urbanSTL

jlblues wrote:No luck finding any pictures of vegetation-covered car parks on The Google, so far

DeBaliviere wrote:

Perfect, thanks! I think I've seen that second one, but I don't remember where it is...



Again, I'm no landscape architect, but English Ivy grows incredible fast, grows anywhere, is evergreen, and doesn't damage surfaces as far as I know...

I'm fairly sure we can grow Ivy in our climate, as it seems to do fairly well in Chicago. The garage on 11th would be perfect for ivy planters surrounding the ground floor, allowing it to creep in the concrete. I'd imagine this adds many extra costs, however, which anyone owning a garage would obviously not want to have to expend. No one likes to cut into profits, especially when it is allready functioning. The downtown partnership funding sounds like a good idea, but I doubt they would be receptive to expending much money on that garage, as it is pretty tucked away. It would really be cool in that area, however, and would blend much more aesthetically (sp...feeling lazy) with the lovely brick that is being restored in the neighboring BP Lofts.

I like the green garage in the first photo but hate the second. Too much "organized" ivy for my taste. I really like the idea of green being added but also like the idea of some type of contemporary abstract urbanesque design being implemented.

JMedwick wrote:Indeed, I think ivy coverings on some of downtown's uglier garages (retrofit the Garage on 11th next to the Cupples project, the garage on 11th next to the Old SBC building, and the MAC garage) would be a good idea. There is a variety of ivy that is non-evergreen and turns red in the fall. I have long thought this a good covering fur the Stadium East and Stadium West garages.

Either Virginia creeper or Boston ivy would fit the bill, the latter of which is used on the walls at Wrigley Field.

The second one is disgusting. I would never want that here.

Those are both kind of extreme examples. I think thinner ivy would look much better.

jlblues wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:

Perfect, thanks! I think I've seen that second one, but I don't remember where it is...



Again, I'm no landscape architect, but English Ivy grows incredible fast, grows anywhere, is evergreen, and doesn't damage surfaces as far as I know...

this is in Miami Beach on Collins Ave



The hedge is more like trees, they are very thick and it actually doesnt even look like a garage



The bottom floor is full of retail facing Collins mostly clothes and shoe shops, also a big mexican restauant on the far corner

This garage is no architectural triumph, but it looks better than I imagined.



Not to go completely off topic, but didn't the developers of Maryland Plaza try to cover the wall of the parking garage facing the backstreet where The Cupcakery is located with ivy or something? Well, something should be done to make it look more inviting.

The new garage looks OK to me. I like adding color to downtown. And it looks like they made an effort to relate to the Justice Center.

Framer wrote:And it looks like they made an effort to relate to the Justice Center.

I agree- that was an unexpected pleasant surprise. And thankfully there won't be any hubcaps!

IMHO, the Kiener garages need a facade coverup more than any others in Downtown STL. Of course, they should be ideally redeveloped as tall buildings, but cover them up in the meantime. If not going for hanging plants, I always thought Kiener would be a neat place for a local version of Times Square.



Would Tucker-Clark be a visible intersection for dramatic advertising? The City could use the revenue. Although as fragmented as the City is, the money would likely belong exclusively to the City Treasurer, aka Parking Czar (Larry Williams).

citywatcher wrote:this is in Miami Beach on Collins Ave



The hedge is more like trees, they are very thick and it actually doesnt even look like a garage



The bottom floor is full of retail facing Collins mostly clothes and shoe shops, also a big mexican restauant on the far corner

Thanks, I knew I had seen that somewhere. In person, it almost looks like the retail was built into the base of a hill. Not sure why people don't people don't like it. It looks a hell of a lot better than concrete and cars. Granted, it would look out of place along Washington Avenue, but I'd like to see them do something like this to the Kiener or Stadium garages. And, I think it would work with the Cupples garage too, but almost anything would be an improvement in that case.

I realized the hill part, but everyone know there is not a hill there, and they would for sure know in downtown St. Louis. Good idea, poor execution.

^^^Advertising



Tucker and Clark would be an allright intersection, as it would advertise to patrons of both the stadium and Scottrade. In addition, the Tucker bridge under 40 is a fairly used entry point to downtown. I would think the city would be able to glean a bit of advertising out of that situation. I would not be in favor of anything short of video-boards. Signs would be horrible. Nothing too huge, as this isn't the best locale in the world for it. I think it would be cool to have a moderately sized videoboard (Maybe 5 feet tall by 10 feet long on both sides of the building on the southwest corner (connecting of course, with banner ads crossing from the West facing side to the South facing side). Of course, I would only like to see this if it were displaying cool ads from big companies. A scrolling sentence stating "Bills BBQ Heaven" would be terrible. Ipod ads or something technologically based like that.



Something tells me the point of this whole post got lost in the clutter ^. Oh well.

^How bout Dirt Cheap with "The more she drinks the better you look" scrolling across the board?

I think video boards are a good idea. Just use the LED technology used at the Ballpark. Could be used to advertise city events as well.

a little clarification on the LED lights...

The garage's contemporary façade will feature Diamond Vision Boards and programmable LED lights that will change colors in celebration of the successes of sports teams, holidays and special events, such as the annual Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure.

Retail....

The eight-level Justice Center Garage will boast approximately 520 parking spaces above its 10,000-square-foot ground-level retail center. The facility will be surrounded by 20-foot sidewalks, making the retail space ideal for a mid-priced steakhouse or sports bar and bistro seating.

SOURCE

By the way, earlier in the thread, I referenced a book that declared St. Louis's downtown perhaps too far gone for reurbanization. I just wanted to give more info on the book and type up a passage, if that's allowed.



The book is called, "Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown" and it is written by Roberta Brandes Gratz with Norman Mintz.



They write:

The SoHo potential is not so easy to realize in cities such as St. Louis, where so much of the onetime urban fabric is gone. St. Louis, a once grand city, earned its title as Gateway to the West. Today, it is hard to see why. Still a city that believes real progress is defined by demolishing old and building new, St. Louis continues to let much of what is left of its notable older commercial buildings crumble away.

...

A once-grand avenue, like Cleveland's Euclid or Chicago's Michigan, no longer even exists. In the 1950s, the Saarinen Arch replaced the heart of its manufacturing district. Two stadiums, a hockey arena, blocks and blocks of surface and tiered parking lots, and a series of little-used green spaces between big projects wiped away most of the building diversity necessary for urbanism to occur. Only remnants of a city with pockets of urbanism are left.

...

Decades of "renewal" projects have severed most of the close-grained connections of a functioning urban fabric, leaving cleared, empty areas between urban fragments. Reweaving those fabrics is a challenge. Understanding of and sensitivity to the fundamental characteristics of urbanism are imperative.

...



The authors do note the resurgence of the Loft District, and that it's a great start, but, as I noted earlier, the fabric does desperately need that reweaving the authors speak of.

The Central Scrutinizer wrote:

jlblues wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:

Perfect, thanks! I think I've seen that second one, but I don't remember where it is...



Again, I'm no landscape architect, but English Ivy grows incredible fast, grows anywhere, is evergreen, and doesn't damage surfaces as far as I know...

First one looks good. Second one is horrible. Looks like an unkempt jungle.

The jungle look is precisely what makes it cool, quirky and endearing.

J--



I don't think that quote meant that the area was St. Louis's manufacturing district when or even just before it was torn down. No city's leadership is dumb enough to chase away current jobs.



Much as we call Wash Ave the Garment District even today, the Archgrounds were in fact a large warehouse/manufacturing district and were recognized as such even in their (mostly) vacancy.