By: Kevin Buchanan
Looks like work has gotten underway on the controversial sunken plaza at the TCC development site. This photo, taken by our friend Brian from The Tower, shows the dirt turning.
When completed, the sunken plaza will resemble this rendering. Sunken plazas are, for the most part, generally unsuccessful pieces of design, often attracting undesirables due to their being “out of sight” of street activity. Whether TCC’s plaza will avoid these problems remains to be seen.
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Oh, yay. :-\
Or, instead of being inherrently negative, you could say: when finished, the sunken plaza gives the opportunity to re-connect downtown with the river, something missing for too long.
One could reconnect with the river in a variety of ways. I’m not convinced that a sunken plaza is the best route.
I’m not “inherently negative” – I just feel that sunken plazas are, for the most part, not always a good idea (and that is hardly a feeling that is mine alone). I would love to be wrong in this case for the TCC plaza to remain a clean and well-use space for decades to come. We’ll see. I am thoroughly unimpressed by all of TCC’s bluff development thus far which leads me to not give the sunken plaza the benefit of the doubt.
I’m sure that TCC will have it’s own security about to escort “undesirables” on to a more cozy place. I would think that the meditative, low key, and functional design would appease folks that want to see this project finished correctly. It also doesn’t come close to stealing any thunder from the highly anticipated Sundance Plaza.
I love modern architecture and am generally excited about the new TCC buildings (and to having many more students and professors Downtown) however I cannot embrace the sunken plaza. I agree with the people who say its effect will be a drain on street level pedestrian activity. This is not to mention the COST of such a totally unnessecary component of the project. It sickens me to see this go forward, as I fear the result will me a big negative backlash by many taxpayers who live in outlying parts of the City and County. That lot could EASILY be used as a wonderful, street level public space for TCC (or for the City, County, or otherwise), and pedestrian enhancements can be made to Belknap and Weatherford to address TCC’s concern about pedestrian connection to the rest of downtown. I know it will result in a dramatic experience heading down to the river, but it just doesn’t overcome the negative impacts. It just seems so wrong-headed.
“Sunken plazas are, for the most part, generally unsuccessful pieces of design, often attracting undesirables due to their being “out of sight” of street activity.”
Would you put the Water Garden into this category? Technically not a plaza, but surely sunken.
For the record, what’s the definition of “undesirables”?
I went to the Stockyards yesterday. We got off at Northside and went up Samuels. Somewhere along the river in that area further north than this picture) was a large, dug-up area. Any idea what they’re building there?
It’s a nice way of saying vagrants, homeless people, druggies, drunks, perverts, prostitutes, hustlers and ne’r do wells.
@Doohickie- I spoke to an engineer with the TRV yesterday. They are building storage tanks for “flood abatement”. Basically, it is TRV in action.
Off Samuels, Trinity Uptown is building a number of town homes that sit on the river, adjacent to the larger condo building called Villa De Leon. Kevin has profiled the progress of both of these developments on the site.
Where does the rendering come from?