The City to Scale: Unbuilt Cincinnati
In a wrap-up of The City to Scale series, here are a few personal favorite unrealized visions of what could've been here in Cincinnati:
Promoted by Forward Quest (based in Covington, KY).
Proposed in 1996, eliminated 10/26/2001 by USOC selection committee.
Nick Vehr's vision and marketing efforts.
Proposed redevelopment of the then-abandoned complex.
Jim Tarbell's dream development for rejuvenating the old neighborhood.
Northern Kentucky's version of The Banks, via Bill Butler.
Proposed by Wayne Carlisle and David Hosea (DW Productions).
Only the foundational footings of the tower were set, in the
vacant parking lot next to the World Peace Bell structure.
Originally proposed by Dan Deering, only the left half was built.
Though, there's new hope for completion by Towne Properties.
David C. Imboden's ongoing vision for Dayton, KY.
(aka The Banks/Ovation, Part 3).
An extension of Bill Butler's Corporex development,
though Covington has had many announcements of this sort
(1998, 2003, etc.).
Part of CAC's 1999 Unbuilt Cincinnati exhibit.
Concept reconstructed by Midwest Model Makers.
University Plaza, Clifton (2005).
Proposed redevelopment of Corryville (Short Vine) district.
Source: Building Cincinnati.
An artist's rendering of the proposed city gateways forming a "crown of light".
More info on this project at KZF Design.
Additionally, here are few more drafts of the unrealized from earlier posts: Unbuilt Cincinnati teaser (showcasing a pair of amazing illustrations from the 1999 CAC Unbuilt Cincinnati exhibit) and Procrastinators Synonymous (which highlights a couple of the old Millworks, Fifth & Race, and Banks plans).
"Crystal Forest", Fountain Square West.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer.
• All images are owned and/or copyrighted by sources cited.
4 comments:
this is really cool! thanks for sharing.
it'd be cool to find drawings of projects that were actually built and place them alongside photos of said project to see how the original vision and the end result compare.
I had never seen or heard of those CMC office towers before. Thank goodness that didn't happen.
I think we're also quite lucky that the Skyloop thing and Millennium Monument never happened either. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that Ovation doesn't happen either...those are just some wacky projects.
@ Randy:There were several proposals for the CMC during it's down time, some of which I'll discuss a little more in an upcoming post.
As far as the other projects go, I'm not sure if it was luck or just a reflection of the stressed economics surrounding them, but they were definitely huge visions - the proponents were really swinging for the fences. Extraordinary ideas like that can make or break a lot of people, including the perception of a region (ref. The Subway, or some might say the 2012 bid), but I applaud them for at least trying.
@ Drew:Thanks for bringing that up - I intentionally avoided that for three reasons: (1) I don't have the time, (2) someone else has already done this (which I'll reference in the next post), and (3) I'm actually more infatuated with the conceptualization and artwork more than the finished product.
Thanks for reading!
Quite a few of these ended up getting done. Or are in the process of getting finished.
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