[AGL] future skyline

[Michael Eisenstadt]

Harry Edwards called the highrise projects cancerous.

I live downtown and the highrises we already have lift
my spirit. The new Frost Bank tower is the best, 33
stories (would that it were 66 stories; what a statement
that would be!) My favorite used to be the Trammell-
Crow highrise with a well-resolved top to the building.
Blue grey glass which changes color with different skies.
The Federal Bank building on 2d, up from Gerry's Crest
Hotel (now the Radisson, it was a Statler) is impressive.
>From some angles its complex facades seem to flatten
out and seem one dimensional. But the Frost is best
of breed with its signature slitted glass top. Its Architect
claimed he was trying to reproduce the spirit of the
Chrysler building.

I can't make out the buildings very well in the rendering
Harry sent us. I do know that a 36 story combined
offices and condominiums, on Congress Ave, is slated
to break ground soon. The abandonned Intel building
on W 5th street is still there, concrete structure with
rusting rebar sticking  up out the top of the columns. It
looks strangely like a computer CPU chip with its many
pins upside down. This resemblance is of course due to
cosmic indifference.

As for Gerry's brown cloud over downtown, see
attached photo.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry" <mesmo at gilanet.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 7:23 PM
Subject: Re: [AGL] future skyline


> Incredible! Who'd a thought it?
>
> Something tells me that it will never come to completion. Glad I'll not
> likely see it. What are the plans for traffic arteries to get people in 
> and
> out of the area? Can you imagine the great, brown cloud that will envelope
> it all? Visible from 30 miles distant?
>
> I recall the excitement when the original Crest Hotel was completed, where
> Congress meets the river. It was like an architectural spaceship in the
> city. For the musicians of my era it was a goldmine. Worked many a gig 
> there
> as it went through a series of owners and identities. I remember it as the
> Sheraton Crest. Do you remember Geneva Rawlins? A classy Black lady who
> played keyboards and sang? Geneva and the Gentlemen. I worked with her a 
> few
> times so I guess that qualifies me as a Gentleman...I guess today's
> musicians will be working atop the Congress Condos, don't you know there
> will be some highrolling parties up there?
>
> This afternoon we had .8" of rain in about 20 minutes, heaviest rainfall
> since last October. Marble size hail fell for 15 minutes and pummeled the
> garden plants. Too wet and too soon to take a toll. Sure feels and smells
> good. Early enough to replant whatever got waxed--unless it got the
> apples...
> G
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Harry Edwards" <laughingwolf at ev1.net>
> To: "ghetto 2" <ghetto2 at lists.whathelps.com>
> Cc: "ghetto survivors" <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:22 PM
> Subject: [AGL] future skyline
>
>
> This is a rendering of the proposed and under-construction high-rise
> buildings for downtown Austin as of 05/10/2006. The newer buildings
> have names on them in the photo and most are scheduled to break ground
> before mid-2007. Our skyline is gonna look cancerously different in
> the coming years. The condo tower called Spring, on the far left, will
> go up right over where I currently work:
>
>
>
>
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