Design with a Conscience




701 Porter

 It is great discovering new projects around town that really seem successful across all platforms.  fAd_writer previously wrote about the WO Smith Music Center, but today’s post is about another worthy rehab project: 701 Porter (or 715 Porter...I’m unclear as to the official name).
I had originally planned to do a post on Nashville’s roadway deathtraps.  A few short months ago, the intersection of Eastland and Porter was near the top of my list.  Eastland traffic traveling away from Gallatin Pike could continue on to Eastland or swing around to Porter without a need to stop.  The brave souls on Eastland headed back towards town had to stop and guess which direction oncoming traffic was going and pray to avoid a head-on collision: really poor traffic planning.
Imagine my surprise the other week as I traveled down Eastland when I was suddenly greeted with a new stop sign.  As it turns out, the new traffic stop was a part of a larger masterplan for 701 Porter: a mixed-used development occurring on Porter and Eastland.  Here is what I like about this project.

The Owner:
The owner is Urban Housing Solutions.  In the past, UHS has been responsible for finding housing for disadvantaged people (typically homeless).  This particular project is primarily to benefit the deaf and hard of hearing: truly a noble purpose.  To find out more about Urban Housing Solutions, visit their website http://urbanhousingsolutions.org/ .

The Architect:
The architect is a fellow named John TeSelle.  A cursory glance at his website shows some impressive work http://jt-architecture.com/ most of which is Middle Tennessee work.  His design sensibilities are great, but it is his willingness to work towards a better design at all costs that I find most alluring. Typical architect egos often hinder their own design, but that is not the case here.  UHS hired additional design help from John Dickinson (a deaf architect) of Winter & Company as well as Atelier2.  The latter is the husband and wife team of Mahesh Neelakantan and Parvathi Nampoothiri (I have had the pleasure with working with Mahesh earlier in our careers: truly a design talent).  I am glad UHS put forth the effort to receive enough design input, and I am glad that John TeSelle was open to receive other ideas for a complete and collaborative design.  I think this was crucial in the success of the project.

The Design:
There are several things I like about the design so far (still under construction).

    - Building reuse
The original building was constructed in the 70s, but I doubt it has ever seen as much life and activity that this designs promises. As you can see, it was not much to write home about.  Ditching the metal mansard roof was certainly an improvement and going with a monochromatic gray on the brick helps bring some cohesiveness across the retail stores.



Existing Condition



    - Use of new materials
At the center of this building, metal, brick, and wood are pieced together seamlessly giving this project a clear face. I also appreciate the proportions of said materials.  The layering and the clear separation help these pieces speak for themselves and truly creates a sense of ‘place'.



Obviously, still under construction

    - Signage
Many state that large signage is an overplayed design gimmick.  I like the look most of the time as it is practical for the automobile driver going 40 mph down the road.  Thumbs up, if you ask me.  I also appreciate the signage above the individual retail units.  The horizontal emphasis is appropriate for this area and adds a fun level of detail and intimacy to the pedestrians entering individual stores.

Large '715 Porter' signage - jury is still out on the name of this project

The Occupants:
According to the UHS, the occupants so far are:
--Cooper's on Porter
--BMerin salon
--The Almond Tree Bakery
--Massage East
--Sloss Fine Woodworking
--Nashville Guitar Repair
--Made
--Melted Memory
--Montessori East
I am probably most excited about Cooper’s on Porter for a couple of reasons.  The first is that I hope Cooper’s brings a bar setting that is rare on the east side of town (non-smoking with a large beer selection - Village Pub is close, for sure).  The second reason for my excitement is that Cooper’s proudly sports an enormous patio seating area that reaches out towards the corner of Porter and Eastland (where the treacherous intersection used to be).  This patio will surely activate this corner and help bring 701 Porter to the intersection.

Patio overlooking the intersection

Solid project all around.  I am excited to see its completion.

-faD_writer

Reasons: East Nashville

Continuing our series of “Reasons”, today we touch on East Nashville.  I’ve been a resident of the east side of the river for 5 years now.  Even in that short amount of time, I have seen plenty of changes and many progressions in our community.  I think it is important to point out that “East Nashville” is not a neighborhood (despite being voted Best Neighborhood in the Nashville Scene’s reader poll year after year).  There are many neighborhoods within East Nashville (Edgefield, East End, Lockeland Springs, etc), but this geographic region differentiates itself from the rest of Nashville by its united front and combined efforts.  Below are 10 reasons (in no particular order) that one should live in East Nashville (the area…not the non-existent neighborhood).

