new civic center renderings

of the two civic center renderings above, which is the more architecturally interesting? the UT reports on the civic center proposals released today by hines (top image) and gerding (bottom image); more images at skyscraperpage. to me, the gerding proposal is far superior to hines, but then i'm biased in hoping for an architecturally significant city hall and civic center. on the other hand, as the hines spokesperson says,

“The city should not be entering risky ventures right now. The city should be taking conservative approaches to save money.”

so it's a conservative proposal from a firm based in houston, a conservative city that can't be bothered to even zone itself, targeted for a conservative city. there's nothing distinctive about the design and it peters out at four stories. is this the best they could offer? fifty years from now, as people compare san diego's civic buildings with its contemporaries in california, i wonder if san diego's budget woes of 2008 will even be remembered. it's a shame that what will likely be a short-term budget crisis (with respect to san diego's long-term history and future) dictates a proposal like this one.

fortunately the gerding proposal isn't constrained by the above. the unique shape of the city hall building makes it one of the most innovative designs i've seen for san diego, especially considering some of the dreck we've been subjected to recently (i.e., the ballpark village marriott). their proposal acknowledges this, stating that iconic buildings are what help to define a city and make it unique. personally, i think its one factor in making people proud of the city they live in, but i know that lots of folks take pride in how little taxes they can pay instead.

other interesting aspects of the gerding proposal: 35 stories for city hall, taking it right to the max height limit of 500 feet; LEED certification, its consideration of public space/interaction, and the use of visual art elements throughout the project. also, some streets will be re-opened to increase public interaction, but a pedestrian plaza will still exist, as will a restored civic theater. the latter will benefit from proposed ground-floor retail in the civic plaza building to the north - so there will be somewhere to get coffee after a show. parking will be underground (goodbye, parking tower relic), and the north-south flow of downtown with respect to the horton plaza center point will be re-introduced. finally, i like the potential for concerts/arts events in the public space, and street festivals on b street, as mentioned in the proposal.

want to give your opinion on the designs? attend one of the scheduled meetings and maybe you can help influence a project that will not only define san diego, but also how its citizens envision the future of their city.