STARchitect Joe Boggs' asserts that his design slated for City Dock's National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF) "can re-brand the city and the state". Might that possibly be considered grandiose self-aggrandizement? If you ask a hundred people what is our "brand", you'll get a hundred answers.
In spite of the fact that the NSHOF building should be carefully scrutinized because of its use of public money and its high-profile, public location, the local newspaper uncritically heaps praise upon praise for the design, using the term "rave reviews" twice in the first two sentences of its story which also said "the presentation drew 'oohs' and 'ahhs' ". The NSHOF building will complete a triad of Boggs' buildings along the downtown waterfront—at least until the rising sea level covers them over later this century. Boggs designed the nearby and inspiring Uriah P. Levy Jewish Chapel at the Naval Academy which has received much deserved acclaim. Also nearby is the Annapolis Yacht Club where Boggs took an outdated structure with design and space constraints and turned it into an attractive and functional building combining different aesthetic elements.
Many of his other designs are an entirely different matter, and I could comment, but this is not an article about architecture--or is it?
See the local newspaper's coverage at re-branding the state and city? .
The Washington Post’s article says that Boggs “likened its iconic potential to Baltimore's aquarium, St. Louis's arch, the Sydney Opera House and the I.M. Pei pyramid outside the Louvre…It completes an unfinished end of the city," Boggs said. ‘It's something that redefines the city’. "
Sydney Opera House indeed! Oh yes, and people often compare my iconic writing to that of Mencken, Hemingway and Twain. It too completes an unfinished end of the city. Yeah.
See the Post's article at Bogged Down (By the way, the reporter is named Ashley Halsey lll...sounds like his?/her? name or that of his?/her? grandpa/grandma? should already be in NSHOF)
If its attractive and engaging web-site is any indication of what's to come, the NSHOF will be top-notch. See NSHOF and view its film narrated by local sailing icon Gary Jobson and including Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man on television, and sail champ Ted Turner, the mouth of the South. Check out the deep-pocket contributors and you'll notice a lots of local support--and that's a good thing. The NSHOF will be a positive attraction for Annapolis if it will :
be accessible and inviting for all
advance the sport and pursuit of sailing for all
interpret our sailing heritage in an honest manner for all
But if it's just a “feel good” kind of thing for rich, white-guy, yachtey, blue-bloods, I would say please go to Newport. I do believe and hope it will be here and will be the former. See my previous post about NSHOF at NSHOF-March,08 .
Rather than getting bogged down in design details, let's do consider sea level rise. When the only things poking above the water like so many periscopes will be the historical domes and spires and the rooftops of the older, iconic buildings and Boggs' newer (and potentially iconic?)buildings, we will perhaps rename Annapolis as "The Great Bogg" which might satisfy the re-brander.
In conclusion, is this an article about a building, a nascent institution, a city and its future, or about an architect? Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it will depend upon whom you ask, but I can guess what Joe Boggs will answer.
Perhaps it would be wise for us not to stare too closely or for too long at our own reflections or the reflections of our creations on the water.
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2 Comments:
Paul,
While branding may be one of the most overused buzz words of our decade, in this instance, the NSHOF, through the work of Boggs, may well be doing just that.
Visitors to the current NSHOF site arrive there by accident because there is nothing to draw them except a dilapidated state owned building, a seldom used corner of large restaurant and some very unsightly electrical equipment.
As planned, the NSHOF site will connect this forgotten corner to the rest of the waterfront, and if approved, open an important footpath connecting the Academy to the waterfront.
Don't get "Bogged" down by the architect"s statements about what the project may mean to the city, focus on what you already know (or have access to) regarding the mission of the NSHOF. It aims to use sailing to illustrate how the mastery of math and science relate to history and the future.
Cheers to the NSHOF and to Mr. Boggs.
Perhaps his next project will be the re-design of our ailing sidewalks?
David:
I am glad you have time to write. I still maintain that Mr. Boggs' statements are "grandiose self-aggrandizement" and I suggest of course that my posting was not about architecture. My words about the NSHOF are positive and encouraging as are my comments about Mr. Boggs' other nearby designs. As for your interpretation about what NSHOF aims to do, while science and math may be one small part of its mission, I am not clear as to how it is relevant.
Your last comment about sidewalks is a sidestep. As we both know, sidewalks don't need redesign as much as they need plain old reconstruction--and that requires plain old public dollars. If we let Mr. Boggs design sidewalks they would be massive, wide, imposing, angular and each section would be a statement...but I think you were kidding. Why don't you write a regular column?
Finally, as for branding, I have always liked your Brand.
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