More On The Akron Aliens

While the official organs of Akron plump up the new Art Museum there are dissenting voices.
I've gotten a few emails...not many, granted...who agree there was "something wrong" with the design of the Akron Art Museum expansion.

Some just flat hate the space-age design of the new wing; to clarify, I don't "hate" the design. I think it works just fine for museum space in the 21st century, even in Akron, even if it does look like something hauled out of Munich or Hamburg. It does have a decidedly German/Austrian flair to it and why not, the architect is from Vienna.

Rich from Wadsworth agrees with my observation that the new just doesn't mesh with the old; leaving the old Post Office Building in place to serve as extra space and a pylon for the wings springing from the expansion doesn't look right.

When discussing the issue on PBS 45/49's NewsNight Akron program Friday night Eric Mansfield asked if they just couldn't have moved the old building if they didn't want to tear it down. Great question.

I stand by my opinion that Cleveland's call to build the new-age Rock Hall and Science Museum on the Lakefront -- rather than plant those buildings right next to the heritage buildings in the Warehouse District -- should have provided some guidance for those of us in Akron. There's nothing wrong with new architecture but even on the UA campus the "Landscape for Learning" knows enough to create a consistent mini-neighborhood by leaving plenty of space around conflicting designs. There's a good reason why the Polymer Building has the Chihuly art in front of it -- and not Buchtel Hall.