The moviegoer (2)

Posted on August 29, 2012 | 6 comments

Starved for good film

After another great weekend of the Sidewalk and SHOUT film festivals here, Birmingham remains the odd-man-out both in the state and nationally as a major city with no dedicated screens for indie/small distribution films. We need a cinema that not just meets demand for this type movie, but also serves as a hub for the organization that puts on the festivals. Its mission could be community-based with programming and services for school kids, other cultural entities, universities, etc.

Meanwhile in a more fortunate locale

Up in Fairfax, VA–a suburb outside of Washington, DC– the Angelika chain is opening a new cinema to help anchor a large new mixed-use development arranged around a transit hub (above). The power of good film and the power of good transit: two ideas that Birmingham needs to embrace.

[thanks to sidewalk for the Alabama Theater pic and eyahomes for the angelika pic]

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Deactivating storefronts

Posted on August 22, 2012 | 10 comments

Retail clothing becomes retail banking

This morning at Design Review Committee, approval was given for new awnings and signage at the historic Massey Building (corner Third Avenue North and Richard Arrington Blvd., ab0ve) for a new bank branch for Iberia Bank. While filling a vacant corner storefront is generally good, a bank branch is a lesser replacement for Remon’s, the longtime upscale men’s clothier. After decades downtown, Remon’s expanded to the suburban Summit shopping center a couple years ago and then quietly closed the downtown location shortly thereafter. The bank is lesser because the clothing store had regularly changing, high quality shop window displays. Lesser because good retail is few and far between downtown, while bank branches are ubiquitous. Lesser because, despite the decent new awnings and signage, this intersection loses a local business that made it feel special.

The gates are now closed

A similar situation has occurred across 3rd Avenue at the historic Title Building (above): a longtime coffee shop closed, and was replaced by a short-lived O’Carr’s restaurant franchise. When the restaurant closed, the place was converted into ordinary office space, signage was removed, blinds were drawn, and another hub of activity was eliminated from the intersection.

…and another bank branch

Speaking of ubiquitous, on the SE corner of the intersection we already have another bank:  First Commercial Bank‘s branch (above). The remaining corner is taken up by a large entrance lobby for the Concord Center which–while housing some of the best “lobby art” visible from a downtown street–is still an office building lobby. With the architectural prominence of the buildings on this intersection, and their massing which helps define the north-south corridor of Richard Arrington, it’s sad there are now no ground floor uses which engage the public in a more meaningful way. We have recently discussed how Mobile has a program to encourage retailers to come downtown; the state of this intersection illustrates how much our city needs one too.

Perhaps a new lease on life, yet again

Finally, now that the old “Ready in 2012” signage has come down from the much-anticipated, much-delayed Pizitz Building development, a smaller “Now Leasing” sign has appeared (above). We suspect this heralds a serious new effort by the developer to make this project happen, albeit perhaps in a different form than previously announced. Definitely stay tuned.

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Design Review August 22

Posted on August 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Here is this Wednesday’s agenda for the August 22 Design Review Committee meeting. Remember, the meetings are open to the public and take place at 7:30 AM at Auburn Urban Studio, 3rd Floor of Young and Vann Building, corner of 18th Street North and First Avenue downtown.

I.        Call to Order:  Minutes of the August 8, 2012 meeting.

II.        Name: Mr. Larry Depiano

Site Address: 3592 Altamont Road

District:  RedMountain Suburbs Local Historic

Requesting approval for: Enclosure of existing sun room; addition of shutters; painting; and front yard parking pads

III.       Name:  Dr. Israr Ahmed

Site Address:  3215 Cliff Road

District: Highland Park Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Enclosure of existing front porch and carport/porte-cochere; side porch renovations; replacing door overhang on carriage house

IV.       Name:  Mr. Peter Maynard

Site Address:  1210 33rd Street North

District: Norwood Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Window replacement, new porch floor, and painting

V.        Name:  Mr. Irwin Bros Remodeling Inc.

Site Address:  731 29th Street, South (Moes Original BBQ)

District:  Lakeview

Requesting approval for: Exterior Renovations

VI.       Name: Mr. Ross McCain (KPSGroup)

Site Address:  2025 3rd Avenue, North, Iberia Bank (old Remon’s location)

District: 21st Street

Requesting approval for:  awnings & signage

VII.     Name:  Mr. David L. Meador (Architect) Ms. Teri Bates (Pro-Sign Inc.)

Site Address: 9509 Parkway East (Taco Bell)

District:  Parkway East

Requesting approval for: Renovation and Signage

VIII.    Name: Mr. Dayne Nelson (Sign and Graphics Inc.)

Site Address: 2170 Highland Avenue, South (Alamerica Bank)

District:  Five Points South

Requesting approval for:  Signage

IX.       Name: Mr. David Brandt (Fravert Services)

Site Address: 805 St. Vincent’s Dr

District:  Lakeview

Requesting approval for: sign for NorthTower & NeuroSpineCenter.

