Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14
When you get right down to it, the only 'Stampitecture' in either the Corral or the Saddledome is the name. The "fears" are rather ridiculous, imo.
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It's not the Corral nor the Saddledome that are the origin of the term "Stampitecture." Actually, it is just about every building that has been built on the Stampede grounds or in the surrounding few blocks in the last decade or so that has. Another non-Calgary-specific term that has been brought up is "faux historicism."
Examples include the BMO Centre,
The podium of Arriva
The Keynote podium
The Nuera podium
The signature "Stampitecture" features include orangey-red brick, sandstone trim and cornices. The original thinking (on the part of both the Stampede Board and a certain era of Calgary's planning department, in not-all-that-separate lines of thinking) was to pay homage and highlight the mostly-Edwardian style of architecture that was prevalent in the "Warehouse District" (adjacent to Stampede grounds) when most of it was built and can be found today in the few remaining historical buildings from this era.
The problem with this is that unless the stars align to produce a perfect example of the historical architectural style (no matter what the style is), it usually comes off as fake or phoney, which it is. It's an incredibly hard thing to do to replicate something and have it come off as authentic.
The second major problem is that in creating all these homages, it actually creates a disservice to the remaining, authentic examples that have survived. They don't stand out anymore, and if anything they just blend in. One of the best ways to highlight historical buildings through nearby redevelopment is to build something modern that contrasts with the style of the historical building. Then both buildings stand out.
Here is a 2007 article from Canadian Architect that speaks specifically to the faux-historicism wave which was very prevalent at the time in Calgary.
http://www.canadianarchitect.com/new...ew/1000217108/
This post below by Roughneck describes "Stampitecture" pretty well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roughneck
I was always under the impression that the land deal was already in place: two blocks north of the 'Dome, the Stampede takes the 'Dome land back?
And I was also under the impression that the West Village was a no-go because the cost of excavation is too high because of the contaminated soil that has to get trucked far away.
Wherever it may be hopefully it is something cool. I'm generally against Stempede-ish things, but to put an old twist on a modern arena, use that Nationwide brick design or something similar and replace the brick with sandstone. Brings us back to Calgary's early days and would definitely be unique. Though I don't really know if sandstone is cheap, practical or even available in the quantities to be effective for such a project but I think it'd be a cool look.
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I dearly hope that the Flames organization does not follow this trend.