One Light - 13th & Walnut

[flyingember]

So you don't like the design because they add flair.

So. you dislike this building because of what? Its lack of flair? It's 90% only glass on the exterior with some brick on low floors.

[KCPowercat]

So you don't like the design because they add flair.

So. you dislike this building because of what? Its lack of flair? It's 90% only glass on the exterior with some brick on low floors.

Not a fan of the "ONE LIGHT" on the roof...flair isn't building design, it's the tacky stuff they add onto buildings.

[flyingember]

That's subjective. And it's exactly what the commerce tower has on it

[KCPowercat]

That's subjective. And it's exactly what the commerce tower has on it

IMO = In My Opinion. Of course it's subjective.

[pash]

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[KCPowercat]

So long as we don't end up with "ONE LIGHT", "TWO LIGHT", "THREE LIGHT", "FOUR LIGHT" written across the skyline, I'm not going to complain. ...

[pash]

.

[DaveKCMO]

I know. I hope it doesn't happen. ... But the renderings for Two Light do suggest we're heading there.

Best case scenario—the highway trench gets covered with a park, and the apartment buildings that go up on the south side of Truman Road are tall enough to screen Cordish's buildings from view.

in 20 years people will laugh and say "oh, those codgers were so concerned about our amazing skyline".

people spend WAY too much time focused on the skyline. what matters most is on the street, since that is what actually defines a great city.

[earthling]

^Portland is a good example of not impressive skyline but very functional at street level. But there are some disproportional skylines too that simply look bad, sometimes due to a single building. My peeve of course is multiple buildings that look the same (and with same signage) as it looks like 'the projects' over time. Still hopeful Cordish mixes it up.

But yeah, that signage is about as mundane as can be.

[FangKC]

Skyscrapers and a distinctive skyline are great if the city has high density that supports abundant mass transit, and there is little need for plentiful parking near those skyscrapers--in the form of huge single purpose parking garages or surface lots. If the vast majority of employees arrive by bus, train, streetcar, or subway, then it's not so much a problem to have skyscrapers.

But in cities that aren't that way, a skyscraper, or cluster of them, can kill the vibrancy of a civic core or business district. Especially if they are a single-purpose building (office only for example). They can create dead blocks where there is little other activity. Badly designed, they can feature boring facades and monolithic presences.

If the construction of a 30-to-40-story tower requires the leveling of three or four square blocks of existing commercial or apartment buildings for parking to service that skyscraper, then the trade-off is not worth it. You are slowly destroying the vibrancy that might have attracted the office tenants to begin with. One is also erasing existing spaces where retail services existed, or could exist. One is also erasing the older building stock that rents cheaper, and provides space for smaller companies getting started, or businesses that service the bigger companies (printing firms, advertising agencies, real estate offices, employment agencies, bulk copying outlets, sign makers, boutique law firms, security firms, offices for physicians, dentists, eye doctors, etc.)

Too many American cities built skyscrapers in their city cores and then surrounded those areas with blocks of surface parking to accommodate the towers. This killed off the potential for pedestrian activity, and started isolating employees inside their fortress towers. It removed the appeal of getting out of the office and walking around a vibrant city during the day. There became fewer things to make the experience pleasant. Who wants to walk alone at 7th and Baltimore? Once ensconced in a fortress tower, many employees forgot the experience of being in a busy downtown. Once that experience no longer existed, it wasn't hard to convince them to accept a move to suburban office parks without complaint.

In smaller cities like Kansas City, it also resulted in land parcels being controlled by just a few large entities, which made it much harder for new employers and commercial businesses to enter the market.

[chingon]

in 20 years people will laugh and say "oh, those codgers were so concerned about our amazing skyline".

West Virginia is for Lovers.

The Internet is for Whiners.

[longviewmo]

Should have done it in comic sans.

Oops, showed up half a page late.

[moderne]

While the design of the building is nothing special it is definitely a grandchild of the Boley building one block away.

[loftguy]

Again, Jane Jacobs "the Death and Life of Great American Cities".

[normalthings]

One Light's pool is almost complete.

[geeman68]

I was told that OneLight/OneLife pool anticipated opening is July 4 weekend. I can only HOPE.

[normalthings]

I was told that OneLight/OneLife pool anticipated opening is July 4 weekend. I can only HOPE.

They have a pic up on the One Light instagram of it

[atticus23]

That pool will be a complete shit show...

[loftguy]

That pool will be a complete shit show...

I have really missed the semi-nude drunken mayhem in Cosentino's that the pool pagans provide.

[flyingember]

That pool will be a complete shit show...

I have really missed the semi-nude drunken mayhem in Cosentino's that the pool pagans provide.

The Star photographer for events always took 90% bikini photos at that pool.