Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Hyper Historic Third War

Looks nice. It's clean. It's expensive to live in. It's a valuable resource to Milwaukee's history and preserves the architectural facade that forms a part of the city. Overall, the Third Ward District marks the city of Milwaukee with a cool aura because it makes the past look contemporary, chic and wholesome. The Third Ward is great because of its boutiques, design stores, antique stores, art schools, public market, bars, restaurants, parks and its beautiful river walk. Among other things, the Third Ward deserves its prestige because of its natural surroundings as well as the industrial composition that has become a part of its landscape. It is a comfortable place to be in. The downtown area is near enough and the museums and beaches are also very close. The Third Ward provides a variety of services for all the different crowds and still is authentic to its very own form. As a result, the guidelines given to this historic area are reasonable because of its purity in shape and its interest in progress. The lifestyle provided by this environment uplifts any crowd and aesthetically pleases the hierarchy of a neighborhood that has been well organized. The result of which brings unity within itself and is positive when related to the guidelines that it serves.

On the contrary, one could neglect the style that the guidelines provide and could say that the community is restricted from constructing new opportunities for architectural exploration. To this side of the coin, another may also think that the continuity of the Third Ward's exteriors disorients the inhibitor from newness because it forms clouds of commonality and boredom. It could become repetitive and unattractive.

However, the Third Ward is much more than that. If one only judges the book by its cover then he/she may not be able to comprehend fully the content that it has to offer. In other words, the Third Ward's facade and design guidelines serve as a shell to contain many amazing surprises and different services. Thumbs up.

In yet another hand. I think of many historical cities, districts etc. around the world that are made famous depending on the event that took place there. Acknowledging of course, the people, circumstances and effect that marks the present. Needless to say, history was, and stories are now. Soon they will also be then.



1 comment:

  1. I agree with your mention of the positive aspects of the Ward. I can see where such guidelines might seem restrictive, but I think that many of the designers and architects working in the War have done a great job at maintaining design continuity while infusing modernity, style, and individuality. The Wicked Hop comes to mind as an example of a contemporary facade that stills maintains the guidelines and ads character and a unique design aesthetic to the area. I think it just takes a designer or architect who can think outside of the box in order to be expressive within restrictions.

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