-          Community

When I sat down to create this list of reasons, it was not necessary to belabor the specifics.  I simply asked the East Nashville listserv (http://groups.google.com/group/east-nashville ).  Simple fact: East Nashville is the most active community in Nashville.  We are the most militant, most defensive, and, perhaps, the most arrogant citizens of Nashville.  It may be a bad for everyone else, but it is great for east side residents.  Simply browse through the listserv, and you will find years of information on community obstacles and headaches that neighbors were unafraid of taking on.

East Nashville Google Group

-          Beautiful Homes

East Nashville is rich with history.  Quality homes have been built in some areas for over 100 years.  Plenty of Bungalows, Victorians, and some Romanesque homes pepper the streets of East Nashville.  Images are courtesy of Google Street Views, as I was reluctant to take photos of random neighbors' homes without their consent.

-          Location

East Nashville is downtown adjacent.  There is no need for the interstate in many cases.  Several have argued that East Nashville is a location unto itself (Downtown is a great place to live…it is right next to East Nashville!).

-          In touch with some realities

One of my favorite posts from the listserv speaks to the fact that areas of East Nashville still can “keep it real”.  One resident cited reasons for living in East Nashville being “proximity to good, quality porn, at rock bottom prices. The
ease of procuring illicit substances at any hour of the day or night.  Discounted Beer and tobacco. Not having to mow your yard. And an alley to leave stuff in when you don't feel like hauling it off.  I think that's pretty much it.”  No neighborhood/community is perfect.  The fact of the matter is that some people still patron the porn stores on Gallatin and many residents need their beer and cigarettes at discounted prices.  While the Gallatin Pike Improvement District might cause trouble for many of these businesses in the future, many residents have accepted them as a part of the community and an essential piece of what makes East Nashville, East Nashville.  (Edit: These reasons may not reflect society’s view on what makes a desirable neighborhood.  I am simply restating information I received from the listserv.)

-          Local Development

This is a double edge sword in some cases.  The demographics of East Nashville are quite varied.  You will find public housing a block away from million dollar Queen Anne homes.  Ultimately, this diversity confuses the corporate companies looking to expand their brand into East Nashville.  The plus (or negative) side of this is that East Nashville is not home to a T.G.I Friday’s or a Chili’s.  However, people familiar with the community (ones who live here), tend to have a better understanding what the area needs and what it takes to truly make an impact in a neighborhood.  You will find restaurants, shops, and offices owned by local residents.  These developments spring up all over the place and are not concentrated to one specific area or one sector.  This increases accessibility and makes walking more enjoyable without the threat of gobs of motorists.  The great part of this is that local owners tend to listen to the community and adapt their business to better suit the users.  Some residents, however, can find it troubling that they will not find a nice Publix or Harris Teeter in East Nashville.  It is really fine by me.  I like Turnip Truck better anyways.

Riverside Village Development: image from http://www.riversidevillagenashville.com/



Martin Corner Development ( http://www.martincorner.com/ ) : One of many local developments in East Nashville

Marche Artisan Food: this would be a Cracker Barrel elsewhere in Nashville...not that there's anything wrong with that



-          Sidewalks

You can walk around in East Nashville.  In fact, 5 of the top 10 neighborhoods that are most walkable belong in East Nashville (according to http://www.walkscore.com/TN/Nashville ).  Sidewalks are plentiful, and they are not afterthoughts.  You will see them in heavy usage in many areas.

-          Shelby Park/Shelby Bottoms Greenway

This may be my personal top reason.  Runners have long uninterrupted stretches of pavement.  Cyclists enjoy the same benefits.  The new pedestrian bridge stretches to the Stones River Greenway (also beautiful).  Dog lovers can enjoy the dog park. The large softball complex is very active during season.  You can also fish in the ponds.  Here is a brochure from nashville.gov.



Shelby Bottoms Trail Map



Great pic from listserv user

-          5 Points

Many consider the 5 Points the epicenter of East Nashville.  Others, whole heartedly, disagree.  This is not to say that Riverside Village and the Walden developments are not impressive, but as I said earlier, I am simply stating that most responses on the listserv cited 5 Points.  And to be fair, it is the most diverse of the local developments.  Many bars, restaurants, music venues, and shops are located at the intersection of 11^th and Woodland, and they are, primarily, supported by the nearby residents.  Food options range from the mobile vendor I Dream of Weenie to the celebrated Margot Café.

