ugliest structure downtown :]
#1
Posted 22 February 2005 - 01:47 AM
L Bs
#2
Posted 22 February 2005 - 06:47 AM
#3
Posted 22 February 2005 - 10:11 AM
#4
Posted 22 February 2005 - 02:39 PM
2. SBC
3. Court Building with faux exterior
#5
Posted 22 February 2005 - 07:32 PM
The faux exterior on the Courts bulding was at least an effort to improve it. That it didn't turn out, was just one of those things. Ugly probably, but not malicious or unthinking like the SBC.
Pete Charlton
The Fort Worth Gazette blog
The Lost Antique Maps of Fort Worth on CDROM
Website: Antique Maps of Texas
Large format reproductions of original antique and vintage Texas & southwestern maps
#6
Posted 22 February 2005 - 10:40 PM
www.iheartfw.com
#7
Posted 23 February 2005 - 09:28 AM
The Purina Mill is just utilitarian, built to do a job. There is no way it can be beautiful or ugly. It is what it is. Buildings like the SBC had the option to look good. The Mill did not.
Regardless of its function, I still personally find it very ugly .. Take parking garages: built to do a function as well. Just like there are some reaaaly ugly parking garages out there, but there are some parking garages designed by architects who have a little vision and keep surrounding aesthetics in mind making them not so bad to the eye... There is actually a very very cool one in Miami that could actually be considered attractive:
Aint that cool? :]
I'm not really sure on how the Purina mill itself could have been constructed to look any better, but perhaps at least a huge dome or some sort of steep Northeast Mall Food Court-style tent over the whole operation could at least hide those hideous rusting pipes and ducts from view... Utilitarian it may be -- but it ain't purrty.
#8
Posted 23 February 2005 - 12:15 PM
#9
Posted 23 February 2005 - 01:58 PM
... but I voted for the SBC building because of its visibilty. It can be seen from so many angles and its ugly in all of them.
true 'nuff... the 16 story windowless wall-o-bricks makes it look like a jail from the outside... i can only imagine the depressing office space layout inside w/out any windows..
#10
Posted 23 February 2005 - 04:08 PM
The Purina Mill is just utilitarian, built to do a job. There is no way it can be beautiful or ugly. It is what it is. Buildings like the SBC had the option to look good. The Mill did not.
Regardless of its function, I still personally find it very ugly .. Take parking garages: built to do a function as well. Just like there are some reaaaly ugly parking garages out there, but there are some parking garages designed by architects who have a little vision and keep surrounding aesthetics in mind making them not so bad to the eye... There is actually a very very cool one in Miami that could actually be considered attractive:
Aint that cool? :]
I'm not really sure on how the Purina mill itself could have been constructed to look any better, but perhaps at least a huge dome or some sort of steep Northeast Mall Food Court-style tent over the whole operation could at least hide those hideous rusting pipes and ducts from view... Utilitarian it may be -- but it ain't purrty.
Yes, it is very pleasin to the eye, but we all know that kind of vegetation cannot grow so nice here in FW, without constant maintenance, hence the RED BRICK Square in d-town. In that Miam parking lot, somebody could have just dropped a newly bought Chia Pet kit from their car for all we know. And then the inevitable happened. Stuff grows and grows plenty in their conditions, all year long, but not here. Ever jog near the Trinity in mid-winter to early spring, balding and dead vegetation. Besides, the Purina Factory much like Pancho's Mexican Buffet sites are supposed to look DEPRESSING. I mean do you really want your kid to say when they grow up that they want to pack dog food for a living, or be called upon by a raised flag? NO!
Besdies the worst parking garage set-up, functionality, and design is the Houston Place Loft garage, between 8th and 9th on Houston. When it rains a bit, a few upper floor drains get clogged up for days sometimes weeks. The whole structure is seperating gradually from the loft building, only glued together by the might of black mold. OOPS! I let the "cat out of the hat"-Jose Canseco. The view from inside the building are interior glass structures lining the walls of the common hallways, all with a view of crumbling cinder and dark stuff growing in the corners after a nice rain. . So I've heard. Wonderful conditions for bats. OOPS I did it again. By the way, no security, no cams, and you can expect the paying public to park in your residential spot during an event from time to time. Not to mention a few broken exit way crossing arms will occur here and there, then fixed a month or two later.
www.iheartfw.com
#11
Posted 23 February 2005 - 04:20 PM
Besdies the worst parking garage set-up, functionality, and design is the Houston Place Loft garage, between 8th and 9th on Houston. When it rains a bit, a few upper floor drains get clogged up for days sometimes weeks. The whole structure is seperating gradually from the loft building, only glued together by the might of black mold.
