What if Jacksonville suddenly woke up?

[stephendare]

in reading the family history of the Murats, it appears very likely that the family connection was most likely on an infamous side of the sheets.  Even for a lesser cousin of Achilles, it seems unlikely that Catherine would have allowed a legitimate product of the Bloodline to have waited tables at St. Simons.

[gregbeere]

Why don't we try leading instead of being followers?
What is best for Jacksonville and its citizens?
What are we going to do?  Not our government, WE. 
Can we push the envelope......a little?
Why does the new Transportation Center look like every other building in town? Who cares if it is compatible with the existing historic architecture in the area around the project?

"Architect Ethan Loubriel, associate vice president of DMJM Harris, said his firm worked closely with state and local historic preservation agencies to ensure the design of the JTC would be compatible with the existing historic architecture in the area around the project."

It is a new building for goodness sake. Old buildings should be cherished and preserved. New buildings, especially those that serve the community should be well designed and yes, maybe push the envelope.  Has anyone seen the Seattle Library by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture a.k.a. Rem Koolhaas?  Check it's attendance against the Jacksonville Downtown public library.

Bradford is the fifth largest city in the UK with less than half of our population........
This video was very inspiring to me, but if I am the only one, maybe I am in the wrong city.
Take a look........
If nothing else, the video is cool.

"http://www.youtube.com/v/nr2ZzLWcb48&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"
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This is a link to Bradford's redevelopment site.
http://www.bradfordnewcity.com/

[thelakelander]

Boston


Louisville


Indianapolis


Charlotte


Toronto




Jacksonville




It is weird how we are so conservative with our architectural design to blend in with the old, yet we as a community, have no problem tearing down the 100 year old buildings we continue to try to copy.  100 years ago, Jacksonville was a very progressive community.  We need to find a way to get our mojo back.

[Driven1]

lol Lake...that is hilarious.   i LOVE the Toronto buildings though.  Boston tower is beautiful too.

[RiversideGator]

in reading the family history of the Murats, it appears very likely that the family connection was most likely on an infamous side of the sheets.  Even for a lesser cousin of Achilles, it seems unlikely that Catherine would have allowed a legitimate product of the Bloodline to have waited tables at St. Simons.

Murat was Napoleon's nephew and he also had no children:

In 1826, Murat met and married on July 12 at Tallahassee, Florida Catherine Daingerfield Willis, without issue. Gray was the great-grandniece of George Washington. Murat and his wife moved to New Orleans for several years, where he worked as a lawyer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Achille_Murat

Additionally, Louis Napoleon (aka Napoleon III) was Napoleon I's nephew and was emperor of France until 1870, probably around the time Broward was born.  His one child was killed in his 20s and was without issue.  The legitimate Napoleonic line died with him.  So, that wasnt the connection either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_III_of_France

While Napoleon I did have illegitimate children, there is no evidence any of them are related to the Browards.  I think this is either a false family legend or an incorrect memory on your part.

[stephendare]

Well its certainly not an incorrect memory on my part.

Although, like yourself, at the time I thought it was merely a family fancy.

It wasnt until 15 years later that I came across the footnote in Tom Doyle that verified the tallahassee cousin connection exactly as Dorcas had explained.

And I had not actually read the murat entry in wikipedia until tonight.

Because of the obscurity of the information, it seems unlikely that the family would have all that detail without it being true.

So I would tend to assume a bastard connection.  But I can see the basis for any skepticism.

[JaxNative68]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

[Ocklawaha]

Imagine! A Jacksonville political connection to Napoleon...

Well historians?

Well?

That sure explains Waterloo!

Ocklawaha

[RiversideGator]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

[stephendare]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

huh?

hogwash.

The sacrilege perpetrated against the historical fabric of this city by the construction of the library is EXACTLY what Jaxnative is talking about.

to think that they tore down the last Jazz Age skyscraper in the state of Florida to build it is sad enough.  However to rip the details of the buildings that were actually on the site and then elmer's glue them into place on the unrelenting brick walls of Duval is obscene.

and ghoulish.

