Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Market Circle renderings are IN!

Without saying a lot (I'll let the renderings, just completed by OKC Talk's CuatrodeMayo aka young architect Andrew Stewart, do the talking), I will just say that I think this marks the evolution of Friends for a Better Boulevard as one of the most dynamic local movements in recent history, perhaps second to only the Modern Transit Project. Could Andrew be the traffic circle's Jeff Bezdek? I doubt he wants that kind of commitment, I know I would be freaked out, but I also know that Andrew is very committed to seeing OKC evolve into the kind of community he and his young family can prosper in.

Please, click on these renderings to enlarge to full-screen, they're worth it:









8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stunning. Love it. Count me as a Tulsan who would love to see this happen for OKC.

SteveRobOKC said...

This is outstanding! What are the chances of this actually happening?

NR said...

Difficult to say. I would call it a "movement" at this point, with many insiders on board including a councilman. All I know at this point is that ODOT and the City are very much aware of the Friends for a Better Boulevard now.

Anonymous said...

The boulevard is a waste of land and space. It should not be built and the land should be put back to the grid and devoloped with the remaining buildings.

This design wastes so much land and space. It is horrible. Reminds me of Brasilia.

NR said...

How could you draw that conclusion? Brasilia is very obviously what we're trying to prevent..

This isn't a wasted space. This is utilizing a space, creating a public realm and the potential for the city to build up around it, where otherwise conditions will remain averse to development.

If ODOT builds an earthen ramp, that destroys frontage opportunities, and eliminates interaction with Reno, Classen, Exchange, and Western (downtown's busiest street). I appreciate the comment, but it seems like a canard to accuse the Better Boulevard of wasting space.

This boulevard is happening. Let's do it right rather than doing it the wrong way.

Anonymous said...

Not maintaining Western as the primary N-S spine through this circle is, in my opinion, a fatal flaw. By your own account, Western is downtowns busiest street. The SE leg of Classen goes nowhere, serves nothing. Roundabouts are predicated on fairly even traffic distribution to each of their legs. Also, the imagery of people frolicking in the center; how are they to get there? Helicopter? Zip line?

NR said...

I'm less concerned about getting pedestrian crossings into the traffic circle as I am by not making Western the primary N-S through-route. I personally think the traffic circle is an excellent opportunity to tie SOUTH Western into NORTH Classen and to downplay NORTH Western and SOUTH Classen.

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting!