Historic Third Ward?

Until this past year, I had no previous knowledge of the Historic Third Ward until my search for a new school. Upon visiting MIAD's facilities I accidentally got lost and ended up driving around the Historic Third Ward numerous times until I found MIAD. Even though I have been to Milwaukee numerous times I never saw the difference of the historic third ward compared to other upscale neighborhoods in the Milwaukee area. There have been a lot more renovations taken place in the area to update broken down buildings, but I never knew it was considered historic. I don't see the historical aspect of the buildings because they all seem to be new and modern. However, I do see a cohesive effect to the design of the buildings as far as their layout and in junction with each other. It's also funny how true a historic district does bump up the economic value of a site. I always thought the prices skyrocketed due to the fact that all the buildings were brand new, but the fact that it's a historic neighborhood has some to do with that as well.

It was interesting to read the guidelines for the district because as small and insignificant as a feature might be on a building can make a large difference in the overall picture. Some interesting features I found were the parking lots, street terraces, the seating required outside of cafes, and even the simplicity of park design. It really goes to show that 'the devil is in the details.' Makes you more aware that its not just the solids, like size of a building or the material it is made out of, but also about the voids such as alley length and how the store front looks.

The historic district my not be as noticeably identical compared to some other historic districts throughout the U.S., but it have three of the main components of districts: defined borders, aesthetic quality, and an overall design of buildings. I do see the need for guidelines in districts and the Historic Third Ward is a perfect example. The entire neighborhood doesn't have to be identical, but it does provide enough structure to create a visually pleasant area. Even in the Historic Third Ward Guidelines it gave a list of options of different styles of historical to modern architecture that could be implemented in the design process.