CVS Pharmacy - eyesore of the month?

[CTroyMathis]

Heh. (I don't know the location, though.)

Kunstler:
http://www.kunstler.com/eyesore_200303.html

Believe it or not, this abortion was the product of an extensive year-long design review process in our town. It illustrates the failures of architectural guidelines as opposed to enforcable ordinances. The Design Review Commission demanded a two story building. What was actually delivered, however, is a ground floor half a story above grade -- with no street level entrance -- and the second floor in the basement. You can't get it more wrong than that. The perverse and obdurate unwillingness to observe or enforce civic norms is a symptom of a culture in trouble.

[JBB]

I wonder what the Eckerd's and Walgreen's across the street look like.

[Columbus Civil]

I don't see anything wrong with it.

[JBB]

I agree. Maybe somone out there prefers precast concrete panels surrounded by a sea of parking?

[CTroyMathis]

I didn't see anything overly wrong with it at first either, since it appeared it may be a zero lot-line building. (I can't completely tell in that pic. because you can't see all 4 sides, but, it might not be.) The hyper-Kunstler-angst was really referring to a seriously weak city planning department/etc. not sticking to their urban design guns.

Sounds kind of familiar...

[freewaytincan]

Oh dear lord! That's so horrible! No, no no no! Man, I could design better in my sleep. That architect(s) should be shot.

[texcolo]

ROFLOL!!!

I love bad architecture.

[Columbus Civil]

What's bad about it?

[texcolo]

I'll tell you what's wrong with it.

First of all... CVS is one of the largest chain pharmacies in the country, and like most chain stores they prefer to have all of there stores look EXACTLY alike.

McDonald's has grown out of that a bit, but if you go some stores... you really can't tell them apart. The last time I was in Dallas BankOne was ruining their branch at Campbell / 75 in order for it to look EXACTLY like all the other BankOnes. In fact they ripped out a really nice painting of a prairie scene with clouds in order to do so.

What you have here in the photo... are the civic leaders with one vision and the CVS corporate types with another.

I'm pretty sure the civic leaders were looking to have the CVS store on the bottom with lofts or offices on the top. The CVS folks were looking to keep the store EXACTLY alike all their other stores.. so what you wind up with is a building with a basement that will probably never get rented out and a wildly dissproportionate awning over where the front door of the CVS should have been.

[freewaytincan]

I say the CVS takes backseat to the fact that the building is just SO DAMN UGLY!!! Holy CRAP!!! This is America, people. How does stuff like that still happen?!

[evdallas]

Originally posted by UrbanLandscape
I say the CVS takes backseat to the fact that the building is just SO DAMN UGLY!!! Holy CRAP!!! This is America, people. How does stuff like that still happen?!

Its because this is America and we are architecturally handicaped. If we weren't, we wouldn't have gotten AA center. Its no better than this cvs.

[freewaytincan]

Eh, it's better. We're not handicapped, it's that too many people don't care, and why do something right if you don't care?

[Columbus Civil]

We care - just not about the right things.

Most of the freestanding drugstores I've seen look a lot worse than that CVS. I guess it's all relative.

[snooch]

I agree CC. CVS is a half-step up from Eckerd's but it's still ugly. The brick's not bad, but the logo is ass on a hot summer day.

[Columbus Civil]

LOL