[jason_contentdg]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

That library is a total joke.  I can post a series of images of new libraries in similar cities that have actually tried to bring their cities architecture forward.  Our library totally ignores the pedestrian at street level, although it does have that lovely rooftop garden, which the last time I was there was filled with weeds.

It's a reference of bad design, and I love how it ties back in to the surrounding historical building that had been torn down by super gluing some of the leftover architectural artifacts to the north side of the building, on stucco placeholders.

And don't even get me started about "postmodern" architecture...

Seattle's public library:



Our city jewel:

[RiversideGator]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

huh?

What dont you understand?

The sacrilege perpetrated against the historical fabric of this city by the construction of the library is EXACTLY what Jaxnative is talking about.

to think that they tore down the last Jazz Age skyscraper in the state of Florida to build it is sad enough.  However to rip the details of the buildings that were actually on the site and then elmer's glue them into place on the unrelenting brick walls of Duval is obscene.

and ghoulish.

I was not in favor of demolishing the buildings to make way for the new library either.  I was discussing the design of the new library in isolation.  Perhaps you should not put words into my mouth.   

BTW, they did not tear down the "last Jazz Age skyscraper in the state of Florida" to make way for it.  The Rhodes Furniture Bldg should not have come down but the Laura Street trio are of similar vintage.

[RiversideGator]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

That library is a total joke.  I can post a series of images of new libraries in similar cities that have actually tried to bring their cities architecture forward.  Our library totally ignores the pedestrian at street level, although it does have that lovely rooftop garden, which the last time I was there was filled with weeds.

It's a reference of bad design, and I love how it ties back in to the surrounding historical building that had been torn down by super gluing some of the leftover architectural artifacts to the north side of the building, on stucco placeholders.

And don't even get me started about "postmodern" architecture...

Seattle's public library:



Our city jewel:

Agreed.  The library design is marginal.  It could have been a lot better.  But, it could have been a lot worse too.

[jason_contentdg]

First somebody has to wake up Jacksonville's City leaders, or should I say the good ole boy network that is still alive and starting another generation, and make them stop tearing down the true historical architecture of our city in order to build new visions of a past this city didn't have.  The new public library is a perfect example of this.

What past did we not have?  And what is the new public library a perfect example of?  We certainly had a large number (and still do) of neoclassical structures in Jacksonville and this style (postmodern) was an obvious reference to that fact.

That library is a total joke.  I can post a series of images of new libraries in similar cities that have actually tried to bring their cities architecture forward.  Our library totally ignores the pedestrian at street level, although it does have that lovely rooftop garden, which the last time I was there was filled with weeds.

It's a reference of bad design, and I love how it ties back in to the surrounding historical building that had been torn down by super gluing some of the leftover architectural artifacts to the north side of the building, on stucco placeholders.

And don't even get me started about "postmodern" architecture...

Seattle's public library:



Our city jewel:

Agreed.  The library design is marginal.  It could have been a lot better.  But, it could have been a lot worse too.

Well. that's one excuse I'm tired of hearing though.  Of course it could have been done worse, but who cares about that.  Instead of aiming at mediocrity at the beginning, why not use the imagination and try to aim for the stars at the beginning, and then maybe have to make some changes and value engineer from there. 

Don't start at the middle of the pack and then go down from there...

[thelakelander]

I believe the Laura Street Trio buildings are from an earlier decade and era.  The Rhodes Building may have been the last highrise built before the Great Depression and while the Barnett, Carling and others are from the same time period, the Rhodes was probably Jacksonville's best example of Chicago School highrise architecture.

Nevertheless, as far as the new library goes, the bad part of the design is that every elevation of the building, other than the front, was evidently an afterthought.  The design has rendered the retail spaces across the Monroe and Duval Street as dead zones.  A good traditional or contemporary design would have found a way to work with those streets as well.  

My dream scenerio would have been a project that keep the old buildings on that block and placed the library on surface parking lot block, like the one the pocket park and Salvation Army occupy.