-          East Nasty Running Group

The East Nasty runners can motivate you to get in shape ( http://eastnastyforlife.com/ ).  This group has blossomed from a couple of people to runners in the hundreds.   Simply put: feel free to run with the East Nasty Wednesday evenings.  Stay, if you wish, for post run drinks at 3 Crow Bar.  There is also a Sunday morning run in their regiment.  They provide water and good times but it is always fun to see the group running the weeks preceding the Music City Marathon.  TONS of people are all over the streets.  This local group has spawned other worthy causes and is now a showcase for East CAN (http://www.eastcan.org/ ).  Runners/walkers can volunteer their time to help out homeless dogs and hopefully help to find permanent homes for these guys.

East Nasty on the East Nashville Streets



Tough runs rewarded afterward at 3 Crow Bar



Yeah...there are a couple of runners



East CAN function next to Bongo Java

-          True Diversity

There are East Nashville residents that are 3^rd or 4^th generation locals.  But East Nashville is still home to many transplants from all over the country.  Some areas of the South are threatened by “invasive citizens” but, for the most part, it works brilliantly in East Nashville.  I, for one, feel the diversity brings some of the better ideas and habits from other walks of life to create a truly unique local culture.

Honorable Mentions: Tomato Art Festival, Riverside Village, and Family Wash

-faD_writer

Design with a Conscience

Every once in awhile, a project comes along that encapsulates all that I love about architecture. Located just outside downtown Nashville on

8^th Avenue

, the W.O. Smith Music School is one of those projects.

THE SCHOOL

“W.O. Smith Music School makes affordable, quality music instruction available to children from low-income families. We transform lives through music.”

Without going into great detail about the center as you can read more about them on their website, the music school offers music lessons to underprivileged children for just $0.50 a lesson! Children swarm the facility after school to learn the drums, piano, violin and saxophone, to name a few. Volunteers from our music-rich community freely give their talents to these children so that they might grow in the art of music. Young lives are being transformed.

THE BUILDING

Bauer Askew Architecture (the architect) has successfully captured the vision through the design of the school.

·         Design: The contemporary design of the school is elegant and refreshing in a city where contemporary architecture is the exception to the norm. The massing and detailing, both inside and out, have been well thought out. Music motifs are sprinkled throughout the building, sometimes subtle and other times obvious. I am usually not too crazy about literal representations on buildings, and while some moments are too literal (i.e. piano keys for windows), there are other subtle moves in the lobby that are quite clever. I won’t ruin the surprise, but will let you discover them for yourself.

·         Repurposed Structure: The music school was not a new structure from the ground up; instead, the building used to be a tire warehouse. The car bays at the exterior are now the practice rooms, and the large interior space is now home to the large recital hall. Only the main lobby area was added to the existing building. This gave the designers the opportunity to create a large 2-story gathering space.

·         Non-profit: In a world where the bottom line of the corporate balance sheet drives design and the architects’ voice continues to diminish, it is refreshing to see a quality building from a non-profit group. I know nothing of the budget and schedule of this building, but I imagine (or hope) the users of the building relied on the architects and trusted them to guide them through the design process. This is what architects dream of: a client that looks to them as the “master builder.”

Even the wasps know to respect the symmetry

·         Community-minded: This building has been designed in Nashville…by a Nashville architect…for a Nashville audience. Like any architect, I love to follow the Starchitects of our generation, but it is great to see a quality building by our own. I hope this building attains the national recognition it deserves.

·         Socially Consciousness: Perhaps the greatest feat of this building is its contribution to society. One day the designers of this building will look back on their careers and consider their legacy. I am confident this project will rank high in their list of achievements. Buildings in and of themselves are worth being proud of, but design trends, wealthy clients and functions come and go. Changed lives create waves well beyond the life of even the longest-standing structures.

If you haven’t seen this building I encourage you to stop by and appreciate it for yourself.

-fAd_writer

Reasons - Crieve Hall

Part of the reason we believed this blog could work is that we have three writers from completely different areas of the city (Green Hills, East Nashville, and Crieve Hall).  fAd_writer hails from the region known as Crieve Hall. It is located south of the city. We will be giving reason why these areas are great in a recurring series called "Reasons".

