland skyline to come home to.

Even with Key Tower or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as icons of recent years, the Terminal Tower remains the definitive Cleveland landmark since its completion 75 years ago. Meticulously documented in Cleveland archives and made famous in Margaret Bourke-White's photographs, the Terminal Tower should be dressed for its anniversary celebration.

While I find the steel scaffolding mildly attractive (as it gives the illusion of an inside-out top), it could benefit from a designs eye to enhance the superstructure through lighting, fabric or otherwise. Innumerable ideas could transform Terminal Tower into a work of art.

Precedents include Michael Graves design for the Washington Monument, the murals surrounding St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the lighting exhibition, Luminocity, of the Cleveland Trust Rotunda.

Euclid Medical Mall

2006-07-14T12:23:00.000-04:00

The top-ranked Cleveland Clinic is amidst a flurry of construction projects on their Main Campus with the anticipated 2008 completion of their $500 million Heart and Vascular Institute. The ten-story crescent-shaped heart center designed by NBBJ, will create a striking new public face for the health campus and become the focus of the new main entry for all patients, employees and visitors.

This building and other current and proposed building projects and infrastructure improvements continue to rise among more than a dozen city blocks between East 86th and East 107th Streets with a majority of recent construction and planning focusing around the north and south sides of Euclid Avenue, the historic artery between Public Square and the world renowned museums, universities and healthcare campuses on the east side of Cleveland.

While the urban core of Cleveland has been making a slow resurgeance, the Cleveland Clinic has been exploding in size and stature. For more than a decade the Clinic has been ranked among the top ten hospitals in the US, this year earning a top three ranking. The success of the Cleveland Clinic, along with University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University, has encouraged investment in local biomedical incubators, has netted millions in NIH research funding, continues to attract national healthcare conventions, and provides fuel for consideration of a new national Medical Mart, modeled on Chicago's Merchandise Mart.

Invariably, generations of growth to earn a top-three distinction, has had a lasting impression on the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus and in turn, on the eastside of Cleveland. A lack of extensive campus planning has left a confusing, disjointed hospital complex scattered over several city blocks. However, the planned opening of the new Heart Center and Urology Institute has set in motion a massive planning effort by the Cleveland Clinic, in cooperation with landscape architect Peter Walker, to develop a comprehensive design strategy through and around existing buildings and create a plan for future expansion. In the local media in the past week, we've seen the first results of the ongoing planning process. In Friday's Plain Dealer, Tom Breckenridge featured Walker and the Clinic's ambitious plan to close Euclid Avenue to auto traffic as it passes through the Cleveland Clinic campus. The local television media also covered the plans, featuring the Clinic's statement and reactions from the City.

In this undertaking, RTA's new bus rapid transit would continue to carry passengers through the new transit mall between East 86th St. and East 105th St. Auto traffic would be diverted around the campus onto Chester and Carnegie, and a new boulevard-style entry road would take visitors from Chester Avenue to a circle in front of the new heart center. Currently, the Cleveland Clinic is approaching the City and RTA to determine the feasibility of closing this stretch of moderately trafficked and heavily transit-traveled federal highway route. See the PD's interpretive site diagram below:

While an architecture and urban design education has instilled in me an instinct to rail broad modern "urban renewal" projects such as Erieview and the demolition of the Warehouse District, it also left me with an enormous appetite for big ideas. The Clinic, with a $1 billion annual building budget and in vicious competition to become the nation's number one hospital has the influence to make earth move. Like the industrialists of an earlier era, the Cleveland Clinic and other biomedical institutions have and will make an everlasting impact on the City. A project of this size and scope, as a design education had taught us, is worth our serious consideration (and this substantial weblog entry).