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Thank you BPL

Posted on August 17, 2012 | 3 comments

Making it more accessible

Today the Birmingham Public Library has announced an expansion of its newly named Birmingham Architecture and Design Collection, part of the library’s Department of Archives and Manuscripts. This new effort will involve enhanced collection, promotion, preservation, and access to materials related to local design (above, the original Alabama Power Company building, 1925, by Warren Knight and Davis).

A collaboration between the library and local members and supporters of the design community, this is a welcome new resource for the City, and one more tool to help improve demand for good design. Thank you to everyone who’s put this project together!

[photo courtesy Birmingham Public Library]

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Urban life

Posted on August 13, 2012 | 5 comments

Squint and you could almost see Jane Jacobs

Being able to experience New York City on a regular basis means sharing scenes of life in the big city. Above is Soho, whose many high-priced boutiques, hordes of tourists, and designer brands have melted away to reveal, at least at this intersection of Thompson and Prince Street, a Jane Jacobs-esque tableau of local shoppers, humble corner store, and lots of finely detailed and humanely scaled buildings.

Steady as she goes

A few blocks east, the above scene was witnessed: a massive bronze sculpture being carried out of a gallery and onto a waiting truck. The difficult process was spellbinding.

Well now we know where the budget got cut

New York by Gehry–the tallest apartment building in the country (designer: Frank Gehry)–has an undulating facade that’s strikingly beautiful. Unexpected is the “back” facade (left, above) which has no undulation. It’s a decent enough foil to the articulation of the other 3 sides, but is still disappointing in its sheer flatness.

A matter of scale

Above is a corner of the 2nd floor courtyard in our building in the upper reaches of Hell’s Kitchen. The massive size of this new project (designer: Enrique Norten) testifies to the continual demand for housing in this city.

Flaneur’s delight

Madison Square Park (above) and Broadway adjacent are brimming with well-kept landscaping, seating, and diverse buildings that frame views. Note the branded neighborhood banner; if you look closely, you’ll see that Con Edison is the banner sponsor (a clever way of engaging the private sector in public place making).

Who needs the Hamptons?

Finally, a somewhat dreaded trip to the IKEA store in Red Hook, Brooklyn became an unexpected pleasure: above is the complimentary ferry service that leaves from the Wall Street area and sails in about 15 minutes to the IKEA pier. Fantastic views of the city skyline and Lady Liberty, out on the water on a glorious summer day, completely gratis: does it get better than this?

 

 

 

 

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New Haven’s doing it

Posted on August 7, 2012 | 11 comments

Urban policy, Eisenhower-style

While recently Birmingham got the good news about winning a federal TIGER grant (which will allow, among other things, sidewalk and bike lane improvements around downtown), we also got the decidedly more challenging news that the downtown I-20/59 connector will be rebuilt by ALDOT pretty much in its current form–rather than sunken, or moved. Up in New Haven, CT another TIGER grant will allow the state and city to remove the Route 34 connector (above, ca. 1962) and replace it with landscaped streets, new mixed-use development, and bike access dubbed Downtown Crossing. New Haven and the state of Connecticut have been very deliberate in promoting the plan’s benefits to business growth, urban livability, and dispersal of car traffic along multiple city routes. It’s a big change in policy from the 1950’s, when that city was a national model for urban renewal and auto-influenced planning; this project alone displaced almost 1000 residents and hundreds of businesses in an effort to move cars more efficiently.

The opposite of contextual

The connector effectively divided downtown: on one side lies the central business district and Yale University, on the other side Yale Medical School, the train station, and residential neighborhoods. In between became a no-man’s land of wide highway, parking lots, and garages, including the famous Temple Street Garage (Paul Rudolph, 1962, above) whose sinuous concrete curves have been much admired despite other, less positive attributes of this building. The urban impact of the garage, and the rest of the car-centric connector, can be seen in this photo where the historic fabric of New Haven faces a solid block of parking across a narrow street.

Trying to knit it back together

The map above shows the greater context, and how two cross streets will be reopened to traffic, extending the city grid (which by the way is also famous for being the first true urban grid in the US, ca. 1639). The center portion shown in yellow will be opened to private developers with an emphasis on the biotech industry.

