Vision: Light Square Tower - 100f / 500m

[thechap]

It appears we all agree then! I also agree with the idea of observation decks and restaurants - did I hear there was supposed to be one going in the top of the new currie street building??

[Hippodamus]

i am a born and raised Adelaidean, and have just recently moved to abu dhabi (a city the same size as Adelaide) to work as a town planner for the government.

in this country, we see buildings like this being proposed all the time. some being approved, and some being knocked back depending on the urban design and architectural merit and of course relating to the building's location and its functionality within the exisitng urban realm. these types of buildings are quite common and rarely do they stir much debate in this place full of optimism and confidence, and most of all... vision.

in adelaide however, the whole city seems to jump up and down for any proposal which is over 100m. wake up Adelaide! it's dissapointing actually, and really just proves that as a city, Adelaide on average has some of the most narrow minded views of how we should progress with urban development, than any other major capital in the nation. it's this type of attitude which has a snow ball effect and contributes to the brain drain we are seeing till this day. for example, i refer to myself.

Sure, the proposal may be four times taller than what we are used to, and perhaps not in the most centrally located position in the city. however, as a concept, this speaks louder than words. it is only this scale of development which will make a real monumental mark on our city... in more positive ways than anything. to mention a few, this will include investor confidence, city pride, adelaide may even start featuring on those international 'visit australia' pamphlets, instead of being in the glossary section at the back under 'where else to go if you get bored..'. the spin off list would be impossible to comprehend. who knows, this building may even attract brash, young and enthusiastic individuals back to our great (yet starved from big development for far too long) city, much like myself once we see that we are loosening the reigns over our over-legislated and restricting mentality.

[frank1]

That's all well and good, but just remember that our city has not yet got money coming out of our ears or the demand for such a project, unlike dubai which is swimming in it.

[Hippodamus]

adelaide might not have money coming out of their ears like dubai, yes you are correct, but how have other comparable cities like perth and brisbane have more robust skylines...?

it all comes back to the box which too many people unfortunately live in.

[frank1]

Adelaide unlike Perth or Brisbane unfortunately has the problem of having its youth stripped away from the city, leaving nothing but complainers that want the city to remain dormant and have a flat skyline. Large projects such as this one creates the impression of a progressing city, which these people don't want and unfortunately these people have the power over this city.

[TooFar]

I have always thought that Adelaide should build something similar to One Liberty Place in Philadelphia. Now that I am spending most of my time in the Philly area I have really come to appreciate the building and it slightly smaller brother Two Liberty Place. IMO, this is the type of landmark building Adelaide needs.

[thechap]

Just to go slightly off topic for a second, i think its great to see so much interest in this site from adelaidians who have moved overseas. I think that it shows that if a visionary project like the one proposed in this thread was to go ahead, there would be alot of international interest and we may not have to worry about SA's economy being able to sustain it...

[Tyler_Durden]

adelaide might not have money coming out of their ears like dubai, yes you are correct, but how have other comparable cities like perth and brisbane have more robust skylines...?

it all comes back to the box which too many people unfortunately live in.

You make it sound like Perth and Brisbane are better than Adelaide. If that's your view then I'm surprised you don't just move to one of those cities to live. Add Sydney, Melbourne and Gold Coast and you have a fair selection of cities if you want tall buildings. Adelaide offers something different to all of those, it has a more understated classiness, and that's what we should further develop/promote.

[crawf]

in adelaide however, the whole city seems to jump up and down for any proposal which is over 100m.

Well we have had 2 buildings approved by the ACC (one of them including the 124m/31st 20-22 Currie St), and I'm telling you there has hardly been any criticism about it.

And remember tall buildings don't make a city, Perth might have all these tall buildings but on street level Adelaide looks more of a bigger city than Perth and I prefer that look. Plus we also have historic elegant buildings which makes up for no tallies.

