Anchorage has gateway fever. Only a few years ago, gateways defined larger neighborhoods and provided something special and unique to the city. It seems more and more projects want to add gateway elements. I think the city needs to have some criteria for location and design, to ensure that the idea of a gateway isn't watered down.
With that said, when the Rogers Park gateway elements went in, we were quite happy to see another good feature for the city. The success of these lies in the fact that there was enough road right-of-way to provide the space and focus that a gateway needs. The other element is that they are a very sensitive design that matches extremely well with the neighborhood. Their scale, materials and accompanying planting and roadway design all work together to create something that just plain feels right. Design is sometimes about gut feeling, and these feel good.
Location: Rogers Park Neighborhood
Designer: DOWL/HKM
~ Peter
There's something inherently special about rogers' park as a 'hood, and it's not just the home prices. Much like city view, most homes are manageable in size and the garage isn't the most prized asset of the house from the street. the 'gateway' welcomes you into the neighborhood much the same way, breaking up the pavement with some green space and a well constructed (and appropriately sized) feature, the focus is on the neighborhood instead of being dominated by the vehicle.
ReplyDeleteWhile gateways are the fad of the new milennium in A-rage (and an absorbant napkin for road budgets) they really can be useful in paying homage to an already established 'hood (ie, rogers park) but can be quite lame once they're used to demarcate everything (see: suburban cul-de-sac developments under the guise of 'whispery oaks', billboards, and other signage/gateway crap like that). they shouldn't be a part of every road project in town and should be scrutinized at every level for appropriateness. Would you like to see one that doesn't work? check out the blue unlucky wishbones (brontosaurus perhaps) down on Elmore.
all that being said, i like working on them.