The Escala: The Verdict?

All of this chronicling of the Cristalla got me to thinking about another very recent postmodern addition to the neighborhood, the Escala at 4th & Virginia. It's been a long time coming. In fact, they've spent about two years building it. Having watched it go up slowly and steadily, I thought there would come a time when I would have strong feeling whether it was either a masterpiece of modern architecture or a massive eyesore. That still hasn't happened. I need some help here.

The Escala isn't the tallest building in Belltown. That title belongs to the Westin's North Tower. (Yes, the twin Westins are both in Belltown.) It's not even the tallest condo tower. The Continental Place still retains that honor. It was, however, billed as Belltown's largest condo tower, whatever that's supposed to mean. To me, it's a dubious label, because big means lots of units, which means that selling out the entire complex in this economy will be a struggle. Good luck to the sales team. None of this addresses my most basic question: is this building pleasing to the eye?

Here are some photos to help the decision-making process:

From 4th & Virginia...


From Virginia...


From Stewart.

I still can't decide. Let's take a look at street level:

Like the Cristalla, the Escala has a facade that gives way to the upper stories...


More facade...


The inspiration for the design came from the neighboring building, which used to house the Annex Theater.

Even though the facade is a bit tacky and its integration with the rest of the building is clumsy, I still can't make up my mind. Let's look at the positives. Unlike the Cristalla, the Escala actually goes well with nearby buildings. Three blocks away is the 2000 1st Avenue condo tower, which looks like this:

It was built back in the nineties and, although it's a bit more Deco than the Escala, it shares a few postmodern elements with the larger building.


This is something it doesn't share with the Escala - a fairly blank east side. I believe the plan was to build two of these towers, side by side, but the plans fell through for the second phase.


Just half a block away from the Escala are the two famous Westin towers from 1969 and 1982. They match up nicely with the Escala's rounded look. Brief story here: back in the seventies when there was only one Westin tower (and it was known as the Washington Plaza), an architect told me in all earnestness that in the future, all buildings would be cylindrical, just like the Washington Plaza. Well, so much for that prediction.

OK, so there are nearby buildings that don't clash with it. (The lovely Darth Vader does clash with it, but it clashes with everything, which is why I love it.) The downside? Well, obviously the design. Its bold postmodernism makes it look like it's the product of several different sets of plans. Although it's solidly built (let's hope) of glass, steel, concrete and various other sturdy components, it's defiantly amorphous. It has no distinctive shape. The last argument against it I've heard is that it's plain-old ugly. Have another look...

...and tell me either way. Is this a building you can hate? I still can't judge either way. One thing I object to, though is the Escala's "Midtown" designation. Guys, you can't just make up parts of the city that don't exist. There is no midtown in Seattle. You're in Belltown. Say it loud and proud. Hey, if it was such a bad and unfashionable neighborhood, would I live here?

OK, so the original question remains: is this new creation a work of postmodern beauty or is it ugly as sin? Discuss.

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If You Build It, It Will Be Built: 40 (or so) Years of Belltown Architecture

When comparing Belltown with our good neighbors downtown, our buildings are rather puny and unimpressive. But that doesn't mean we can't have a look at what we've got, good or bad, right? You bet! OK, so here's an interesting factoid: for well over a decade, one of the the tallest buildings in Belltown was barely even in Belltown. Here it is:

That's right, the Denny Building (built in 1963) at 6th & Blanchard is right on the border between Belltown and the Denny Neutral Zone (DNZ), also known as the sinisterly-named Denny Triangle. For a long time, that's all we had, but then along came:

THE SEVENTIES
This decade was about many things, but for Belltown, it was when modern architecture established itself in the neighborhood. See, there are lots of very old buildings all over the place - "very old" meaning dating from the early 20th century - but there was never anything large to define the look of the neighborhood. Halfway through the decade, that began to change. Let's take a very non-comprehensive sampling of the me-decade's achievements:

The awesome and iconic Darth Vader Building at 4th & Blanchard.


The so-called Rollerball Building at 4th & Vine. I gave it that name, by the way.


The Grandview Condos at 3rd and Blanchard.


The Royal Crest Condos, just a block away at 3rd & Lenora.

So that's just a taste of the seventies. You have some awesome things, some not-so-awesome things and a lot of beige.

THE EIGHTIES
This decade was about one thing only: finding new and innovative ways to make things look ugly. Here are some examples:

The Qwest Building at 2nd & Lenora, also known as the Borg Building. I also made that name up. You're welcome.


The Soviet-esque Warwick Hotel at 4th & Lenora.


The structurally-unsound looking Blanchard Plaza at 6th & Blanchard, right across the street from the Denny Building.


As gray as Seattle's skies for 10 months of the year, it's the Continental Place at 1st & Blanchard. Until recently, this was Belltown's tallest condo tower.

Can you feel a downward trend developing? I sure can. Let's keep going.

THE NINETIES
I'm not sure whether the nineties were ever about anything, but there was a lot of construction going on in Belltown. Unfortunately, most of it was not good:

The fairly awful Fountain Court at 4th & Battery; an entire city block with absolutely zero retail on it. All you have is apartments going clear to the sidewalk. After this was built, they revised zoning codes to require retail space in all new developments.


Belltown Court at 2nd & Battery. This place was so poorly constructed that it spent something like three years wrapped in scaffolding. And out of those three years, it was wrapped in white plastic for about a year. Well, at least it houses some very good restaurants. They all share a restroom.


And speaking of scaffolding, it's Belltown's favorite scaffold-encased eyesore, the McGuire. It calls 2nd & Wall home.

I guess you can say that the nineties gave off a good deal of heat, but very little light. Or is that the other way around?

THE NAUGHTS
Guess what? This decade is almost over. Amen to that. The good news is that things are starting to look nicer. Observe:

This is the YWCA Building at 3rd & Lenora, right across the street from the Royal Crest. Although the block is pretty terrible, the building has some nice neo-Art Deco lines.


This is the almost-completed Escala at 4th & Virginia. It has just wrestled the title of "tallest condo tower in Belltown" away from the Continental Place. I still haven't decided whether this building is ugly or not. I think we can all agree that it's very big.


This is the Gallery at 2nd & Broad. I'm a fan of the semi-constructed look. Hey, if you've got a few hundred grand jinling around in your pockets, they're auctioning off units here.


This is my favorite new addition, the Mosler Lofts at 3rd & Clay. Yes, I like the its semi-constructed look, but I really dig its overall design. Sure, it's in a bit of a no-man's-land, but that doesn't diminish its impact. If I wasn't impoverished, I'd live there.

So there you have it, a superficial overview of Belltown's architecture. I think you'll agree that by and large, the eighties and nineties were not good. But if current trends continue, we may actually see some iconic structures emerge in the coming years. This neighborhood deserves it. I mean, it's put up with a lot of ugly buildings for a long time. It deserves something on par with the excellent Darth Vader Building, doesn't it? This is when you're supposed to say: "Yes, it does!"

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