Downtown Development Overview

[Weatherdemon]

Me likey!

[erfalf]

Will go well with this.

[Ibanez]

Sure, build the big duct tape tornado to go with our stainless steel cinammon roll and the bizarre OKPOP building. Then if we could get the big Indian built somewhere inside the IDL, Tulsa would have to be tops in the country for the most pancakes architecture within a downtown area.

[SXSW]

I like it, though the scale seems off for the Brady District.  Something 4 stories would be less overpowering than 6 stories as shown. 

Does any part of downtown have an architectural review board?  If not are there any parts that you think should?  I know OKC has one for Bricktown to keep that same scale and aesthetic, same goes for Lodo in Denver.  Is it worth keeping the Brady looking like a brick warehouse district even with the new development or should it not be restricted?

[Red Arrow]

My first impression of the POP Center was wow, how ugly can it get.

That is still my impression.  It would look good somewhere where no one in the Tulsa Metro would ever have to look at it.

[swake]

I like it too, the exterior surfaces are going to be important to the overall success of the building.

Not everything has to look the same.

[Bamboo World]

Sweet God...seriously?

So, Townsend, from that vantage point, I'm guessing that you (and Ibanez and Hoss and erfalf and Red Arrow) do NOT feel as though the OKPOP museum building is giving you a hug across right field?

[Bamboo World]

My first impression of the POP Center was wow, how ugly can it get.

That is still my impression.  It would look good somewhere where no one in the Tulsa Metro would ever have to look at it.

Easy solution:  Increase the setback distance from Elgin (by a few miles).   

[Ibanez]

Sweet God...seriously?



So, Townsend, from that vantage point, I'm guessing that you (and Ibanez and Hoss and erfalf and Red Arrow) do NOT feel as though the OKPOP museum building is giving you a hug across right field?

No, that building is a punch right to the baby maker.

[Hoss]

Sweet God...seriously?



So, Townsend, from that vantage point, I'm guessing that you (and Ibanez and Hoss and erfalf and Red Arrow) do NOT feel as though the OKPOP museum building is giving you a hug across right field?

It looks like a giant Lego monster.

[TheArtist]

I love it. 

But yes, the kind of finishes will make a big difference and also interested to see how the first floor meets the sidewalk (lots of windows versus blank walls etc).  When you have a museum like this you will have a lot of blank wall space somewhere in order to have all the neat displays and such inside, but you don't have to have blank walls all the way around at ground level.

[johrasephoenix]

Looks pretty interesting.  But William's right - what matters for the experience of "being" in the Brady is how it interacts at the street level - which at this point we don't know.  

It's also worth noting that the folks backing the Oklahoma Historical Society have a pretty solid track record of pulling off awesome projects.  Universal Ford, Philbrook downtown, AHHA, Guthrie Green, are all pretty awesome.  I'd lean towards benefit of the doubt.

[swake]

I love it.  

But yes, the kind of finishes will make a big difference and also interested to see how the first floor meets the sidewalk (lots of windows versus blank walls etc).  When you have a museum like this you will have a lot of blank wall space somewhere in order to have all the neat displays and such inside, but you don't have to have blank walls all the way around at ground level.

Yeah, I want the base, the first floor, to be brick and glazing right to the sidewalk like the older buildings in the area, and have the modern elements and surfaces grow out of and above the brick. It has real potential.

[ZYX]

Yeah, I want the base, the first floor, to be brick and glazing right to the sidewalk like the older buildings in the area, and have the modern elements and surfaces grow out of and above the brick. It has real potential.

I think that's how it is currently designed. At least, that's how it appears from the renderings above.

It's a (or appears to be a) very nice building representing an architectural style not really seen in Tulsa. It's certainly much better looking than the other proposal.

[Red Arrow]

Easy solution:  Increase the setback distance from Elgin (by a few miles).   

OK, just as long as those few miles don't put it anywhere near Bixby.