Blair Takes a Stand
For two years I’ve been aware of efforts by Blair Humphreys to contribute ideas that might influence how the new headquarters for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber might be designed. He asked me throughout these conversations to keep his efforts and thoughts private – and since our conversations were off the record, I was fine with obliging that request.
The approval of the project by the Downtown Design Committee in September upset a lot of people, but few wanted to speak publicly about their concerns. It’s not that anyone felt like those involved with the project had bad intentions; most concerned observers I’ve heard from simply don’t think that all options were explored.
With the project now on hold, Blair is expressing regret over being part of that silence, and is commenting about on it on his blog, www.imaginativeamerica.com. If you have any interest in downtown development and/or design, I’d suggest that you spend a few minutes over at his sight.
Here’s how he starts the conversation:
Discovery of the Chamber building’s new name got me to thinking, and I now realize that I made a mistake last August, one which I wish I could have back. I wrote “Re-visioning the Chamber Proposal” on August 3rd, 2008, but never released it. At the time, the proposal was still weeks away from initial urban design review and I hoped to contribute to the dialogue, or more accurately, initiate a dialogue about the proposal and the constraints placed on the project by the flawed planning of the I.M. Pei Plan. But then, after receiving advice that it would damage my future job prospects in OKC, I chose to stay silent.
It is a tough deal because I love Oklahoma City. I have always dreamed of helping to shape the future of the city and want to make it great – that is why I left development to pursue a career in planning. As a student of history I appreciate and respect the vital role the Chamber has played – and continues to play – in Oklahoma City’s rise from train depot, to State Capitol, to Big League City. However, I have never felt right about the way I stayed quiet on this issue. From now on, I will not back down from contributing my thoughts on contentious issues, but I will try to do so in the most respectful manner possible.
To read the Blair’s entire discussion, visit www.imaginativeamerica.com.
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Comments
I respect Blair’s work and ideas tremendously, but have to admit that insulting the work of the great I.M. Pei is a risky move. We all want OKC to be like New York, Boston, LA, and all of the other centers of the universe…but our present reality is that we are not those places.
I sense that the new urban developers are crying out for density in all its forms. While the older generation likes a little elbow room in design. I submit that the romanticism of the West (of which Oklahoma is a part) calls for a little more openness than the bustling cities of the East.
From a figurative point of view, the lack of density in the Chamber Forum designs may be more in keeping with our city’s identity than a transplanted scheme from elsewhere.
Kris, what did I.M. Pei give us other than Kerr McGee tower and the incomplete Myriad Gardens? Lots of destruction of historic properties? Incomplete swaths of land downtown? I would hardly call what IM Pei did for us “great.”
I’m glad to see Blair and others having the balls to stand out on important issues such as the Chamber building. I strongly believe our city would be much further along if more people took a public stance instead of citizen activists and politicians giving the Politically Correct answer all the time or politely and mysteriously excusing themselves from key meetings. The Chamber would be very wise to reconsider an overhaul of their building design.
It turns out that I.M. Pei’s vision for Oklahoma City did not pan out due to cultural shifts in how cities are planned. I think the Crystal Bridge is one piece of his work that we can all be proud of.
Globally speaking, I.M. Pei is a giant of an architect and I think it is arrogant of us to assume that we can do much better.
At the bottom of this link is a list of some of his great works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I.M._Pei
With all of my comments being said, I need to emphasize my admiration for OKC’s innovators and new urban developers. We need a shift in how we do things, but let’s give our forefathers the respect they deserve.
RE: “insulting the work of the great I.M. Pei is a risky move …”
The older generation in this town can recall when insulting I.M. Pei was a favorite passtime second only to OU football.
I’m not saying all the legends and mythology about what Pei did and didn’t do here was correct. I was actually quite surprised by what I discovered as I wrote “OKC Second Time Around” with Jack Money a couple years back.
Blair wouldn’t have any trouble getting a job as an issue-framer… he does a great job describing the past and present issues impacting this odd site. (Though it would have been good of him to trickle in one or two suggestions.)
After expertly framing the subject and explaining why the site is so catawampus, and how the proposed design thumbs its nose at the design guidelines, he stops! Come on Blair, give us some goodies!