When I was 18 I rented an office with two friends in the Houston Place bldg right before they kicked us out to make 'em into lofts.. at the time, we parked on the 3rd floor and the one distinctive thing I remember about it was it was the most impossible garage to make turns in. I drove an '81 Buick LeSabre at the time -- basically a boat -- and I still wonder how I managed to avoid smacking into the columns and center wall.. One night I was at "the office" and when I emerged to my car at 4am I noticed all 4 tires had been popped and the passenger door was open.. all my crap was stolen.. 'twas the only time ever my car got jacked with my entire time downtown. This was before the (easily hackable) keypad they installed on the gate on the staircase that runs above Black Dog. Good tymes though.. I love the HP freight elevator.. it's one of my favorites downtown ;]
#12
Posted 24 February 2005 - 02:16 AM
Besdies the worst parking garage set-up, functionality, and design is the Houston Place Loft garage, between 8th and 9th on Houston. When it rains a bit, a few upper floor drains get clogged up for days sometimes weeks. The whole structure is seperating gradually from the loft building, only glued together by the might of black mold.
When I was 18 I rented an office with two friends in the Houston Place bldg right before they kicked us out to make 'em into lofts.. at the time, we parked on the 3rd floor and the one distinctive thing I remember about it was it was the most impossible garage to make turns in. I drove an '81 Buick LeSabre at the time -- basically a boat -- and I still wonder how I managed to avoid smacking into the columns and center wall.. One night I was at "the office" and when I emerged to my car at 4am I noticed all 4 tires had been popped and the passenger door was open.. all my crap was stolen.. 'twas the only time ever my car got jacked with my entire time downtown. This was before the (easily hackable) keypad they installed on the gate on the staircase that runs above Black Dog. Good tymes though.. I love the HP freight elevator.. it's one of my favorites downtown ;]
I swear, it's like the Care's Team or welcoming commitee for downtown jack your car as a right of passage to HPL. Sorry you got bumped too. As for elevators, it is nice, when it works. I heard FlatIron has a better one. '81 Buick LeSabre? Is this Sir Mix-A-Lot I'm writin to here? That keypad is a joke. I'm gonna try and settle my jacking with Alright before I go, any sugg's? When did youleave, '95/'96? You a pretty young guy, maybe you know where I'm comin from. Later
www.iheartfw.com
#13
Posted 24 February 2005 - 02:33 AM
When did youleave, '95/'96? You a pretty young guy, maybe you know where I'm comin from. Later
I was there from late 93 to early 95 .. An Irving-based company called AloeCorp owned the bldg at the time, and they used the 7th floor as this creepy lil showroom where they'd showcase Aloe innovations, etc.. All I remember was the management contact in charge was named Gene Hale and whenever we'd discuss building issues the conversation would turn to talk about Aloe products .. but he was good people... was never on property ... and since the only three other tenants in the bldg were on the 3rd floor with us as well, (a private investigator, advertising guy, a lawyer, and ourselves) .. the (undeveloped) rest of the bldg was fair game .. 8th floor was nothing but a bare floor with support posts.. perfect for bowling.. soon after eviction (on good terms of course), we headed for the bldg across the street that holds the dentist ofc and Blimpie... but what happened next is a whole long crazy drawn-out story that I'll have to save for my documentary or something .. crazy crazy times in this good ol' downtown, i say!
Young guy aye? Others may argue that since I'm bout to turn 31 in under two weeks but I certainly don't feel it to be old like I thought it might be when I was a kid. I won't let our ten-based digit system hax me into making 30 a negative milestone
#14
Posted 24 February 2005 - 07:43 AM
#15
Posted 26 February 2005 - 05:31 PM
#16
Posted 26 February 2005 - 06:52 PM
The ugly white building that was expanded both horizontally and vertically is now Hunter Plaza, public housing for the elderly.
#17
Posted 26 February 2005 - 09:50 PM
Buck wins the prize for describing the old incarnations of the Care A Lot Inn.
Is there a reason why, on the south face, there are missing windows on the top floor, curtains dangling out in the wind, etc? The times I've been in there just exploring (circa 1998 or so) I've seen some reaaaaly creepy stuff.. The restaurant in the lobby ("Ambrosia") is like a small-scale even-more-run-down Ol' South complete with Mel's Diner-esque wait staff, people stagger about the lobby as if they're looking for their IV pole.. It's a wierd wierd place. It's not your everyday hotel, there's somethin' goin on there. When I drive by it nowadays it always looks closed. Perhaps it is closed?
#18
Posted 27 February 2005 - 01:44 AM
More pickles in your burger than the waitstaff have teeth.Buck wins the prize for describing the old incarnations of the Care A Lot Inn.
