I personally thought that none of the four had any urban design sense to them at all (they all closed Monroe St), but if I had to pick my favorite, it would be the KBJ one (I think the world just stopped spinning as I typed that).
The courthouse is not supposed to be about urban connectivity. I think y'all are too hung up on this. Other parts of downtown should serve this purpose but the Courthouse has to have security and so forth so it will never be open and connected in this sense.
I disagree 100%. From an interior functional standpoint you have a point, but from a city who continues to stumble to form any resemblance of vibrancy in its core, ultimate connectivity should be a high priority with every single project that is constructed downtown, regardless of use. If not, then we're better off sticking the thing in the Prime Osborn's parking lot, throwing direct I-95 on/off ramps into the parking garage so people can get in and out like we have done with the stadium.
This thing is going to bring in a ton of people to that area on a daily basis. From an overall land planning standpoint, we would be fools to not attempt to set this thing up in a way where the surroundings can benefit the most from the traffic and potential additional private investment it will generate. We've failed multiple times with this issue in the past (Municipal Stadium, Baseball Grounds, Veterans Memorial Arena, Metropolitan Park, the current courthouse, the Landing, FCCJ's campus, etc.) and now we once again have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and do better. However, to isolate this project in the sense that urban synergy and connectivity should not be a major concern only dooms us to make the same mistakes we made with the other projects mentioned above.
