Sunday Flashback: Mary Jo Takes on Downtown Architecture
Flashback doesn’t get any better than when it features a story by the late great Mary Jo Nelson. If you like what I do, credit her. If you don’t like what I do, then blame me, because no matter what I still fall short of the standard she set over 40 some-odd years.
I was lucky to have known her, to have learned just a fraction of not just what she knew, but how she went about telling stories and also creating the sort of community discussion that made this a better place to live. She was all about urbanism when urbanism wasn’t cool. She was all about old buildings and architecture when they weren’t cool either.
I miss the anxiety I felt whenever my phone rang and it was Mary Jo saying “Steve, this is Mary Jo. About that Century Center Mall story you just wrote …” And then I’d wait. Did I screw something up? If I had, she’d nail me on it. She knew EVERYTHING. And when she was happy with my work, well, that was just great.
The downtown skyline as Mary Jo Nelson saw it during her days covering downtown after the end of the I.M. Pei era.
Bricktown Project Is Applauded, But-Noted Architect Critical of City’s Downtown Buildings
By Mary Jo Nelson
Sunday, November 21, 1982Oklahoma City’s latest downtown buildings are “just terrible,” in the eyes of one world-renowned architectural critic.
Hiroshi Watanabe, author of several books and critic for leading art and design journals, candidly describes much of the downtown urban renewal area as “awful.”
But he did praise its plazas, parks and restorations.Given a special tour during a visit here, Watanabe found it “quite informative,” but was not favorably impressed by most new construction. He did find Bricktown, being restored by local developer Neal Horton “very exciting” and called Myriad Gardens and Kerr Park “tremendous.”
Generally, though, he found little to praise in the building architecture.
“Not too much, I’m afraid,” was the designer/planner/critic’s description of how he liked office buildings and other replacements for scores of destroyed structures.
He saw “nothing particularly striking” in the Liberty Tower and Fidelity Bank buildings. But he praised their setbacks, plazas and use of sculpture and flagpoles.
The Kerr-McGee Tower was a building high point. “It’s all right,” he said, giving a solid positive ring to the “all right”. He said it was “very nicely done” and fit into the general scheme of good design. He especially liked its plaza and the tie to Kerr Park.
His harshest criticism was reserved for the three newest downtown structures Mid-America Building, American First and First Oklahoma Towers particularly the 32-story First Oklahoma.
“The office buildings all sort of merge. They are really awful,” he said. Why would the designers, some famous for other works, turn out such creations? Could it have been that the out-of-state architects assigned lesser importance to an Oklahoma project?
“I don’t think they were that cynical. I think they have done very good buildings elsewhere,” said the U.S.-educated native of Japan.
Then he defended the architects in part: “They don’t have a scale to work with. I suppose they weren’t responsible for tearing down what you once had.” Reminded that I.M. Pei, who fashioned the American First Tower, also authored the Pei Plan that destroyed scores of downtown buildings and replaced them with new ones, Watanabe had no answer.
Mostly concrete and glass, the new buildings were seen as an extension of the international/modern movement, which Watanabe acknowledged has fallen into disfavor with much of the worldwide architectural community.
“They are isolated towers, criss-crossed by service roads. They are isolated from the people they are supposed to be for. There is no place for pedestrians. They’re just islands.”
In some instances, he said, the new buildings “turn their backs” on people.
Vincent Carrozza, Dallas developer of the office towers, declined to respond. “I don’t thing I can comment. That is for architects to comment to each other about,” he said.
Response was sought but was not forthcoming immediately from I.M. Pei & Partners in New York and Morris/Aubrey Architects in Houston, designers of First Oklahoma and American First buildings.
Watanabe admired styling and siting of the county courthouse and city hall, but particularly disapproved of placing so many parking garages in the heart of the city. He suggested a better solution would have been to build them on the fringe of downtown and run shuttle buses to the core.
The critic also found the lack of shops and stores deplorable, a deficiency Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority officials recognize and have been attempting to remedy for years.