Is it enough?

Above is the rendering of one of the proposed new buildings. Despite the effort, there has been plenty of criticism of this plan, ranging from commuters anxious about how they will navigate the new streets, to citizens’ groups worried the plan is still too car-friendly, to local architects upset about the bland, “anywhere” quality of the proposed new architecture. Knitting the city back together across this wound while satisfying diverse constituencies is a real balancing act.

In all its glory

Another relic of the frenzy of automotive-related development from the heyday of this project is the Air Rights Garage (above), which perches over the connector and is slated to remain in the new plan. It will be fascinating to see how the development evolves. Kudos, overall, to New Haven and Connecticut at least trying to remedy old-fashioned ways of thinking about the city and its needs. Cars were–and are still–important. But they no longer should be considered the most important aspect of planning. Urban life is too complex for such simplistic thinking.

[thanks to new haven museum for the historic pic; payton chung for the Temple Street garage pic; Wall Street Journal for the graphic; New York Times for the rendering, and New Haven Independent for the Air Rights Garage pic]

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Design Review August 8

Posted on August 6, 2012 | 2 comments

Here is this Wednesday’s agenda for the August 8 Design Review Committee meeting. Remember, the meetings are open to the public and take place at 7:30 AM at Auburn Urban Studio, 3rd Floor of Young and Vann Building, corner of 18th Street North and First Avenue downtown.

I.         Call to Order:  Minutes of the July 25, 2012 meeting.

II.        Name:  Ms. Lissy Frese (Cohen Carnaggio Reynolds)              DELETED

Site Address:  1031 43rd Place South

District: Forest Park Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Demolition and New Construction

III.       Name:  Mr. Peter Maynard                                                                  DELETED

Site Address:  1210 33rd Street North

District: Norwood Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Window replacement, new porch floor, and painting

IV.       Name: Mr. Brad Johnson (Chick-fil-a)

Site Address: 1913 5th Avenue North

District: Birmingham Green

Requesting approval for:  Outdoor Café

V.        Name:   Mr. Ryan Meon

Site Address:  3901 10th Avenue South

District:  Forest Park Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Addition (partially screened deck) to Existing House

VI.       Name: Mr. Berry Hearn (Live Design Group)

Site Address: 2808 7th Avenue, South (297)

District:  Lakeview

Requesting approval for: Sign Standards

VII.     Name:  Mr. Hank Long (Henry Sprott Long & Associates)

Site Address:  937 42nd Street South

District:  Forest Park Local Historic

Requesting approval for:  Demolition and New Construction

VIII.    Name:   Steve Looney

Site Address:  744 Lomb Avenue

District: Lomb Avenue

Requesting approval for: Sign

IX.       Name:  Ms. Linda Coleman

Site Address:  906 2nd Street

District:  Pratt

Requesting approval for:  Demolition

X.        Name:  Willie Oliver

Site Address:  116 Sheridan Road

District:  Pratt

Requesting approval for:  Door and window replacement

XI.       Name: Mr. Jeff Thomas (Barber Companies)

Site Address: 608 23rd Street South

District:  Midtown

Requesting approval for:  Paint

XII.     Name: Mr. Dayne Nelson (Sign and Graphics Inc.)

Site Address: 2170 Highland Avenue, South (Alamerica Bank)

District:  Five Points South

Requesting approval for:  Signage

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Game of checkers

Posted on August 2, 2012 | 8 comments

Will the net effect be…

This morning the Birmingham Business Journal reported that Cadence Bank will move its headquarters from the historic John Hand Building (corner of First Avenue North and 20th Street downtown) a few blocks north to the Concord Center (Third Avenue North and Richard Arrington Blvd, above). The bank plans to lease about 55,000 SF of space which is being vacated by the law firm Adams and Reese–which in turn is renting space in the Regions Harbert Plaza another few blocks north. No word yet on what happens to the empty space in the John Hand; one can only assume the actual retail bank facility will stay on the ground floor there, although this was unconfirmed.

…greater than zero?

Part of the story here is what happens in any soft real estate market–landlords are offering great deals, and businesses are taking advantage by swapping spaces. But the rest of the story is all-too-familiar downtown: existing local businesses exchanging each other’s spaces, without enough new businesses moving into the mix. It sometimes feels like a static checker board with a fixed set of pieces to play with. We need more than that for a growing, truly vibrant city center (John Hand Building, above).

