This month's issue of Contact Magazine (now, curiously, going by the Germanic-sounding name of "kontakt") is out, and it contains an article about the massive CityScape project being built on three prime blocks in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Among other things, the article contains several renderings of the project.
As I've said before, CityScape continues to look like a slightly-modernized Arizona Center. The renderings betray the suburban developer's inward focus-- every one of the renderings depicts the project's interior or one of the "gateways" into the project (think Arizona Center at Third Street and Van Buren by the row of flags and Hooters).
And where the streetscape is shown, one can see blank walls facing outward, or, in the case of the AJ's, a window facing the street, but of course no doors.
The bottom line is that I'm happy for the tall buildings and hip hotels that CityScape will bring to Phoenix. But the real action in any city is on the street. And, while I'd love to be mistaken, it looks like one more Phoenix development is going to get this wrong.
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Back when the Arizona Center was built in the late '80s, many residents were so Downtown-phobic that an inward looking fortress with limited access from the street was probably the only way to attract people. In 2007, we should have outgrown that mentality in our architecture. Witness any First Friday to see that thousands of Phoenicians are now comfortable with street life and embrace it when it's offered. I share your concern that CityScape, if not done right, could repeat mistakes of the past.
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