The Tower in the Flowers
Grant La Farge once stated that American architecture was nothing more than “making one material look like another material, which, if it were real, would be very objectionable.” The quote is an old one, yet it is still fresh in the minds of every architecture critic.
Although “modern” architects believed they conquered this problem by expressing the true form and shape of modern materials, they missed the underlying concept. It isn’t just materials, but all of architecture that should needs to be true.
So when modernists introduced the idea of suburban tall buildings, they initiated a larger architectural deceit than just a faux finish. These buildings, instead of faking a material, fake an entire reason for existence.
The famous Pyramids of Indianapolis
I decided to profile the Pyramids of Indianapolis as an example of a suburban tall building. These buildings perfectly illustrate how the buildings can be beautiful, and set in a beautiful location, yet still fail in their architectural mission. As time has passed, the buildings have never become more than office-use square footage near the interstate.
The west and north elevations are as interesting as a billboard
Tall buildings are economically justified only when the cost of building upwards is cheaper than building outwards. There is a price premium for building upwards, including the surrendered floor space for vertical transportation and the increased cost of structural materials.
Each building is about 22 stories tall
Tall buildings are associated with business districts where the cost of land is so high that skyscrapers are a good choice. Large companies often find that leasing or building these structures is a cost-effective option, and the perceived “strength” of being able to afford such an investment portrays a stable image to the public.
The interiors have a fantasy Egyptian appeal
When automobiles and white flight became the main subject of urban planning in the 1950′s and 1960′s, suburban tall buildings began sprouting at the fringe of cities. It is not uncommon for some cities to have several groups of tall buildings these days, always precipitated by highway investments and the idea that companies should stay centrally located, but comfortably away from the city center.
The allure of tall buildings in suburban locations has waned in recent years, and many companies have now realized that their business is best served by locating in the city proper (see Harvard Business Review “Back to the City” and accompanying Streetsblog page). In the end, the suburban tall buildings were poor investments. Even though beautiful, modern, and efficient, they were never part of the city and never part of the engine of our economy.
The windows extend to the ground and reflect only themselves
The landscape arrangement is both boring and confusing, as evidenced by the desire lines
These Towers were part of the great illusion of suburban superiority perpetrated by the planners, architects, and developers of a bygone era. The idea that the benefits of the city could be selectively extracted from the city center and deliberately recreated in a new structure is now known to be false. Cities are the engines of our economy because they are full of people, not because they are full of buildings.
The parking lot needs its own street system
Because everyone in the building must drive, the parking lots are a fundamental part of the property
Suburban skyscrapers offer the perfect experience for an automotive commuter. A typical day involves direct travel from home to the office via the interstate, and a direct elevator trip to the right floor optimizes time spent in the building. Unfortunately, while in pursuit of the perfect transportation experience, these buildings eliminated the chance for people to interact with each other unexpectedly.
Networking is the backbone of every successful business and professional development strategy. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” People need to interact to build networks, and cities create opportunities for interaction in a way that the parking lots of suburban skyscrapers can never replicate.
I’ve always wondered if the goal through the Pyramids was a competing Edge City that lost out to Keystone at the Crossing (Indianapolis’ closest equivalent to a suburbanized mega-office node). I never thought of Edge Cities as being such an old phenomenon, since Garreau didn’t apply to word until his book from the early 1990s, but I guess you’re right that the earliest traces of it began as long ago as 1960. Good post.
Thanks for the comment. I think you have an interesting point about the competition between Keystone at the crossing and the Pyramids. Edge cities don’t only compete with the downtown, they compete with each other as well.
Both the Pyramids and Keystone Crossing were also competing in the 70′s and 80′s with “shorter” (3-8 story) edge-city office parks at I-465 & W. 86th (Park 100), North Meridian (86th to 96th), Castleton, and 75th & Binford; later edge developments with multi-story buildings occurred at or near I-465 & Michigan, I-465 & Spring Mill/Meridian/Penn (north of 96th into Carmel), I-465 & River Rd. (Precedent), and I-465 & Allisonville (Allison Pointe).
When it comes to edge-city office developments, build an interchange and they will come. Indy is no outlier in that regard, and such development follow old laws of economic geography: crossroads are important and valuable real estate.