The U-Club tower is no Dominion Centre and The Sevens is no UN Hq Building. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe will roll over, but many International Style buildings shortcomings are due to glass. Unless mirrored (SOM got it right with Equitable Building) all the window shades must be the exactly the same or you get the discombobulated look these two buildings exhibit. Replacing the glass would not change the "style" just eliminate the ugliness inherent in the transparency. The two architects who designed these two buildings were just following the pack at the time. If HOK or SOM had designed them we'd have a different result
^I mean iconic on the St. Louis skyline, not in any international sense. As far as the rest, I guess we just disagree. I LIKE the discombobulated look of the various shades behind transparent glass; that gives the facade rhythm, texture, and a nice irregular pattern.
BTW, Equitable was designed by HOK.
BTW, Equitable was designed by HOK.
- 1,308
Have to agree with the pro-mirrored glass side here. Nearly every International-style building I've ever seen with transparent glass just seems worn and just... utterly tired to me. The only one I've seen that defeats that is the Seagram Building. Maybe they just keep the exterior cleaner?
An iconic gold tower in Indianapolis is being re-clad. Mark my words, they're gonna regret this in a few years.
![]()
https://archpaper.com/2019/10/indy-gold ... +and+foame
https://archpaper.com/2019/10/indy-gold ... +and+foame
I drive by this everyday and I wonder, WHO THOUGHT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA? Did they just have extra rocks laying around?
Surely this will never be in style. #RemindMeIn50Years
I suppose they could do an annual speed rock climbing event.
200 S Hanley in Clayton
Surely this will never be in style. #RemindMeIn50Years
I suppose they could do an annual speed rock climbing event.
200 S Hanley in Clayton
^Yeah, I always get a kick out of that one. Wouldn't change it for the world, though.
Didn't the St. Louis County National Bank (Commerce) building in Clayton originally have a similar gold glass?framer wrote: ↑Nov 01, 2019An iconic gold tower in Indianapolis is being re-clad. Mark my words, they're gonna regret this in a few years.
https://archpaper.com/2019/10/indy-gold ... +and+foame
Sad Indy is losing the Gold Building (as locals call it). I was visiting a friend years ago and we saw a beautiful sunset reflecting off of it. It was an amazing sight. He said it happens all the time and was a source of local pride. Surprised there isn't any push back. I guess times have changed.
I too like 200 S. Hanley just the way it is. Funny thing, though. If you replaced the rocks with cor-ten steel you'd have a thoroughly twenty-teens design!
At least we still have our gold tower at Westport Plaza! They better not get any ideas from Indianapolis...
Controversy in Buffalo over the re-doing of a classic Mid-Century tower (they're painting it red):
https://archpaper.com/2020/06/some-see- ... c+and+more
![]()
![]()
https://archpaper.com/2020/06/some-see- ... c+and+more
- 1,864
I like it. And paint isn't permanent... Going back through this thread, there are definitely buildings in St. Louis that could use some TLC. Westport Plaza definitely is looking worse and worse and would look quite nice with clear glass.
.jpg)
Ran across this pic whilst looking up some history of Century Electric... I don't know if that qualifies as a reclad though, since I believe the building was converted to a parking garage in between. Really, I just like the Sealtest clock in the background...
wikimedia creative commons courtesy of dwaynep2018 License
^^ I honestly think they’re both hideous. But not as bad as what they did to the street level...12-20 foot high “wind screen” fortress like walls around most of the building now.
https://www.buffalorising.com/2020/05/u ... n-buffalo/
Agree that the Westport Plaza tower needs a refresh, but the glass should stay gold...I actually like it.
https://www.buffalorising.com/2020/05/u ... n-buffalo/
Agree that the Westport Plaza tower needs a refresh, but the glass should stay gold...I actually like it.
Which building are you referring to? The building with the clock was torn down somewhere between '85 and '96.urbanitas wrote: ↑Jun 23, 2020Ran across this pic whilst looking up some history of Century Electric... I don't know if that qualifies as a reclad though, since I believe the building was converted to a parking garage in between. Really, I just like the Sealtest clock in the background...
The Blue Cross Blue Shield building is the real recladding crime here,
Pretty sure The Mayor was talking about the Buffalo tower. And wow, that wall (in Buffalo) is something else.
^ I think AP was referring to urbanitas post...but yeah that wall in Buffalo is just insanity. A shame too, downtown Buffalo has seen some really cool new development...like the Canal District.
There is an International Style Equitable Building designed by SOM, but it's in Atlanta...framer wrote: ↑Mar 29, 2019^I mean iconic on the St. Louis skyline, not in any international sense. As far as the rest, I guess we just disagree. I LIKE the discombobulated look of the various shades behind transparent glass; that gives the facade rhythm, texture, and a nice irregular pattern.
BTW, Equitable was designed by HOK.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable ... _(Atlanta)
The latter.aprice wrote: ↑Jun 23, 2020Which building are you referring to? The building with the clock was torn down somewhere between '85 and '96.urbanitas wrote: ↑Jun 23, 2020Ran across this pic whilst looking up some history of Century Electric... I don't know if that qualifies as a reclad though, since I believe the building was converted to a parking garage in between. Really, I just like the Sealtest clock in the background...
The Blue Cross Blue Shield building is the real recladding crime here,
But I think that building was gutted and stripped and turned into an open parking garage some time earlier, and then converted back into an office building for BCBS around the time Union Station was renovated. So, it would be more of a rebuild than a reclad, but I'm just going off of memory here...
With Centene about to re-clad 7711 Carondelet, Clayton will have lost three Mid-Century Modern high-rise facades in the last year or so. Just for the sake of adding the latest trendy skin, which will be out of style again in about twenty years.
So frustrating.
So frustrating.
- 991
This is the first I've heard they're recladding 7711 Carondelet. It was supposed to eventually demo'd with new construction as part of Phase 4, so this would be another change to their long term plans.
Seen on my LinkedIn today, a building in Sunset Hills is getting the gold glass removed in favor of typical gray.
Anyone else think the older gold glass on the windows mixed with the darker grey/blue between floors actually looks pretty cool?
- 3,762
^ yes. they should interleave the gold and gray. it looks rad.