Friday, March 11, 2011

[Updated] A taste of the East Village while you're at SXSW!

Something called the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference is getting under way in Austin, Texas, today. And after all these years, I thought South by Southwest was part of the menu at Chili's. (Booooooooo!)

Just kidding about SXSW, now in its 25th year.

Anyway, a reader on the way to SXSW mentioned that there is an East Village in Austin.

Indeed! Here's a description of it:

The East Village isn't your average mixed-use building on the Eastside. It's a striking piece of art designed and built by renowned architects Bercy Chen Studio, nestled proudly within a historic, thriving, vibrant, rapidly growing community, harmoniously mixing the awesome old with the bold new, all within a few blocks of Downtown. The vibe in the 11th Street East End District is as unique as it is to live at The East Village.




I'm not sure what the point of this is other than to say it all hits a little too close to home ... namely the stupid, rampant development...

UPDATED:

Per Jeremiah's comment... Yes, thought this all looked a little familiar... here's the future 347 Bowery.

7 comments:

Jeremiah Moss said...

it looks just like the Stay-Puft building! add a pic of that next to it for comparison.

Jeremiah Moss said...

the resemblance is eerie! always thought the EV/LES was turning into Texas, but i thought more Houston than Austin.

Marty Wombacher said...

All these buildings look like 99 Cent Store versions of the Rubik's Cube.

Lisa said...

@Marty - Ha! Too true!

Anonymous said...

I would never want to see East Village buildings with history or character torn down to buid this... but if it were built on some empty suburban track in Austin I would kind of like it.

shmnyc said...

That building is *so* ugly. If I were younger, I'd say this building was proof that NYC had gone down hill too far, and that I was leaving!

a.p. said...

urban development has become rampant on the east side of austin but i feel like it's far from anything we see in suburbia and here in the east village. they're building up an area where people use to avoid because it was considered "dangerous". without commenting on the style of the building, i find the development very exciting especially since the city is considered one of the fastest growing cities in the US. it showcases many innovative architectural projects and has really changed the "vibe" of the area, attracting a lot of artists and entrepreneurs. what i'm saying is that this ugly building is not just some replacement for some older building with historical context. i think it adds a lot of value to austin, attracting creative people and local businesses.