urbanSTL

It might be my taste but art in the photo looks like amateur hour also

dredger wrote:It might be my taste but art in the photo looks like amateur hour also

And the photo itself...total amateur hour

More accolades for Chipperfield's SLAM expansion. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is starting a new, international building of the year award, to be known as the RIBA International Prize. We made the short list of 30 semi-finalists selected from over 50 countries. Final winner to be announced in December. This is a pretty deal in the Architecture world.

Here's a slide show of the 30 finalists:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/10/architect ... index.html

I thought this was just temporary when I saw it earlier in the year. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Up by the $130-million expansion, the entry plaza had lights recessed into the pavement. At some point, a portion of pavement closest to the building was removed and replaced. Instead of having this done professionally, asphalt was poured, in contrast with the granite that you can still see to the right in the photo. Apparently the asphalt and tar was then manually molded around the lights, leaving it uneven with holes where the fixtures are. Now, black muck fills the holes and the whole upper part of this plaza looks no nicer than a wal-mart parking lot.

bprop wrote:I thought this was just temporary when I saw it earlier in the year. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Up by the $130-million expansion, the entry plaza had lights recessed into the pavement. At some point, a portion of pavement closest to the building was removed and replaced. Instead of having this done professionally, asphalt was poured, in contrast with the granite that you can still see to the right in the photo. Apparently the asphalt and tar was then manually molded around the lights, leaving it uneven with holes where the fixtures are. Now, black muck fills the holes and the whole upper part of this plaza looks no nicer than a wal-mart parking lot.

Gross.


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Just sent it to KTVI and KSDK.


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Here's an example of the filth that's underfoot in every single grate in the museum expansion. It's obvious and glaring considering so many works are actually on the floor.

Toothpicks, coins, pamphlets, lint, cotton swabs (!), and this example of a ticket from an exhibit over one year ago.



This fundamental lack of basic oversight gives me no faith in this tax supported institution.

And maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but after 20 minutes in this wing, I'm ready to leave due to the constant "beep beep" and hollering blasting from the security guards' radios. Constant noise at maximum volume in Every. Single. Gallery.

^ If you're still there please share that with the staff

A forest floor? A garbage dump?

No, our $130 million, hostile concrete box.

I don't think there's any real decision makers here today. They recommend I "go to the website." I've already sent similar images to them via email and Facebook. Usually an intern replies saying they'll pass it on, but no follow-up.

I have never been there when the shades to the park are open. Even on the most cloudy and dark days, they always have the shades closed, even in the areas where there are no paintings. I thought one of the things they used to tout was the windows that allowed views into the park. Oh well.

Most of the shades to the arches are closed today as well. They can only be viewed from over by the cafe.

bprop wrote: This fundamental lack of basic oversight gives me no faith in this tax supported institution.

And maybe I'm just in a bad mood...

Come on; that's a bit of a stretch. The St. Louis Art Museum is widely acknowledged as a first-class institution. Don't let a few nit-picks ruin your day.

Bad mood indeed.

framer wrote:

bprop wrote: This fundamental lack of basic oversight gives me no faith in this tax supported institution.

And maybe I'm just in a bad mood...

Come on; that's a bit of a stretch. The St. Louis Art Museum is widely acknowledged as a first-class institution. Don't let a few nit-picks ruin your day.

Bad mood indeed.

The mood immediately elevated upon entering the other building.

But nit picks? We spent $130M on a box that looks like garbage due to basic neglect. How can a 100+ year old building remain such a respectful place to display art from all eras, and a new building already have such glaring design and upkeep deficiencies? That has nothing to do with the reputation of its collection, or even with the reputation that's been built up over the last century.

^The expansion was paid for with private donations - including $30 million appropriated to the endowment to pay for upkeep of the new building. So when you say "we spent $130M on a box" who are you talking about?

wabash wrote:^The expansion was paid for with private donations - including $30 million appropriated to the endowment to pay for upkeep of the new building. So when you say "we spent $130M on a box" who are you talking about?

I guess those of us who donated to the expansion, and the taxpayers who are paying the salaries of museum staff and day to day operating costs?

and don't forget that they let Chipperfield hack off part of the Cass Gilbert building because why not? i'm still furious about it. it makes no sense.

arch city wrote:

bprop wrote:I thought this was just temporary when I saw it earlier in the year. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Up by the $130-million expansion, the entry plaza had lights recessed into the pavement. At some point, a portion of pavement closest to the building was removed and replaced. Instead of having this done professionally, asphalt was poured, in contrast with the granite that you can still see to the right in the photo. Apparently the asphalt and tar was then manually molded around the lights, leaving it uneven with holes where the fixtures are. Now, black muck fills the holes and the whole upper part of this plaza looks no nicer than a wal-mart parking lot.

So St. Louis. It's an embarrassment. The little things do matter to visitors.

You should send this to local media ie. the Riverfront Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, bloggers, news stations.

It's so St. Louis and ghetto.

They patched Washington Avenue too.

It's a "blue-collar" mentality, yet lazy, way of doing things.........just patch it.

An acquaintance felt like forwarding the question and photo to SLAM over Facebook and got a response. It says:

There is no granite in front of the new building. The granite pavers are only outside of the Cass Gilbert building at the bottom of the front steps.

The concrete (depending on location) is either pre-cast or cast in place concrete. The driveway is asphalt. Due to settlement of the actual fixtures and the fact that the space between was becoming a trip hazard in that section of the driveway, it had to be filled in. The lights could not be made level with the asphalt due to the nature of the design of the fixture itself.

The fix was completed by professionals as we did pay for the service.

More extensive repairs or driveway could be considered in the future but nothing is planned at this time.

Not sure what the red means unless the question mentioned that it looked like an amateur repair (?)

So....that's pretty much what it's going to look like.

^I am normally very supportive of our institutions and generally believe that they are first class. The pictures you have shown with the filth in the grates in full view are generally alarming. In my experience "we" do a better job of ensuring these type of situations do not occur. I am in agreement with you. Also the patchwork in front of the building around the lights looks awful.

Also the response from the staff seems...dismissive.

Sure...they've been shared and sent by others to SLAM already. No problem.

Actually just an off topic note on this. I recently moved to the New York metro for school, and today I went to the World Trade Center site. I was stunned at the disrepair. Many of the walkways are buckled, light fixtures damaged, overall the place is already in need of a renovation. I spoke to one of the NYPD Park Officials stationed there and they said there are currently no plans to fix the damages.

^ i'm guessing the WTC site also gets about a bazillion visitors per day, whereas the STL art museum probably gets less than a thousand on average.