Sunday, June 22, 2008

Anchorage Architecture is Growing Up



When we got back to Anchorage in May, there were a number of new buildings - well, they'd been working on them and now they were more or less finished. And it seems we are finally shedding the old boring Anchorage look. There are a few older buildings with some semblance of style, but for the most part things have been pretty boring. Here are some new buildings on the scene.

The building going up at Northern Lights and C Streets last fall was particularly disturbing. It was obviously going to be big, and it was right out against the street. No set back at all. As you drove south on C Street during the construction it felt like you had to move over a lane so you didn't scrape the construction fence.

But this flower has bloomed. I took these pictures about 11:15 Monday night as we were coming back from South Pacific. They don't capture lightness, the airiness of this building. I'll have to go back and try again.










Here's a condo at 10th and E. It's not quite right, but it has a little more character than most places.



And these apartments? condos? Fireweed and A. They're a little strange, but at least someone is trying to do something besides boxes.





And the new convention center is turning out to be a reasonably handsome building, and it's going to have spectacular views from inside. I wonder if the Muni has secured the view rights, or whether someone will be able to build a 20 story building and block the views one day.

4 comments:

  1. Have you seen the luxury apartments by Ben Boeke Ice Arenas? Actually they are closer to the ball fields but I spent a great portion of my childhood at the ice rink.

    Your pictures are pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Fireweed & A building is going to be an extended-stay hotel, I believe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. View rights? Is that for real? I like the Fireweed and A building, it looks like what we called a potato bug or a roly poly, the kind with articulated shell parts that could roll up in a ball. Wikipedia calls it an Armadillidiidae. So an armadillo bug. I think it got the other name from its scent, eau de potato. Actually, the building looks a bit like a potato, too.

    ReplyDelete

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