I agree there is a lot pablum architecture of recent. Need to step away from the academy and revisit proportion and meaningful detail. Computer assisted design has made lazy designers. Eye/mind/hand is worth the struggle.
They built these beautiful old buildings as a kind of humble homage to the different building styles used in the past. And the ideas & sentiments that inspired them. Humility; celebration; taking joy in beauty.
Vs. egotism, contempt, satirizing the past, revelling in ugliness, negation, protest architecture.
Thanks for the update. Have been to San Antonio many times since relocating to Texas in 1975. Lots of history, traffic and bad politics. Have not been for a visit in more than a decade and no plans to do so. I don't spend $ in sanctuary cities.
Lived in San Antonio and worked downtown for eleven years, and never dreamed that ugly POS building had such artistry behind those Kenner building set colors.
To answer your question, Jim, what was going on in the 1960s to cover up the old was a distain for the immediate past; this is exactly what's happening now.
Including Congressionally designed institutions, presumably, but most people don't see it that way. Does that mean that a kind of revolution is underway?
Just like the Frankfort school captured US education in the 1960's, so Victor Gruen and his minions destroyed old US downtowns with BauHaus minimalism and demolitions of old buildings. They've been destroying us since 1963 and before.
Beautiful! And construction was actually better then than now. Look how long it lasted! I see new neighborhoods these days -- every house looking alike with the foremost feature being a humongous garage door, for Gawd's sake! -- and have to smirk: slums of 2035. I'm so glad this is getting renovated! Class and character.
Nice old facade. Curtain walls are not cheap, but they were new and trendy in the 60s. Could be energy codes or energy cost are part of thr reason for the cover-up. Interesting how they only wrapped the C/W about 12 feet around the corner. I wonder what the building was used for, over time? Any more photos?
FYI, if you go to google maps, and search for the intersection of N. St Mary’s & E, Martin streets, it shows a full photo of the building taken 2-years ago, without the added curtain wall. It seems to be connected to an active bus terminal.
It's kitty corner away from the bus station and the exterior is freshly restored in the March 2022 street view. They even made a brick enclosure where the fire escapes are, presumably hiding stairs.
The old cladding reminds me of Cedar-Riverside in the Twin Cities, all fading salmon and bluish squares as I was growing up. I think they freshened up the colors, but it still reminded me of two drab filing cabinets. I think only immigrants have wanted to live there . . . just a little downstream from Frank Gehry's giant forced-air furnace on the Mississippi
Warms the heart to see this renovation! We need much more of it!
That's stunning underneath. We can't compete with past architecture. We shouldn't even try. Just copy everything they did. Stately beauty.
I agree there is a lot pablum architecture of recent. Need to step away from the academy and revisit proportion and meaningful detail. Computer assisted design has made lazy designers. Eye/mind/hand is worth the struggle.
They built these beautiful old buildings as a kind of humble homage to the different building styles used in the past. And the ideas & sentiments that inspired them. Humility; celebration; taking joy in beauty.
Vs. egotism, contempt, satirizing the past, revelling in ugliness, negation, protest architecture.
Glad to see a happy ending to one of the Eye Sores!
Thanks for the update. Have been to San Antonio many times since relocating to Texas in 1975. Lots of history, traffic and bad politics. Have not been for a visit in more than a decade and no plans to do so. I don't spend $ in sanctuary cities.
S.A. is likely 85% Hispanic. Many areas have ALL signs in Spanish...where most don't understand English. I'm not joking, not hyperbole!!
I believe you. Thank you.
The '60s. I was there.
Positives: The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. Too many other bands to count.
I was young.
Negatives: Architectural atrocities. Penn Station demolished, replaced by an aggressively ugly new Madison Square Garden.
New or refurbished buildings with designs inspired by metal ice trays, shipping crates, children's toys, concrete basements.
Modernism. What crimes are committed in thy name.
The Doors, Hendrix, Yardbirds, Cream, Kinks, Zombies,Temptations, Sly and the Family Stone
Rosemary’s Baby,The Graduate,Romeo and Juliet,Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Strangelove, Breathless
Warhol, Peter Max, Pollock, DeKooning, Vasarely, Agam
Twiggy,Verushka,Jean Shrimpton, Ali McGraw,Catherine Deneuve
Rudy Gernreich, Mary Quant,Gucci,Pucci,Mary McFadden
Architecture? Soylent Green
Lived in San Antonio and worked downtown for eleven years, and never dreamed that ugly POS building had such artistry behind those Kenner building set colors.
An eyesore undone. How refreshing!
To answer your question, Jim, what was going on in the 1960s to cover up the old was a distain for the immediate past; this is exactly what's happening now.
Correct! No time for heritage/legacy designs
Including Congressionally designed institutions, presumably, but most people don't see it that way. Does that mean that a kind of revolution is underway?
Somewhat like putting pyjamas on the Venus de Milo.
The panels remind me of those on Shea Stadium, another ugly product of the 60's
This building is going from shit-hole to salvation.
Just like the Frankfort school captured US education in the 1960's, so Victor Gruen and his minions destroyed old US downtowns with BauHaus minimalism and demolitions of old buildings. They've been destroying us since 1963 and before.
Beautiful! And construction was actually better then than now. Look how long it lasted! I see new neighborhoods these days -- every house looking alike with the foremost feature being a humongous garage door, for Gawd's sake! -- and have to smirk: slums of 2035. I'm so glad this is getting renovated! Class and character.
Nice old facade. Curtain walls are not cheap, but they were new and trendy in the 60s. Could be energy codes or energy cost are part of thr reason for the cover-up. Interesting how they only wrapped the C/W about 12 feet around the corner. I wonder what the building was used for, over time? Any more photos?
FYI, if you go to google maps, and search for the intersection of N. St Mary’s & E, Martin streets, it shows a full photo of the building taken 2-years ago, without the added curtain wall. It seems to be connected to an active bus terminal.
It's kitty corner away from the bus station and the exterior is freshly restored in the March 2022 street view. They even made a brick enclosure where the fire escapes are, presumably hiding stairs.
What a piece of good news!
The old cladding reminds me of Cedar-Riverside in the Twin Cities, all fading salmon and bluish squares as I was growing up. I think they freshened up the colors, but it still reminded me of two drab filing cabinets. I think only immigrants have wanted to live there . . . just a little downstream from Frank Gehry's giant forced-air furnace on the Mississippi
Let's hope it's affordable housing.