Pick your Water Street design!
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This past weekend at the Charlottesville Community Design Center, the general public and a selected jury had a chance to vote on their favorite designs for the Water Street parking lots. It was all part of a design contest the City sponsored to generate ideas for a potential developer. Although the City does not own the lots (they own a very small portion, actually), and no future developer will be required to use the winning design, the City elected to pay the CCDC $103,000 for organizing the contest, with a $25,000 cash prize going to the winner.
The CCDC received over 60 entries, but we’ve selected a few for your viewing pleasure. Which one do you like? Cast your vote in the comment section!
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine/ Ten / Eleven / Twelve
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Had he not been 
[...] Remember the Water Street parking lot design competition? The Hook provides photos of a dozen of the entries. [...]
Wow!
I very much look forward to being randomly assaulted by a gang of wilding youths in any of these fabulous designs!
Great, just what we need. Less parking downtown. Oh, and more expensive places to live that nobody can afford. I look forward to not giving a crap about this (unless more parking spaces are provided).
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
number 9, number 9, number 9,
Um what the heck is #11? #2 and #4 made me giggle on their chances for being built. Had the designers been to downtown before and meet the planning and BAR, I think not.
#11 gave me a flashback. Heh. But if I were to be beaten by a gang here, I’d have to go with #9. It has that “where are the cops” vibe.
No! No! #9 looks like every other brick yawner in town. #8 will put us on the map with Barcelona and Sydney!
Indeed, #9 is the most prisoney. I’m rolling with 9.
Number 8! That dude has a sense of humor that I want my tax money to reward!
This has got to be some of the worst, fascist urban planning I’ve seen. It’s all just awful. My vote is #11 because it contains the real, ultimate solution that will appeal to ALL people it Charlottesville: It can’t (and therefore, won’t) be built.
I love your optimism, Cathy. Why even spend your energy posting. If you can’t say something productive, try harder….really. Nobody ever changed anything with a negative attitude. Maybe take a walk and relax.
That being said, I think #9 is the most viable and within the character of our charming city.
#2, #4, or #8. None of them would be built as is, but if you start from what is perceived as an extreme, then the compromise will hopefully not be as prosaic as #9.
It would be great to see something built that makes people at least think about whether they like it or not, rather than ignoring it completely.
Kudos to all of the designers for putting these out there.
Matt,
What are you, a preacher from the Church of Life Through Rose Colored Glasses? Cathy said what she felt and that’s the way it is.
I like # 11 for it’s ethereal, luminescent beauty…or did someone spill purple ink on the drawing?
I predict that Aubrey Watt’s favorite will turn out to be the winner.
There’s so much to say I have to post again!
It’s said that if you build it they will come so I wonder if the designer of #4 is hoping to lure the Starship Enterprise or Chewbacca to downtown Charlottesville. That building looks like a spaceport to me. Many of the other designs remind me of the local jail and Queen Charlotte Square.
I’d like to see a strictly functional, even UTILITARIAN, warehouse like structure built on the site as a permanent location for the City Market. It would be wonderful to have a market that could be open year round with public restrooms and other amenities. It wouldn’t have to look boring either. It could be really ugly but we’d all call it daring and artistic and then everyone would love it!
Charlottesville Parking Center, Inc. may keep status quo. Who’s to stop the folks with “crooked smiles and injurious wiles” from overseeing a $5/hr. open air lot? The asset might not need to be sold. At that point, the lot earns it’s keep, the Board avoids a costly shareholder derivative suit, and the hookah-derived haze from this fervour is lifted.
By the way, this citizen appreciates #4 - it is futuristic! There could even be a caddie in front for safely holding iPhones, light sabers, and other accessories not be allowed into the space-age labyrinth. Perhaps “Genetic Savings and Clone” or the like will soon come to our fair City.
Hey Matt: stick to giving opinions about the architecture and leave out your dime-store opinions and advice. While you’re at it, visit froogle and see if they have a life for sale within your budget.
I like the modern style of number 2 and number 11
I am with Kevin Cox on general principle…
If I had the money the first thing I would do would be to build a permanent structure for the city market and small vendors. Being a downtown merchant I must say the real estate in town really prices out a lot of small (and medium) vendors. How about a place with a food court with small vendors specializing in specific dishes….tacos, soups, pizza, dumplings. And after eating your fill you could finger through a few used cd’s or books. Maybe pickup a cheap bauble for the kids. Have a great idea and want to leave your cubicle to start up a small business. This is the place for you.
The warehouse concept is cool (check out Lynchburg) but I prefer Design #3 myself. As a father of 4 kids this looks like the type of place I can take my kids and let them run around in a safe stimulating environment. With places outside (and hopefully inside) where we could walk the stalls or perhaps catch an outside performance from a local group in the courtyard. Plus the design fits organically with the Jeffersonian/C-ville look while also reminding me of a train station (convenient that the tracks are so close by). Yhea I know edgey is all the rage but latley all I see are buidings going up that give me that “bet the the drapes don’t match the carpet” vibe.
I walk through those 2 parking lots on my way to and from work every day and this looks like the kind of place I could see my self stopping and spending a few minutes and maybe a few bucks.
Yes, #3 looks nice. However, this citizen has admonished Jim Berry to “Freeze - hit the deck,” until we owners have had a chance to review any potential deal. $5/hr. parking may ensue.
HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! The winner will be announced…Oct 5. Congratulations on receiving the prize money, man. However, this silly competition has no basis in reality. Do you want CPC to build your building? Or, shall we sell you rights to this valuable land? You’d better have a big stash ‘o cash, boss.
Drawings are nice, but unless it’s a lost van Gogh, or some Virginia National Bank stock, listen to these three words. “Bye, Bye, Love!”
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