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The American Institute of Architects asked 1800 Americans to name their favorite buildings in the US. After further refinement and surveying, the AIA compiled a list of the top 150 and released it on Wednesday.
A grand total of two Seattle buildings made the list: at #108, the gorgeous but metroartificial Seattle Public Library; and at #135, Safeco Field.
Nowhere to be found: the viaduct, the EMP, Smith Tower, Washington Mutual Tower, Rainier Tower, Qwest Field, or Seattlest HQ.
All of those buildings lag behind the Empire State Building -- an unsurprising choice for first place -- as well as the Bellagio in Las Vegas (#22), Wanamaker's Department Store in Philadelphia (#32), the Old Faithful Inn in Wyoming (#36), the Apple Store Fifth Avenue in New York City (#53), Denver International Airport (#57), the Milwaukee Art Museum (#59), the Getty Center in LA (#95), and O'Hare Airport's United Airlines Terminal (#102).
You can page through the complete list on the AIA's site.
Photo of America's favorite Seattle building courtesy of ajagabel, who tagged it "seattlest". Thanks!
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Bleh, the Experience Library Project. Some good ideas, badly executed.
No mention of the Space Needle? The title does say "favorite" after all. Aren't favorites frequently photographed?
I'd put the Chrysler building higher (I actually prefer it to the Empire State) but that's quibbling. Not sure what the White House is doing in there, though; there are better examples of neo-classical Americanism, several of them nearby in Washington.
And the World Trade Center in the top ten? Is this a case of sense being subordinated to sentiment? Never mind the issue of it no longer existing (if vanished icons can be considered, where's the old Penn Station?) I was fairly traumatized by 9/11, but even at the time, in a fit of black humor, I had to admit bin Laden at least had a good sense of architectural criticism.
The Space Needle! Duh! I can't believe I forgot to mention that. And I can't believe it didn't crack the top 150.
I like the Seattle Central Library, myself, though I don't think the internal flow works as well as it should.
And I, too, would rank the Chrysler Building above the Empire State. But I'm not surprised that 1800 Americans, in aggregate, went the way they did.
I like the Central Library, too, even though I have the odd sense of being in a hive whenever I'm in there.
I agree -- this list is a little suspect, with a heavy Midwest edge. How can the Gateway Arch and the Cleveland Browns' football stadium make the list and the Space Needle and Salk Institute (featured in the film "My Architect") not?
The library squats like some tessellated glass turd dropped by an enormous alien dog, completely contemptuous of its surroundings and oblivious to any context or history of the city it is in. (Some of the branch libraries, by contrast, are wonderfully integrated into their neighborhoods and regional sensibilities).
But yes, as a functional building (as opposed to an ideological construction), internal flow is my primary complaint. On my first visit I rode the elevator to the top floor and tried to walk down. Can't be done. There are floors you can get to by escalator but can't leave except by elevator. In fact, it's impossible to use the building witI know they put extra a/c in the elevator cars so you wouldn't mind riding with the homeless; I don't care. hout using the elevator, which absolutely sucks. I like using the stairs. I want to use the stairs. I should be able to use the stairs. I can't: an alarm sounds.
I love the Central Library and every time I drive down 4th ave, I look forward to driving past it. I also was left wondering where the Space Needle was in there. Honestly, we could nitpick all day because Seattle is pretty underrepresented while half of the list is buildings in New York or Washington DC.