The Clinic's latest building spree has produced the stand-alone Cole Eye Institute, Taussig Cancer Center (both designed by Pelli) and the International Hotel and Suites among others - all set twenty feet or so off the Euclid sidewalk and landscaped with low shrubs and carefully manicured grass lawns. With the continuing direction of the design and placement of these new buildings, this stretch of Euclid Avenue has gone from the dense Doan's Corners neighborhood it once was, and has been transformed into the health "campus" that we see today. All that remains from the past, is a decidedly urban, but severely underused, traffic artery, transit route and pedestrian right-of-way juxtaposed against an ever-emerging campus of specialty institutes, research centers and hotels.

Compare this new hospital campus to academic university campuses. While one can't deny that urban university campuses can be seemlessly integrated into the City, ie., combining residential and retail uses along with classrooms and university offices, a parklike healthcare campus within the City is an ideal planning solution for a number of reasons: to locate highly specific, but inextricably linked (consider nervous disorders affecting one's heart, for example) healthcare facilities adjacent to one another, to create a softer and more welcoming image and healing environment, and to capitalize on the Clinic's desired growth-strategy through cooperative concentrated off-campus development that some urban campus universities (see Case's Triangle, CSU's Collegetown and OSU's South Campus Gateway projects) are just beginning to invest in.

A move this dramatic will bring together, for the first time, city planners, the Regional Transit Authority and the Cleveland Clinic to make a coordinated change through multiple city neighborhoods. A bold direction like creating a transit and pedestrian Euclid mall between East 86th and East 105th will further improve this portion of the Euclid Corridor (with thoroughly calmed and softened Euclid through the medical campus) and provide an unprecedented opportunity to leverage the Clinic's plans against the planning of a concentrated mixture of neighborhood amenities and employee services at each end of the Euclid Mall and along the increasingly trafficked Carnegie Avenue. Zoning and planning can influence successful development along these nodes of growth at the periphery - the realization that many urban universities and cities have just begun to come around to after years of town and gown conflict.

An urban campus is not the cause of further accelerating the blight of its neighbors, instead, the failure to cooperate and create timely urban development policy to support and capitalize on big, once-in-a-generation investments by these new Cleveland industrialists is keeping the small resurgeances of these neighborhoods from turning into a dramatic rebirth.

As details of the Cleveland Clinic's plans begin to emerge and the City and RTA continue to respond, I expect this discussion will become more specific and heated. Check out some of the area message boards (GreenCityBlueLake, Brewed Fresh Daily, UrbanOhio and Cleveland blogs) for other observations and opinions.

Hip to Be

2006-07-12T17:18:00.000-04:00

An editorial in Crain's Cleveland this week came from Leadership Cleveland Class of 2004 members Mayor Debbie Sutherland, Councilman Martin Sweeney and Andrew Roth informing the business community that the Public Square proposal published recently by the Plain Dealer was a product of their own conclusions and design visions (a nod to Blog on the City for the heads up). A point they stress (and for which The Design Rag had previously attributed to the famously opportunistic Volpe) is that the only successful resolution of the underperforming Square is to fully unify the space. Get your hands on this week's Crain's or subscribe to the digital magazine to read what they had to say.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The removal of intersecting roadways and a completely and permanently unified Public Square is the only good solution to provide an opportunity for a successful, memorable and positively monumental public space. Before the public weighs in on narrowly focused elements and activities (such as previously proposed ice skating rink, restaurant, bicycle rental, add your personal piece of heaven here...) a collective Cleveland voice needs to emphasize the importance of a rebuilt Public Square and the desire to have a permanantly contiguous Public Square.

Visionaries must consider solutions to the most important challenges of creating a unified Square - re-routing traffic and transit, addressing and engaging adjacent landmarks and destinations (Burnham's Group Plan, Tower City Center, Soldier and Sailors Monument, Euclid Avenue, the Cuyahoga River, RTA's Rapid Transit, Lake Erie, etc., etc.) and creating a new identity for the space. These decisions will leave an everlasting impact on the future of Cleveland as much as Burnham's Mall, the Union Terminal and I.M. Pei's Erieview plan have already, and create a framework in which shortsighted uses, events, and activities can come and go and continue to evolve over the next several generations.