“What really excited me downtown was Bricktown,” he said. “That is going to be very impressive.” He said some other major North American cities have done restorations similar to the old brick-street warehouse district where developer Horton is restoring several blocks of early statehood buildings.
“The fact that the brickwork is part of the city’s history makes it unique,” the critic said. An apparent lack of concern for history is a flaw in the Oklahoma City urban renewal plan, he believes.
“I think more of a concern for the city’s history might have been shown. I can’t say what quality or historical value the (torn-down) buildings had, but I understand that now there is a continuing effort to save what is left. This should be strengthened and encouraged.”
Watanabe sees the future Myriad Gardens, now under construction, as a “tremendous asset” to downtown. He snapped many pictures of the Gardens and Kerr Park, to be shown to Japanese audiences.
He praised the interior of Sheraton Century Center, but made no comment on its exterior. Restorations of the Skirvin Plaza Hotel, the old Black Hotel, the Montgomery Ward and Harbour Longmire buildings on Main Street were seen as “excellent” and “outstanding.” But he said it was a “negative” to close Main Street at Robinson. That shuts out people, he said.
Although Watanabe didn’t like all of the new downtown, he found other parts of the metropolitan area “very exciting.” Among these was another urban renewal project, the Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The capitol complex also was highly approved, and he was especially delighted with the oil wells on the capitol grounds. He called the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Center an outstanding design.
“This is the type of building that will be of great importance in the future,” he said.
For another, he thrilled to see several Bruce Goff-designed houses, if only from the outside and, in the case of the Ledbetter House in Norman, in the rain.
“I could only see the top of the Bavinger House (in Norman) from the road, but it was exciting anyway.” He also considered the Goff “seven gables” house near Penn Square a high point.
Some of Watanabe’s most enthusiastic praise came in Heritage Hills, a preservation neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The author of several books, Watanabe has been widely published in Asia, North America and Europe. He is a critic for the American Institute of Architects Journal, Asian Wall Street Journal, Japan Times, ARTnews, the Encyclopedia of Japan, and, until recently, Progressive Architecture, a the leading U.S. architectural design magazine.
Lost Bricktown
This building is still standing - but for how long?
If everything goes in the direction currently set, this building will be razed by the city sometime in the next few years.
On Tuesday I wrote about the plight of what I’ll call “lost Bricktown.” I want you to see these buildings as they were in their heyday, instead of how blighted they are today. Left alone, these buildings could someday be restored and brought back to life. But given the current momentum of development, I predict these buildings will disappear within the next few years, to be torn down not by short-visioned developers, but rather the city itself.
Forty years ago it was the mission of a woman I admired, Mary Jo Nelson, to educate the public about similar actions that were being pondered by city leaders. She documented the final days of landmarks we now mourn – the Criterion Theater, the Huckins Hotel, the Midwest Building and more.
Like Mary Jo, who passed away a couple of years ago, I can only do my best to bring these things to your attention. It’s up to you whether these properties matter in a city that has too few old buildings left. It’s up to you whether it’s a good or bad thing that these buildings are set to be torn down. And it’s up to you whether you want to contact the mayor and council, or whether you wish to stay silent.
Before We Dismiss What Buildings Remain Standing in Core to Shore…
Candidates for Demolition? Not under Urban Renewal.
The same buildings today - home to the Deep Deuce apartments clubhouse.
The Littlepage Building - boarded up and ugly, right? Once again, the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority chose a new course of direction and required developers to build around the blight.
The Littlepage Building today - home to Sage Cafe and Gourmet Market, a corporate furnishings store and apartments upstairs.
Another building that needed a savior and could have been torn down in the name of progress.
Maybe it's easy to write this building off - the north facade's windows are broken and covered with graffiti as city officials have turned their backs on building maintenance in the area.
The same building in its heyday - once home to the Oklahoma City branch of International Harvester.
Another building that doesn't appear in any Core to Shore plans.
Yet another building not shown in Core to Shore plans.
Definitely not shown in Core to Shore plans. Once the original Film Exchange building.
