Secrets of the City

It’s ugly.

I attended a speech by former VP Walter Mondale there and was blown away by the great feel of the room. It’s really different for a church and I bet the designers but as much thought into it as some of the architects who have been getting all the press lately.

Not just ugly, it’s BREATHTAKINGLY HIDEOUS.

But hey, as long as my tax dollars didn’t pay for it, I don’t really give a crap.

They’re all ugly!

The haters on this site! I think it’s a very cool building — the interior in particular. To clarify Rex’s critique of the choice, I suspect (but can’t confirm) that the “big three “(Guthrie, Library, Walker) were not finished in time to merit consideration and may get props this time next year. The Honor Awards probably take months to come together.

I like it a lot. If I was a church-going man, I’d worship there.

I think the church looks kinda cool.

As the resident architecture hater, I’ll say… it’s beautiful. The vestigial column retains just enough form of the classic church bell tower, and all of its function as a church’s most prominent feature and signage.

Better than anything the Lutherans have ever built.

” Better than anything the Lutherans have ever built.”
-ohhh… burn!

That’s gorgeous. It’s either a church or a powerplant, but it’s gorgeous – at least if it’s lit from within at twilight. If you want hideous, check the next “Best Building” in that sequence – a public space with a roof that still manages to be useless in a rain storm.

The church also accomplishes something the Guthrie and Walker lack: it’s coherent from any angle.

Stunning. Thanks for the link–I’ll make a point to go check it out.

whether you think it’s ugly or not, it’s not a faux-sandstone monstrosity like the new library and airport light rail station, an angry/happy face like the walker, or a tired blue rerun like that thing by the river.

The Bigelow Chapel is on a much smaller scale, and will always stand alone, but it’s fine for the Guthrie to have a limited viewing angle — much of its blah will eventually be screened by urban development around it. I’m still waiting to see the Walker’s “good” angle.

“religious compound”

aka

branch davidion part II: New Brighton

whether you think it’s ugly or not, it’s not a faux-sandstone monstrosity like the new library and airport light rail station, an angry/happy face like the walker, or a tired blue rerun like that thing by the river.

He’s got a great point.

previously linked on mnspeak with flickr pictures here.

To make a very long story short, I was going on a bike ride in that general direction today, and planned to swing by there, to see what it looked like in the daytime. Plans changed, I got in a hurry to meet my fiancee for lunch in Columbia Heights. Cutting through New Brighton (and passing on a break at Barley John’s), lo and behold… it was right along the way.

No pun intended, but to answer the question of what it looks like in the daytime, it may be a stretch to say the chapel is inspirational, but it does look rather sharp in a very timeless sort of way. It’s connection to everything else on the grounds… not so much. I think the building is quite fitting for the United Theological Seminary for the United Church of Christ. Just like the UCC, or “Unitarians Considering Christ” as my Lutheran seminarian friend puts it, the chapel is very forward-thinking and contemporary — you WANT to forget about their warts.

I love the bigelow; HGA & soranno continue to do quality work time after time. When did people start caring about architecture? Are my AIA dues finally paying off?

Minneapolis has gone through a string of controversial developments recently — so of course architecture is going to catch our eye.