2534 State Street Offices
- Project Address: 2534 State Street, Mission Hills
- Project Owner/ Developer: State Street Offices, LLC
This is why decorators and and the self-described tasteful should avoid designing objects that the public can witness. You do not perform your own root canal or defend yourself in court; why is it that everyone considers themselves a better designer than a professional architect? (and if an architect is involved in this his/her license should be revoked). While one can appreciate the intent of trying to move beyond the typical and banal, this project is simply too garish to ignore. Notice the meaningless (and randomly colored) tile accents (sale at the Jerome's?), the vinyl downspout and the ubiquitous and overbearing SDG&E transformer (not the owners or designers fault, but worth noting SDG&E's previous Onion). What is the purpose of the three orange squares and why, oh why, oh why after the torture of the 70's must "designers" insist on 45 degree corners with a window? This project personifies every cliche, bad choice and the kitchen sink to boot. And what is so sad: they actually tried to make something special. They earn an "A" for intent and effort and, sorry, an Onion for the result.
Project Awarded
“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.