While no other buildings have the architectural significance of Little Flower Church and Union Station, several notable older buildings, such as the Latino Community Development Agency building, contribute to the character of the area and could be incorporated into development projects if economically feasible.”
The Jump from New Urbanism to Urbanism
Kris Bryant asked the key question Sunday as I finished up the Planning for the Future series (actually, it’s not quite over…
How is there any relationship between the lengthy discussions we’ve had on urban development with the introduction of New Urbanism?
For me, the tie is quite simple. New Urbanism reintroduces the idea of density and community in the suburbs. Remember, when we started this series, we saw how everyone was being taught that density was bad, that indeed, community was bad.
Reverse that thinking in the suburbs, re-introduce mixed-use development, walkable neighborhoods and eliminate rows and rows of identical Dallas-style homes with driveways in each front yard and maybe, just maybe, the concept of living in an urban environment won’t be so foreign to upcoming generations.
Sure, there are a lot of other issues to consider here. And yes, I’m simplifying it all qutie a bit with this post. But is that so bad?
Let's Discuss New Urbanism
Yep. I tricked you. I tried to pull you into a discussion of new urbanism by throwing some outrageous old urban renewal propaganda films at you. And now I’m ready to drag you into a discussion of new urbanism – a nice buzz phrase, but one that isn’t always well understood. A couple of years ago I remembered watching a great segment on one of my favorite news shows – CBS Sunday Morning.
Sure enough, it’s online:
William Whyte and the Public Space
We’ve discussed the ideas of William Whyte before, most recently in August following the release of designs for the new Devon Energy tower.
At the time I focused on Whyte’s teachings on the “blank wall,” specifically the cold steel, concrete and glass office towers built in urban centers the past 50 years that had no interaction with pedestrians on the ground floor.
But there’s more to Whyte’s legacy – much more.
Whyte’s “Street Life Project,” which I referred to in my last writing, is a fundamental step toward understanding proper city design for pedestrians. And with Jeff Speck completing a report on how Oklahoma City can improve its downtown for pedestrians, it’s not a bad time to get more acquainted with Whyte’s ideas on this subject, which were summarized in the 1988 book “City: Rediscovering the Center.”
At the heart of Whyte’s thinking is the challenge to conventional thinking, that jaywalking might not be so horrible, that interaction between pedestrians and vehicular traffic doesn’t have to be death defying.
In my previous post on Whyte I included one of his graphics on the “Street Life Project.” Oh how I wish Whyte were still alive so that he could have had fun with a clip like this one, as featured at www.imaginativeamerica.com:
Launch day of Toronto's first scramble intersection at Yonge and Dundas.
We can learn even more from Whyte, as we prepare to overhaul the Myriad Gardens and potential build a new “central park” in the Core to Shore area immediately south.
Consider Bryant Park in New York City, in which he consulted in its restoration plan in 1980 and its most current incarnation.
Let the following videos serve as a tour of Bryant Park and inspiration for what is possible:
(Below, join an average family as they enjoy one of the park’s most popular attractions)
I wonder how many of Whyte’s ideas can be implemented in the next few years as part of the Devon Tower tax increment financing district. Imagine, if you will, people playing chess in the park. Imagine a lively outdoors that brings the community together. What’s amazing is what I heard with my own ears is being contemplated by Mayor Mick Cornett. We’ll wait for Monday to delve into how all these ideas are in the mix here in Oklahoma City and what it means for our future.
For now, anyone interested in how we can create a great central park or improve the Myriad Gardens, or possible improvements to downtown’s streetlife, should visit the Whyte-inspired Project for Public Spaces at www.pps.org.
Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses: Two Unmovable Urban Forces.
Most people discover Jane Jacobs when they’re urged to read her classic, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” For whatever reason, I discovered Jane Jacobs by accident – I was drawn first to her adversary, Robert Moses.
True story: Paul Brum, former public works director, was at a meeting and did his typical rebutal when asked about green space along drainage canals: “When I go in and visit with the homeowners,” he’d say, “they tell me they don’t like trees.”