Consider the above alignment of plaza/greenspace and roads. This "Corner Roadway Scheme" provides intersecting tunnels under Public Square, corner roads for the interception of Euclid Avenue, an opportunity for traffic and transit to move between caddy-corner streets and open plazas to Tower City Center and Mall A. The potential refinement of this layout has been illustrated in the previously posted "Forested Plaza" option.

What is the best alignment of infrastructure and pedestrian circulation to achieve a fully unified Public Square? How do the towers surrounding the Square as well as anticipated development affect the character of the space? What is sacred? Is anything from the current Public Square and surrounding context untouchable?

Direct ongoing discussion on Public Square and our illustrated proposals on this page or contribute visions and discussion to Improvised Schema's recently created discussion forum concerning this topic and future design discussions.

Square Speculations

2006-07-09T23:25:00.000-04:00

See the above sketch for the first in several thoughts on how Public Square could be revisioned. This attempt and subsequent attempts to re-design Public Square may not always present fully developed concepts - expect to see practical solutions as well as ambitious and sometimes outrageous elements. Regardless, our intent is to encourage the discussion and dissemination of larger ideas that will result in a fully-utilized Public Square and a thoroughly considered monumental space that Clevelanders can be proud of and visitors write home to mom about.

We encourage comments and hope to see further discussion and visions for a new Public Square. See Improvised Schema's Call for Ideas and reactions from "The Design Rag" and "Blog on the City" for background on the Public Square challenge.

Star-Spangled Spectacular Concert and Festival

2006-07-07T01:56:00.000-04:00

Come to Public Square after work Friday for the Star-Spangled Spectacular Concert and Festival. There's been much discussion in the print and digital community on the present and future of Public Square in the past month. This event, besides a chance to enjoy the sounds of the world-renowned Orchestra, is a rare opportunity to see thousands descend upon the Square and see the four quadrants unified into a single public open space.

The following calendar courtesy of the Cleveland Orchestra pressroom.

CALENDAR LISTING

Star-Spangled Spectacular Concert and Festival

Date: Friday, July 7, 2006
Time: Concert will begin at 9:00 p.m. and will end at approximately 10:15 p.m.
Where: Public Square in Downtown Cleveland
What: The Cleveland Orchestra
Assistant Conductor James Gaffigan, conductor
Measha Brueggergosman, soprano
Dee Perry, host
Fireworks

Program:
J.S. SMITH The Star-Spangled Banner
WAGNER Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
WAGNER “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhäuser
BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide
ANDERSON The Syncopated Clock
ANDERSON Blue Tango
ANDERSON Bugler’s Holiday
GERSHWIN “Summertime” and “My Man’s Gone Now” from Porgy and Bess
BRAHMS Hungarian Dances Nos. 3 and 1
TCHAIKOVSKY “1812” Overture
WARD America, the Beautiful
SOUSA March, “The Stars and Stripes Forever”

Pre-Concert Festival (programmed in collaboration with the 2006 Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology)

Time: 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. prior to the Orchestra’s performance
Where: Public Square in Downtown Cleveland
What: Festival performances by Cleveland-based music groups

4:00-4:40 p.m. Grupo Brasil
Portuguese music with Samba & Capoeira dancers
4:40-4:45 p.m. Video art of Kasumi
5:00-5:40 p.m. Halim El-Dabh and the Kent Community Drummers
Egyptian classical percussion music with traditional instruments
5:40-5:45 p.m. Video art of Kasumi
6:00-6:40 p.m. Joe Hunter’s Swinging Six and the Get Hep Dancers
Swing music with vocalist Erin Kusel & the Get Hep Swing Dancers
6:40-6:45 p.m. Video art of Kasumi
7:10-7:55 p.m. Cats on Holiday and The Prayer Warriors
Roots/Americana music with gospel singers
7:55-8:00 p.m. Video art of Kasumi
8:00 p.m. 2006 Cleveland Arts Prize videotaped award presentation