"Ugly New Buildings On Cass"

[szla]

espaliered

[Warrenite84]

I do not have a problen with The Union. It's probably not an architect's dream but its size is right, the storefronts are needed in the area, and I do like the staggered look. A straight walled box would have been much worse. I am curious to see how the auto entryway turns out.

I would like to see a Caribou Coffee there, or a decent Italian place that serves pasta, sandwiches, soups, and maybe a deli counter.

[Huggybear]

"Modular" is a nebulous and derisive term. This is not a mobile home; modular construction often just means that parts of a building are assembled in a climate controlled environment and brought on site [[as opposed to being assembled on the grass surrounding the building footprint). The theory is that modular construction tends to keep tolerances because materials are not expanding or contracting as you are trying to put them together. Most modern buildings have some prefab or modular components [[such as exterior panels). I have watched the construction for a while [[at least driving by), and it looks like the only "modular" part is that assembled stud frames are being bolted together [[it's possible they have interior finishing, but I can't tell from the outside).

As to "shallow brick cladding," that construction method has been common in Detroit for at least 100 years and has been in use globally since the Aurelian walls went up in Rome thousands of years ago. There are plenty of commercial buildings in Detroit that are shedding their 1920s thin face brick [[or asbestos tarpaper simulated brick). Unless you're planning to ram into it with a truck, it doesn't make a difference whether a brick is 4" thick or 1" thick [[actually, on this one, it doesn't make any difference because the base is made of cinder block).

Sure, it is plain and boring, but it's built for a lifespan [[probably 20 years). And it's a joke to complain about its architecture where other architecture on the street includes Marwil [[the true corner gateway people should be lamenting); the brick boxes that make up Shangri-La, University Cleaners, the Islamic Center, and Cass Cafe; WSU's nasty gold glass dorm; etc. If this were being built onto a street with *only* Old Main, the Hillberry, the Unitarian Church and the two [[or so) surviving Victorian-style houses, you'd have a better argument. But realistically, Cass is not going to be a grand drive within our lifetimes - and this unoffensive and [[possibly) disposable apartment building should not be an issue.

The urban form is almost right -- definitely nothing as bad as the offenses of the 60-80s. So even if the proportions are wrong and the thing looks cheap, it appears that the doors and windows will be where they should be. That car port on the front is a silly mistake, though.

The "will always find something to complain about" thing is rubbish. This is a mediocre building and just because it's better than the worst possible thing does not mean it should be embraced. We need good buildings to have a good city. We need to demand a quality environment.

[bartock]

Looks a lot better than the Christian Science Reading Room ever did.

Exactly. And someone mentioned Marwills, which is hideous.