No kidding. Anyone who worked around Brum can back me up on this. And at one of these meetings, someone, I can’t even remember who, leaned over and mumbled to me “he thinks he’s another Robert Moses.”
Who in the world is Robert Moses? I didn’t bother asking. But then a while later, someone else mentioned Robert Moses and urged me to read a biography on the man, “The Power Broker.”
It’s a long read. I’m pretty sure the newspaper’s focus groups would hate it. But it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Robert Moses was god in New York City. He was in charge of Urban Renewal, he was in charge of public housing, he was in charge of parks, public works, highways and bridges. And he took a very pragmatic, engineered approach to creating order in what he perceived to be chaos.
He had no problem destroying neighborhoods to create a highway that would get travelers from point a to point b. The means justified the ends.
But then Robert Moses ran into Jane Jacobs. He wanted to create a Manhattan expressway through the heart of Greenwich Village. Jacobs was just one woman with no power. But she declared war on Moses, she mobilized opposition and created a movement against urban renewal.
Chaos, Jacobs argued, wasn’t always bad. Nice, neat and organized suburbia, she argued, was without a soul and certainly wasn’t always good.
I’ll let the experts take this story from here…
Robert Moses Meets His Match
Jane Jacobs Speaks
The following video is a bit more academic and deviates into a discussion of feminism that is pretty much a distraction. But it’s still pretty informative on Jacobs’ impact.
The Impact of Jane Jacobs
Weekend Urbanism Schedule
Saturday morning: Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs
Saturday evening: William H. Whyte and the Public Space
Sunday morning: New Urbanism
Sunday evening: Chicago’s Millenium Park
Monday morning: Wrap-up
Learning Downtown
I don’t live downtown, but I work and play there and my heart is there. I can’t say that the series of videos and posts I’ve launched into this week had any grand plan. It just dawned on me, as I’ve listened to ongoing discussions about plans for this city’s future that maybe, just maybe, I could trick those of you following me on this blog into a condensed version of what Blair Humphreys is learning and observing at MIT in Boston.
I can’t, of course, claim to know even a small fraction of what Blair has learned earning his masters in planning. And certainly there are great minds, people like Russell Claus, Ron Frantz, Devery Youngblood, Hans Butzer, Anthony McDermid, Rand Elliott and more in this town who I must admit have taught me what little I know as I’ve jotted down their thoughts, their opinions and wisdom in notebooks on the way to writing stories for The Oklahoman.
At some point these people I cover, people I’ve sometimes upset when stories didn’t always go their way, became my teachers.
But I’ve got the means to communicate to many, whether it be the newspaper, at NewsOk, or on this blog.
So I started out with some vintage videos that I knew would probably irk most of you. The Dynamic American City film suggested that density and urban design are historic relics to be discarded, and that suburban design was the wave of the future. As Blair noted, the film shows that suburban sprawl and the demise of downtowns may not have been without some provocation.
This weekend I’ll be posting a series of videos Saturday and Sunday. And as all this rolls out, you’ll discover that this discussion isn’t just about downtown Oklahoma City, but the entire community.
There are some people out there who follow this blog, and follow me on Twitter, who I’m calling out by name and urging to invest some time watching these videos.
By the end of the weekend, you’ll have spent less than an hour on this blog. But I’m hoping this whole discussion will advance us from the beginner sessions we’ve seen repeatedly on how the younger generation is more tied to urban living and the need for mixed-use development.
So, who am I calling out?
Let’s start with Jeff Click, who has shown at least a bit of interest in what he perceives to be new urbanism and has tried to take some of those ideas into his work in northwest Oklahoma City.
Mark Ruffin, come on down as well and get Nick to watch the segments on Jane Jacobs before he makes any decision on The Lunch Box or tries to buy out Coney Island.
Jim Cowan, I’m going to bet you’ll take this all in without any nudging.
Casey Cornett, I’m not sure if your dad has ever visited this site. But I’ll leave it up to you on whether he might find some of this interesting as he balances out all the city’s needs.
Tomorrow morning the learning begins – Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs.