[Hippodamus]

Tyler_Durden i love adelaide more than you can probably imagine.

i used my example of perth and brisbane only as an example of size for the sake of comparing skylines with similar sized cities. sounds like you are a typical adelaidean conservative 'snob' that revolves every aspect of how the city should progress around "classiness". of course adelaide is classy, lets not forget that Adelaide has a style of elegance and class which is in many ways unmatched in melb and syd, no matter how big and dazzly they are. however, people's views and ways of thinking are inevitably skewed through many things, one which is reflected from socio-environmental conditions reflected from the urban realm and the makeup of our city. your points on classiness reflect a conservative and traditional attitude, one which is also carried through not only oldies, but also youth. are we going to say no to tall buildings just because the city is then percieved to be less classy, in the effort to keep a rahter flat and boring skyline because, hey, "we're classy guys"...? i don't think so, what rock are you living under mate.

and to crawf, yes i totally agree. perth has not as much intimacy on the street level as say Adelaide, but that's thanks to our city's large composition of ethnic groups, particularly from southern europe, who have contributed the zest and cafe culture which Adelaide is intertwined with, like rundle street, hutt street, the parade, king willy road, glenelg, o'connell street, etc etc.. however, from an outsiders perspective, which city out of perth and adelaide do you hear and see more of in promotion booklets and guides on Oz abroad... well, i can vouch to say that it would def be perth, and it probably has a lot to do with its skyline, which is more appealing through photographs than the typical 1980's snapshot of Adelaide from the Rotunda, Elder Park.

[crawf]

Its got nothing to do with city skylines, Adelaide and the rest of South Australia has been poorly marketed. A city with a average skyline would be the last thing on a travelers mind (probably except skyscraper nerds).

However I don't know if you know this but Tourism SA have ditched the former slogan "Discover the secrets of SA" for "SA: A Briliant Blend" plus have revamped the website, brochures, adverts etc... things have improved hugely.

[Tyler_Durden]

Tyler_Durden i love adelaide more than you can probably imagine.

i used my example of perth and brisbane only as an example of size for the sake of comparing skylines with similar sized cities. sounds like you are a typical adelaidean conservative 'snob' that revolves every aspect of how the city should progress around "classiness". of course adelaide is classy, lets not forget that Adelaide has a style of elegance and class which is in many ways unmatched in melb and syd, no matter how big and dazzly they are. however, people's views and ways of thinking are inevitably skewed through many things, one which is reflected from socio-environmental conditions reflected from the urban realm and the makeup of our city. your points on classiness reflect a conservative and traditional attitude, one which is also carried through not only oldies, but also youth. are we going to say no to tall buildings just because the city is then percieved to be less classy, in the effort to keep a rahter flat and boring skyline because, hey, "we're classy guys"...? i don't think so, what rock are you living under mate.

I'm not against tall buildings, if we need them. I just don't think we should strive to have them just because other cities do. That's not thinking outside the box like you've suggested. That's following like sheep. There are many ways to make a statement architecturally without necessarily going tall just for the sake of it. And that's the direction I'd prefer to see Adelaide go with more interesting and exciting architecture.

You mentioned overseas recognition of Australian cities. Put a photo of the Sydney Opera House in front of anyone anywhere in the world and chances are they'd tell you straight away that it's Sydney. Show them a skyline of the Sydney office towers (without the Opera House in view) and I doubt many at all would distinguish it from any other city. Sydney is defined by the Opera House, by the Harbour Bridge and by the Harbour itself. That's what I'm talking about. If we want recognition, we need iconic design not a few tall buildings.

[Edgar]

I'm pretty sure we all don't want to be the next Melbourne?

If tourist want to visit a city with tall buildings, Australia is certainly not the place to be in in the first place, we don't have the capital and the ability to do so, because labour cost is way too expensive. All the cities in Asia, Middle East and China are the current most aggressive builders for these extreme sky scrappers.

[thechap]

You mentioned overseas recognition of Australian cities. Put a photo of the Sydney Opera House in front of anyone anywhere in the world and chances are they'd tell you straight away that it's Sydney. Show them a skyline of the Sydney office towers (without the Opera House in view) and I doubt many at all would distinguish it from any other city. Sydney is defined by the Opera House, by the Harbour Bridge and by the Harbour itself. That's what I'm talking about. If we want recognition, we need iconic design not a few tall buildings.

Here, here.

[wilko91]

Tyler_Durdin, havent you just contradicted your argument. This kind of development would be an iconic symbol if the design and placement was right. If you showed any people the skyline of Dubai, yes most people would not know where it was but show them the Burg-Al-Arab and I bet that they would know exactly where you are talking about. Its not about having a lot of tall towers but iconic towers. And yes a tower this size would be iconic.