Downtown Seattle has three buildings by famous contemporary
architects: Seattle Art Museum (Robert Venturi), Experience Music
Project (Frank Gehry), and Seattle Central Library (Rem Koolhaas). In
2011, this small list will be increased by one with the completion of a
skyscraper at 601 Fourth Avenue, between James and Cherry streets. The
star architect behind this 520-foot tower (for commercial, residential,
and retail) is Norman Foster, the Englishman behind one of the most
iconic buildings, 30 St Mary Axe, in the now-dying age of “iconic
buildings.”
The street name for 30 St Mary Axe is The Gherkin. 601, however,
will not be iconic; its impact on Seattle’s skyline will not be as
severe as The Gherkin’s impact on London’s skyline. Nevertheless, it is
a building by an architect/firm that has produced an impressive body of
work: the restored Reichstag in Berlin, the Hearst Tower in New York
City, and (my personal favorite) the HSBC Main Building in Hong
Kong.
601, a project organized by the local firm Triad Development, will
in fact be the first building by a noted contemporary architect to
modify Seattle’s skyline. Unlike the short Central Library, the shorter
SAM, and the even shorter EMP, 601 will be visible to those crossing
Puget Sound on a ferry, or fishing on Alki Beach, or approaching the
city on the northbound lanes of I-5. The building will be on future
postcards. And what will strike the viewer in this near future is the
building’s curious resemblance to the 522-foot Smith Tower, our oldest
skyscraper—which is almost identical in height to Foster’s
design. According to the developers, this resemblance (a slender tower
extending from a larger base) is not accidental. The building is
carefully programmed and positioned to initiate a conversation with the
skyline. This conversation will say strong things about Seattle’s long
(and often despised) commitment to very tall buildings.
Ours is the only city in the region that seriously participates in
the international skyscraper game. When completed in 1914, the Smith
Tower was the fourth tallest building in the whole world. When
completed in 1969, the Seafirst Tower was “the tallest building west of
the Mississippi.” When completed in 1985, the Columbia Tower claimed
that Mississippi title. On the skyline that faces northbound traffic on
I-5, the 601 will appear between the Smith Tower (the first) and the
Columbia Tower (the last), a situation that deliberately reinforces the
city’s skyscraper story—a story about power, raw ambition, and
the vain yet invigorating pursuit of international distinction.
On the street level, things will be a little more rational.
Restaurants and shops will surround a plaza designed by Atelier
Dreiseitl (the firm that was part of the recent redevelopment Potsdamer
Platz, one of Berlin’s most famous and central squares). The plaza and
the 601 tower, which is shooting for a platinum LEED certification,
will have direct access to the light-rail station on Third Avenue. The
final result of these elements—a British architectural firm,
German landscapers, a public square, and mass transportation? The
production of what might be the most European block in Seattle.
