Louisville gets 'skyscraper serious'
Nashville City Paper
2/15/2006

Commentary by William Williams wwilliams@nashvilecitypaper.com

"Oh my. That's bizarre."

So went the reaction of my good friend - and hardcore skyscraper aficionado - John Mathieson following his initial viewing of a rather unusual building proposed for downtown Louisville.

See for yourself in the accompanying rendering of the 61-story edifice, to be called Museum Plaza.

This writer's take? Not sure whether I would call M. Plaza a masterpiece or a monstrosity. And that's not a bad thing.

With mid-sized Southeastern cities - particularly Charlotte, Jacksonville and Nashville - poised to erect towering buildings, I wanted to gauge reader reaction to the $380 million Museum Plaza, so e-mail me with your comments.

Museum Plaza will be anchored by a museum devoted to contemporary art, along with an acre-sized "island," which will be open to the public and loom 22 stories above ground. Office, restaurant, retail, condominium, hotel and parking are all part of the mix.

Designed by the avant-garde New York City-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture, the big beast is slated for completion in 2010.

Upstart OMA architect Joshua Prince-Ramus will spearhead the project and has the name, age (36) and energy to create an urban design statement.

"It's going to break convention," Prince-Ramus is quoted saying in last week's Louisville Courier-Journal story announcing the project. "I fully expect people to be shocked by the building."