Towering Nashville

Many people associate (at least visually) a city with its skyline.  This, unintentionally, evolved from engineering marvels to density solution and today has frequently become exclusively “icon”.  Interestingly, the tallest building in the world is now located in a desert.  It is a bit ironic that these monumental structures are generally comprised of a single repeating floor plate.

As with many cities our size, Nashville has its fair share of tall buildings.  These structures, like many cities, are huddled about the grids of downtown.  Nashville’s exception is that most of our skyscrapers tend to be very bold in their expression.  This is probably a consequence of the infrequency at which skyscraper commissions occur.  A side note:  restraint is a terrible task for an architect. 

I thought it might be interesting to break apart the skyline composition and look at some of the key players in the Nashville tower game.

So below are my top four from ranked in importance starting at number one.

1. L&C – This is the original Nashville skyscraper and completed by one of the city’s greatest architects, Edwin Keeble.  There is mastery of overall form as we see the intersection of the vertical circulation mass with the floor plates.  The care taken to balance solidity with transparency is wonderfully done with vertical planes of limestone next to soaring expanses of glass.  This one sits at the top, for me, because of its originality, history, and exquisite design.

2. AT&T (formerly Bellsouth) – Love it or hate it, (and most people here do have an opinion) this building is a statement.  Perhaps less important than the qualities of its design is what it has become – a symbol of Nashville.  So, it ranks second on this list of importance, because its absence would leave a gaping hole in what most people perceive of the Nashville skyline.

3. Tennessee Tower – In my opinion, this is Nashville strongest example of modernism.  Some argue that you can find this building in a lot of cities – and they are right.  Maybe the former headquarters of National Life Insurance became no more than a stylistic replication, but part of me hopes that it was envisioned as a pure expression of an ideal.  That State took over this building in the 90’s and it has certainly lost some of its luster, but its underlying beauty remains in tact.  Of note, there is a great plaza with a new roof garden at the base of the building.  The isolation from the surrounding street gives the tower an amazing feel – worth a visit.

4. Pinnacle at Symphony Place– Pinnacle tower is probably more important for what it hopes to do than for its design merit (of which it has a lot).  The location of this tower south of Broadway is an aggressive step in what many hope will be further densification of downtown to the south.  This may be further realized with the completion of the city's ambitious convention center.

There are other buildings deserving of this list and several that could create an infamous list (a few that are in the proposed stage).  Ultimately, towers play a critical role in the perception of a city, and the importance of their design cannot be understated. For once they are here we run the risk of being defined by them.

-Fad_Writer