Recycling

The Pizitz Building redevelopment (rendering, above) was recently poised to go forward with a lead commercial tenant, the Baker Donelson law firm. The deal became stalled, and then unravelled for complex reasons; but the point is that if Baker had moved, they would have left a large gap at the Wells Fargo Tower a few blocks away–with no obvious replacement. Most other proposed Pizitz tenants were also already in the city center.

This is not to say moving, and “swapping places” within a neighborhood is bad. It will always happen. We’ve just got to do a better job of growing the field–so that one building’s gain isn’t another building’s loss.

[thanks to Bayer Properties for the rendering]

 

 

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Big box, meet big city

Posted on July 31, 2012 | 20 comments

State Street adapts

Many Chicagoans gasped twice in the last five years–initially when famed local department store Carson Pirie Scott announced it was closing its downtown State Street flagship after over a century, and again once discount retailer Target announced it would lease the bottom two floors of the redeveloped historic structure (designed by Louis Sullivan in 1899, above).

Not your normal Target experience

The new store, which opened last week, is an example of a growing trend of big-box retailers opening new urban locations, as a saturated suburbia no longer offers opportunities for growth, and and inner-city populations are seen as the last under-served frontier (note in the interior shot from the Target above, both Sears and TJ Maxx are visible across the street). Rather than imposing suburban building models onto dense downtown environments, these retailers are inventing new urban models that are smaller, more flexible, and more compatible with pedestrian-friendly environments (see this recent article from the New York Times on the subject). The Target on State Street has been getting some good reviews for its sensitivity to the historic architecture, its well-designed storefronts, and the modest proportions of its famous logo.

Hey, urbanites deserve blue-light specials too

As Birmingham strives to entice more retail to the city center and adjacent neighborhoods,  retailers are increasingly primed to work with cities using solid urban design principles, rather than insisting on older, more suburban paradigms (above, the Kmart off of Astor Place in Manhattan, in the former Wanamaker’s Department Store). In a place like downtown Manhattan (or to a lesser degree downtown Chicago), the entry of big-box retailers has been controversial due to the preexisting network of independent retailers in those neighborhoods. In Birmingham, that network doesn’t widely exist, making the entry of new retailers a much more promising possibility–especially if we insist on the kind of good design for which, well, Target has made a name for itself.

Ground floor/basement of Pizitz Building, perhaps? As long as we can still fit in the V. Richard’s branch…

[thanks to New York Times for Target, chicagoist for Target interior, and locationresearch for Kmart]

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Delivering the message (2)

Posted on July 25, 2012 | 12 comments

At long last

At today’s Design Review Committee meeting, unanimous approval was given to a new branding concept for the “micro-neighborhood” of Second Avenue North between 25th Street and Richard Arrington Blvd (logo above, designed by Shannon Harris of Big Communications). After writing in this blog about the lack of good neighborhood branding in this City last year, your author teamed up with a group of local 2nd Avenue merchants, residents, and supporters to put together a plan for branding this burgeoning urban place. After much work, and neighborhood presentations to garner support, we now have a plan. And it’s exciting for several reasons.

Now I know where I am

First, good branding will reinforce this place’s identity for residents, merchants, and visitors. Easy-to-spot banner signage (above) coupled with a website (coming soon!), brochures, and other items will make 2nd Avenue simpler to find, navigate–and market to prospective new users. Awareness is raised, and visibility heightened.

That most urban of street furnishings

Second, it introduces fresh design to the public realm. Certain items in the public right-of-way (like benches in the lovely 2nd Avenue “butternut” hue, above) help cohere the street and extend the brand. Final locations will be determined–there will be enough for consistency, but not so much to overwhelm the eclectic, natural power of the street.

We need ’em

Third, we love bikes. Bike racks (above) identify the street (and by extension the greater neighborhood) as bike-friendly. Currently in front of Urban Standard alone, the one bike rack is often double-loaded, with others tied to whatever other pole may be available. Our bikes deserve more respect.

Most importantly, we hope this small 4-block effort will serve as a catalyst for a comprehensive branding program endorsed by the City. Nothing would be better than for 2nd Avenue to link logically with other branded neighborhoods. It’s high time we all agree that the current legal neighborhood structure–while important politically–is very different from the reality of how urban places emerge and develop (and often cross over legal boundaries). Most every other city has realized this distinction between political geography and the more complex fabric of urban places.

This is currently a total volunteer effort (graciously assisted by Operation New Birmingham). The next step is to raise funds (through donations, grants, and other sources) to determine the total scope of Phase One. More information will be coming soon. Until then, get ready 2nd Avenue: you’ve only seen the beginning.

 

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