-faD_writer


10 reasons to live in Crieve Hall

I love Crieve Hall, and here’s why:

• Location! Location! Location
• Downtown 11 minutes, Airport 16 minutes, Brentwood 8 minutes

(*All times exact, courtesy Google Maps of course)

• Housing Cost:  Certainly not the cheapest real estate in Nashville, but houses average between $50K and $100K less than houses on the other side (west) of I-65. These houses are in the same location to the destinations in Reason #1.

• Large Yards/Mature Trees: I loathe this feature in the fall when it comes time to rake leaves, but overall I do enjoy living in an established area planted over 50 years ago.  Shade, nature, beauty, squirrels….

• Target: In less than 10 minutes you can be up off your couch, have taken a quick drive and have your hands on a toilet brush designed by Michael Graves…swish!

Convenience not named "Wal-Mart"

• Radnor Lake: If you’ve not been, shame on you.



Radnor Lake



• Ellington Agricultural Center: Great nearby open park space with many hiking trails where the deer and antelope roam…well, maybe not antelope but I have seen deer.

• Ball in the Hall: Crieve Hall rocks the youth baseball league. Baseball and hot dogs on a fall night after raking the leaves…take that Bellevue!




Live through your children by making them play organized sports


• No Trinity Lane Exit: I’ve lived in Nashville just shy of 7 years, and every day except one I’ve heard the words on the radio “there is a wreck on I-65 southbound at Trinity Lane.” It’s remarkable. I truly believe that all Nashville traffic announcers have some sort of inside joke to see how long they can keep this gag going; I just can’t figure out why they’re doing it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a north-Nashville hater, but I wouldn’t live up there for this reason alone. Also, this reason doesn’t necessarily mean you should live in Crieve Hall. However, I assure you I won’t be writing about why NOT to live in north Nashville, and I had to question this publicly.

According to percentages: there's a 90% chance that BMW will be in an accident within the next 5 seconds

• Cool Neighbors: Crieve Hall is in an interesting transition right now. A lot of young families (late 20’s, early 30’s) are moving into the neighborhood, which means there are a lot of dogs and babies being walked around our streets.  I know of 5 architects, a graphic designer, 2 interior designers, a doctor, a nurse, two songwriters, a landscape architect and a woodworker that live within 5 blocks.

• Renovations/Additions: With the unstable housing market, people are less likely to move, but are instead putting their money into their homes. Dumpsters are popping up all over Crieve Hall where people are adding on or renovating their homes. The ranch style homes are perfect for additions and renovations both. I’m confident that as people continue to renovate and add on, the overall value of the neighborhood will increase.

-fAd_writer

High Speed Rail and Its Aversion to Tennessee

If you’ve ever driven on a road in Tennessee you know we have it pretty good. There is ample pavement and lanes to connect our entire state. We are spending $1,763,782,000 this year on transportation (http://tennessee.gov/finance/bud/bud1011/11Publications.html), that’s roughly one-third of the gross domestic product of Zimbabwe.
As a lover of most things relating to transportation and especially the exploration of new modes of US transportation I couldn’t help but be a tad bit giddy at the $8,000,000,000 thrown toward high speed rail in the stimulus (even more came through recently).

What was equally disheartening was the giant hole the state of TN represented in the proposed rail network.

High Speed Rail: Avoiding Tennesse Like the Plague

I don’t want to discount what I’m sure are very diligent efforts by both private and public interests to bring high speed rail to TN but it is certainly alarming that we are the only state in the south eastern US to be excluded from this plan.
Maybe we as Tennessean and more immediately Nashvillians aren’t ready for mass transportation. Or maybe this needs to be a bottom-up approach. Currently, even if we were connected into a high speed rail network there would be little place to go beyond the arrival station. Our local network is heavily reliant upon buses (which are a great mode of transportation – clean and friendly) and America’s current favorite choice for moving the automobile. What if Nashville said we are going to make it impossible for a high speed rail line to avoid us because we have the best local rail (above ground, below ground, etc) around? Perhaps a bit dreamy here but to begin dialogue about such an endeavor may be all the catalyst we need to get involved. Even better, if something became of it we really could talk about things like hosting the World Cup (at least the SEC championship?).
So the concern for me is not that we were excluded but how soon we can be included. Perhaps it is our own fault; perhaps we have become just a bit too good at paving. Maybe it is time for us to convince our larger nation that Nashville and TN are ready to participate in the (dare I say) future of transportation…
Or we could just pave a strip where the train should go…

West End Avenue

-Fad_writer