Extra special appreciation goes out to the Onion representatives (4 out of 5!) who took the time to join us at the 2011 O&O Awards Ceremony, and speak on behalf of their projects. It is hugely appreciated, and helps us  fine-tune the program, and keep the dialogue alive. We are most grateful for your participation and information. 

Now for the Onions... click on the link for photos and more information about each - and to let us know what you think (agree? disagree?) by leaving a comment.

Grand Onion: Sherman Elementary School

This year’s Grand Onion has a familiar name behind the façade, and we can only shake one’s head in bewilderment and despair and ask…  WHY?  Well one juror surmised that “…the campus is an abomination caused in no small part to the unyielding Design Criteria & Guidelines of Historic District of Sherman Heights. …this project needs to be acknowledged as an Onion not only for its terrible architecture but to be used as an example that terrible architecture can come directly from Design Criteria & Guidelines.” Also noted by both jurors and site visitors is the  juxtaposition of the Sherman Heights Community Center directly across the street, which could have served as an amazing inspiration to draw from; but no such inspiration was gleaned, or even entertained. Instead, we have a project in which the jury felt the school’s bell tower alone is enough to earn an Onion.” Ultimately, there can be no justification for the sort of architecture that stakes a claim to historic richness then delivers a thick, soupy agglomeration that would embarrass the designers of Knott’s Berry Farm. The jurors felt that faux historicism suffered a well-deserved death in the 80’s, and that it has been demonstrated tonight at O&O that publically funded construction need not be mediocre but can indeed inspire.

People's Choice Onion: Pacific Highway Inactivity

"We have met the enemy he is US." A dysfunctional congress that can’t approve a debt ceiling limit….A strangled Sacramento that can’t even figure out a way to put budget issues to a public vote  . . . they must have learned their lessons here in San Diego. As a collective of individuals, interest groups, businesses, NGO’s, City, County and State governments and too many agencies, committees, commissions and panels to list here tonight San Diegian’s have been debating the future of the gift of our bayfront since before the Nolan Plan of 1908. And yet today Pacific Highway sits vacant, an occasional short-cut for the traffic weary commuter; a place that no dog walker dare tread – much less someone looking for a glass of water or a pack of gum or even directions. The People of San Diego have spoken and the 2011 People’s
Choice Onion goes to the stretch “Pacific Highway Inactivity” recognizing that stretch of roadway through downtown: a non-place, a void of empty fake storefronts and sidewalks that are so underused you can’t even find old gum on them. Pacific Highway through downtown is  a pedestrian adverse stretch that should be the City’s Main Street but is instead its Back Alley.We all want the waterfront to be our front porch and open to everyone, but when it gets down to the details - how much commercialization, how much parkland, how much housing - we cannot even seem to find a common starting line. To single out any one agency for the onion would be both wrong and inaccurate. It must be an award for ALL of us; public agencies, interest groups, and the broader community for not really talking with each other in order to reach common ground.

State Street Offices (Architecture)

“Where is the front door?” the jury wondered aloud as they wandered around the sidewalk trying to locate it. Although this business model makes sense, it was terribly executed by the design team.  This is a case of a sincere business owner with a reasonable business plan led astray by a design team that clearly didn’t think through the entry, presence of space, or the coordination of building systems.  Although intended to inspire, the misplaced entries and gutters mindlessly located around doorways, combined with an ill-conceived lunch space (located in the corner of the parking lot!), and utter lack of follow through, left the jurors feeling disappointed, disconnected and searching for resolutions to design problems that are simply not fixable. The jury concurred that this sad urban infill project was the only one visited that actually looked worse in person. To add insult to injury, it is evident that the design team cut corners on what was a design-deficient project to start with.  From the point of view of designer, architect or planner, this project clearly missed the mark.  

Harbor Point (Architecture)

The Orchids & Onions jury determined that this project’s missed opportunities greatly outweighed its merits. From the reflective windows on the ground floor disallowing pedestrian engagement to the narrow units that don’t allow for natural cross ventilation, they found Harbor Point to be a hodgepodge of contours, questionable color and material combinations, funny little corners, strangely shaped balconies, and awkward setbacks and overhangs. It was clear that although the intention was there and significant resources were spent, at some point during the design process, the message was lost in translation. An attempt at lengthening the sidewalk experience by bringing people up and into a second story commercial corridor was simply unsuccessful.  “Commercial spaces cannot thrive if the pedestrians or the vehicles cruising by can't engage with what is going on inside them,” a juror commented. On that particular floor the commercial storefront glazing goes from highly reflective mirror to jet black, creating a sense that you are being watched, and making another one “… want to run.” The jury also felt that with commercial space vacancies at an all-time high, we need to be creative, sensitive and forward thinking when creating a similar product. It behooves no one to build things that sit empty because they fundamentally do not function well.”

Hillcrest LED Sign (Historic Preservation)

Don’t get them wrong, the jury honors and respects the intent of this renovation, along with the impassioned defense offered online by the Hillcrest Business Association. O&O jurors are typically especially appreciative and attentive when an Onion nominee steps forward to explain their process and actions. In era of declining resources, replacing the neon with L.E.D. will reduce energy usage by close to 80% and they applaud that, too. What is less praise-worthy is the lack of respect for history, the exclusion of the larger community in the discussion, the failure to consider alternatives – there are these remarkable things they call “solar panels” after all – and, most of all, the unfortunate visual result. When lit at night, the new sign not only bears no resemblance to the original icon – but it is garish and, well… ugly. As one jury member put it: “they will change it back in a few years and at that point it will be deserving of an Orchid.” One can only hope that happens sooner rather than later . . .