Is there a reason why, on the south face, there are missing windows on the top floor, curtains dangling out in the wind, etc? The times I've been in there just exploring (circa 1998 or so) I've seen some reaaaaly creepy stuff.. The restaurant in the lobby ("Ambrosia") is like a small-scale even-more-run-down Ol' South complete with Mel's Diner-esque wait staff, people stagger about the lobby as if they're looking for their IV pole.. It's a wierd wierd place. It's not your everyday hotel, there's somethin' goin on there. When I drive by it nowadays it always looks closed. Perhaps it is closed?
www.iheartfw.com
#19
Posted 27 February 2005 - 01:45 AM
www.iheartfw.com
#20
Posted 02 March 2005 - 07:46 PM
Come on SBC!
Not a chance. Everyone knows the tin Classified ST box is a much worse eyesore
I wonder if they've ever considered updating it.. they can raise the $ if they just charge 10¢ more per classified ad.. Then again SBC has much more ability to tack on random unspecified fees to their bills for the purpose of knocking that beast down :ph34r:
#21
Posted 03 March 2005 - 10:10 AM
That is because the polling Q's were descriptively bias. SBC (World's LARGEST GRAHAM CRACKER), rivaling the BIG Pecan in Seguin, TX.Come on SBC!
Not a chance. Everyone knows the tin Classified ST box is a much worse eyesore
I wonder if they've ever considered updating it.. they can raise the $ if they just charge 10¢ more per classified ad.. Then again SBC has much more ability to tack on random unspecified fees to their bills for the purpose of knocking that beast down :ph34r:
www.iheartfw.com
#22
Posted 03 March 2005 - 10:11 AM
Come on SBC!
Not a chance. Everyone knows the tin Classified ST box is a much worse eyesore
I wonder if they've ever considered updating it.. they can raise the $ if they just charge 10¢ more per classified ad.. Then again SBC has much more ability to tack on random unspecified fees to their bills for the purpose of knocking that beast down :ph34r:
I can live w/ the ST building, it's tucked away and cannot be seen from miles around.
www.iheartfw.com
#24
Posted 03 March 2005 - 10:27 AM
That is because the polling Q's were descriptively bias. SBC (World's LARGEST GRAHAM CRACKER), rivaling the BIG Pecan in Seguin, TX.
are you saying the fine members of this board cannot put such annotations aside and think for themselves?
Think equally.
www.iheartfw.com
#26
Posted 28 February 2006 - 11:51 AM
#27
Posted 28 February 2006 - 11:39 PM
What is that building close to the Courthouse that Dismuke always comments on? It might be uglier than all of these others combined. Might want to add city hall to this list as well.
Gee - JBB's posting was made a year ago and is one that I never saw until just now.
I agree - the building that was once pretentiously called One Commerce Place is most definitely the ugliest building downtown. Below are photographs I have posted elsewhere on the Forum showing it in all of its glory.
Of the options available, I voted for the SBC Building.
The Purina plant has kind of an industrial look to it that I think is kind of cool in some strange respect. It is something that one would associated more with other parts of the country than with Texas which makes it kind of unique for these parts.
Anyhow, enjoy the beautiful photographs! Folks associated with the Chamber of Commerce have my permission to use these photographs in their efforts to publicize all that Fort Worth has to offer!
Contemplate, if you will, the sublime artistic genius that was required to come up with this architectural tour de force! This photograph would look just great on a wall right next to a "masterpiece" of blobs of paint arbitrarily smeared across a canvas.
This building demonstrates what a grand, glorious and glamorous decade the 1970s really was!
Wow! Such detail. Such craftsmanship. All that's missing is a mob of scruffy looking people wearing psychedelic t-shirts and bell bottoms!
#28
Posted 28 February 2006 - 11:59 PM
www.iheartfw.com
#29
Posted 01 March 2006 - 09:33 AM
I love the Star-Telegram Classifieds building!
I think it's a nifty little building. Its big problem is its lack of upkeep. Give it a stout powerwashing, polish it up a bit, and install clear windows all over it, and it'd look a lot better (oh, and come up with a better sign for it than the cheap thing on its corner).
Who's with me? <crickets chirping> Well, I like it, anyway.
--
Kara B.
#30
Posted 01 March 2006 - 11:07 AM
I love the Star-Telegram Classifieds building!
I think it's a nifty little building. Its big problem is its lack of upkeep. Give it a stout powerwashing, polish it up a bit, and install clear windows all over it, and it'd look a lot better (oh, and come up with a better sign for it than the cheap thing on its corner).
Who's with me? <crickets chirping> Well, I like it, anyway.
I am with you on the Star-Telegram Classifieds building. While the building is an example of the International school that I do not at all care for, it is actually one of the nicer buildings in that style in the Metroplex (the best, I think, is the old Republic Bank center in downtown Dallas). No - I don't put the building at all in the same league as, say, the Sinclair Building - but in the context of when it was built and the stort of stuff that came along after it was built, it is a decent building.
I suspect that the bottom two floors have been altered quite a bit as something just doesn't look right about them. Also, in another thread, someone mentioned that the front of the building once had some sort of screen over it. It would be very interesting to see what that looked like and to see if people's opinions towards the building would change one way or another if it were put back.
