Sunday, July 1st, 2007
Indiana Convention Center Expansion Design Revealed
The Indiana Convention Center this week released renderings of its new expansion. This was designed by a Ratio Architects led time. The design is pretty much what I expected. It is very conservative, workmanlike in execution, but lacking in pizzaz. It is another Indianapolis opportunity lost to make a major architectural statement with a landmark civic structure. But that’s no surprise. Here’s a picture.
One local architect described this as “futuristic”, which is certainly a head scratcher. Maybe glass = futuristic to that guy, but in the real world this is a very conservative structure. Note the strong allusions to the similar style of Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium. I suppose there are worse vernacular styles to have. This exterior facade will certainly not embarrass the city. The terminally dull interior is much less successful.
I could put together a full review of this, but Jason over at Circle and Squares already said it all. You can read his take here and here. His coverage also includes the full set of released renderings.
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Futuristic? Not even close. The 1939 World’s Fair was more futuristic. Once again Indianapolis goes straight for the ‘mostly harmless” school of architecture. Only good point – it won’t be outshined by the new Marriott.
Thanks for reading and for your comment. I agree completely.