And Speaking of Western Avenue...

This is their one work of public art:

It stands at the confluence of Western, Elliott & Lenora. And yes, it's a giant inside-out umbrella. At first, I just thought it was kitsch for the tourists, but now I truly believe that it's simply bad art. So many other, more meaningful things could have gone there - things that had more to do with the character of either the Market (just a block away) or Belltown. But no, we get a monumental sculpture of a cheap umbrella. Thanks a million!

Home, Sweet Shipping Container - 2

Ah, Western Avenue, Belltown's afterthought. There's almost nothing to do along it. True, there is that really large and silly nightclub, but hey, even 22-year-olds are pretending like that's fun. And let's not forget the Olympic Sculpture Park. Well, we probably can, because it's not really in Belltown. It belongs to the waterfront. OK, so even though activities and sights are limited, there are lots of places to live. Almost all of these buildings are shiny and new. That's kind of the heart of the problem. For some reason, either by design or chance, most of the architecture along Western Ave. emulates one component of modern life: the shipping container. Its shape might be slightly different from the original and perhaps there's no corporate logo on the side, but the resemblance is unmistakable - people are living in shipping containers. Today's subject is the Avalon at Western & Broad, located right across the street from the building that was first in our series. Observe:



Like I said the first time I wrote about this phenomenon, I understand that Seattle is a major player in the container port game, but I don't understand why so many buildings need to be designed to resemble incoming freight. There's also a cheap, pre-fab look to some of these places that will make the entire neighborhood an eyesore in years to come. Twenty years ago, Western Avenue had beat-up homes and derelict warehouses along it. Now it has these boxy apartments and condos. I actually prefer the houses.

Home, Sweet Shipping Container - 1

You know, I don't write a lot about Western Avenue. It might be because not much happens there. It also might be that almost every building along Western is less than 15 years old. It doesn't have the semi-decrepit, time-worn appeal of the neighboring, numbered thoroughfares. When I moved into Belltown, Western was home to houses and warehouses. It's currently mostly apartments and condos. There's nothing wrong with that. Times change. Real estate gets bought and developed. It is the way of things. But I was recently struck by how cheap a lot of these new buildings looked. At first, I couldn't figure out why, but after a fashion it became painfully clear: many of the buildings along Western look like they've been fashioned out of shipping containers. Here is just one example, the Audrey (wow, what a bad name for a building!):

This is a shot from the corner of Western & Broad. Except for the windows and an angular aberration or two, it looks like this entire building could have arrived from China earlier this week. The only thing that's missing are the SeaLand, Hanjin, Hapag-Lloyd or Hyundai logos. Here are additional shots:



It just doesn't get any less container-like, does it? In a way, I understand how it could come to this. For one thing, Seattle is one of the world's busiest container ports. Why not illuminate that fact with an architectural ode or some such? In addition, when you're living in an apartment, you are literally stacked underneath and on top of your neighbors, so an imitation of stackable things is logical. Of course, living in such a building would make me feel like a sardine, but that's just me. Here at the Rivoli, my downstairs neighbor is a small appliance store and my upstairs neighbors include the world's loudest children. The ceilings are high and the spaces are small. I don't feel like I'm wedged between anybody. I just can't imagine living in a shipping container. Here's the thing: Western Avenue has a lot of these buildings. This is just the beginning of the series. Stay tuned.