#31
Posted 01 March 2006 - 11:32 AM
I suspect that the bottom two floors have been altered quite a bit as something just doesn't look right about them. Also, in another thread, someone mentioned that the front of the building once had some sort of screen over it. It would be very interesting to see what that looked like and to see if people's opinions towards the building would change one way or another if it were put back.
I'm like you - I'm not the biggest fan of the International Style/postwar architecture (particularly in downtowns - I think it works better in smaller things like diners, gas stations, and motels) - but that Classifieds building is one of the examples of it that I really do like. If you look past the age and weathering, I think it's quite cool; very Jet Age, and I love that zigzag awning!
I remember the thread that mentioned the blue screens - actually, I think it was the thread I started about the building! I'd love to see a vintage photo of it, right after it was finished, to see what its designer(s) meant it to look like. I also can't stand the mirrored windows. Something tells me that it didn't feature those when it was new.
--
Kara B.
#32
Posted 01 March 2006 - 12:42 PM
I'm like you - I'm not the biggest fan of the International Style/postwar architecture (particularly in downtowns - I think it works better in smaller things like diners, gas stations, and motels)
I agree - the very highly commercialized architecture of that period was sometimes very interesting and highly stylized. In a way, such buildings kind of contradict the spirit of the wider school that they were a part of which was to strip away detail and to only allow for a limited range of stylistic expression. It has always appeared to me that there was sort of a transitional period where a slight art deco influence still lingered on. Certainly the futuristic "Jet Age" style was inspired by a forward-looking spirit that was, in some respects, similar to that which inspired the Art Deco age (though I believe that Art Deco buildings were far more able to actualize it). That benevolent, romanticized notion of a wonderful, marvelous future where anything would be possible through the marvels of science and technology came to a screeching halt by the onslaught of the primeval herds unleashed by the 1960s "counterculture" and has only recently started to reemerge in some of the better corners of our popular culture.
#33
Posted 22 March 2006 - 03:28 PM
Buck wins the prize for describing the old incarnations of the Care A Lot Inn.
The ugly white building that was expanded both horizontally and vertically is now Hunter Plaza, public housing for the elderly.
Now that Landmark is gone what is the stand out ugly building now? I say the Tandy Center will be next if like landmark, is a lot of talk and no action and the building just get the uglies for lack of use.
#34
Posted 22 March 2006 - 03:49 PM
#35
Posted 23 March 2006 - 01:08 PM
What are you talking about? There's already a solid plan in place for the Tandy complex. I think remodeling is set to begin soon.
Untill I see dirt fly my friend. They been quiet from the day the City Council turn down thier tax request a few weeks ago.
#36
Posted 23 March 2006 - 01:56 PM
#38
Posted 23 March 2006 - 05:35 PM
I think I saw her today
#39
Posted 23 March 2006 - 09:56 PM
#40
Posted 24 March 2006 - 03:37 PM
The Tandy Center buildings are somewhat plain, but I never really considered then ugly. If the redevelopment looks anything like the renderings, I think it's going to be the best redevelopment of anything in DTFW so far. I like it tons better than the tower. I definitely hope it's not one of FW's forever delayed projects...can you say Transport Life Building.
Thank you vjackson ! Im a true blue pro Fort Worth guy. I have seen way to many were gonna do it only to be let down.
When the 60 story tower hit the news most eveyone here was almost down right mad . My guess they didn't want to be let down. I was saying the same thing about the TC project. I'll never get over the Southwest 121 project taking as long as it did............ 40 YEARS!
#41
Posted 06 December 2006 - 05:07 PM
#42
Posted 06 December 2006 - 05:27 PM
--
Kara B.
#43
Posted 06 December 2006 - 07:13 PM
Boooohhahahahahhaha!
www.iheartfw.com
#44
Posted 06 December 2006 - 09:31 PM
I saw cranes on the side of the SBC today.Are they doing something to SBC or are those Omni related?
Hmmm. I wonder why texastrill chose this particular thread as the one to ask his question in.
#45
Posted 06 December 2006 - 11:13 PM
I saw cranes on the side of the SBC today.Are they doing something to SBC or are those Omni related?
Hmmm. I wonder why texastrill chose this particular thread as the one to ask his question in.
Yeah, that's a real mystery, alright.
--
Kara B.
#46
Posted 07 December 2006 - 06:13 AM
#50
Posted 07 December 2006 - 10:07 AM
I saw cranes on the side of the SBC today.Are they doing something to SBC or are those Omni related?
Hmmm. I wonder why texastrill chose this particular thread as the one to ask his question in.
A question within a question,I guess.
Actually I was hoping something was being done to make the SBC easy on the eyes.Can anybody say wrecking ball?
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