222 & Whole Foods - (222 Hennepin Avenue)

[mamundsen]

They put the roof on the North tower and it looks close to being complete.

They have most of the exterior on the south tower too.

Something I didn't notice until they put the stone on the south tower is that the towers are not twins. They have different external material and different tops.

Another thing I noticed that I never saw in the renderings is that the side facing Hennepin has two levels of large patios. Much better than I expected.

The more I see this completed, the more I like it.

[Andrew_F]

[lordmoke]

A picture from their FB page:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 3168_n.jpg

The lower four floors on the Hennepin and Washington sides, along with the towers, are great. But looking at the whole building just makes me think, "so close..." It feels like it's just so big that it can't figure out what to do with itself after it starts getting away from Hennepin & Washington.

EDIT: If they had put towers on all four corners of this thing, it might have been able to pull off a bit of a castle or fortress look, which would have made it way more visually interesting. Too late.

[seanrichardryan]

That's the trouble, it doesn't look designed. It lacks pattern making it look like a random arrangement of parts. Note the secondary 'tower' in the photo on the left. I know it probably just has a stairwell, but would it have killed the project to center the windows? And if there was ever an argument for less hanging balconies... ew.

[MNdible]

That seems like a strange thing to pick on. Just because something isn't symmetrical doesn't mean that it wasn't designed.

[Unity77]

"Minneapolis is a miracle place," he said, praising the city's receptiveness to diverse architectural influences. "You have an architectural center here, but you don't know it." - Philip Johnson, Star Tribune: Sunday, May 6, 1990

It's too bad that neither Ryan Companies nor Humphreys & Partners Architects knew about it.

[mattaudio]

That seems like a strange thing to pick on. Just because something isn't symmetrical doesn't mean that it wasn't designed.

Exactly. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=953&p=25639#p25639

[seanrichardryan]

It was just the first of many things I've noticed. It has an odd rhythm which makes it look ungainly. If you're trying to feebly mimic historic architecture, at least put the pieces together right. And hide your damn utilities if you can't design them in.
* end rant

[John]

IMO, the towers look really beautiful. Yes, there are some flaws with some of the carry through in the overall design, but I think ultimately this project will have a strong positive impact on downtown. Also, it really needs some new neighbors because currently its surrounded by vacant land or parking lots. When the area is more built up and dense, it won't stand out so much, especially the north and west sides which are the weakest part of the project aesthetically.

[jet777]

Just got back into town after being gone a few weeks so looked at this again with a fresh perspective. Towers are okay. The big brown facade entering the city from the Hennepin bridge is horrible. Building already looks outdated, like a giant build-it-yourself pole barn from mills fleet farm.

[Gregory]

Just got back into town after being gone a few weeks so looked at this again with a fresh perspective. Towers are okay. The big brown facade entering the city from the Hennepin bridge is horrible. Building already looks outdated, like a giant build-it-yourself pole barn from mills fleet farm.

yup

[schmitzm03]

Here are some pics from Sunday. I was trying to capture a sense of 222's impact at street level. My preference for urban form is more along the lines of DC (I lived there for a couple of years). So, despite its shortcomings, it should add density and life to a part of town that has been dead for far too long and I'm happy about that. I'm trying to be optimistic.

[schmitzm03]

The towers really are the saving grace for this building. The overall effect of this side, even with the relative monotony of the facade and balconies, should be fairly pleasant from a pedestrian standpoint.




The cladding for the tower on Washington is almost finished. Also, walking by on Sunday there was working going on in the Whole Foods section.

[Gregory]

it's still a terrible build for the spot.

[Gregory]

Nice pics though, i will give you that.

[Tom H.]

I like the masonry and stone style that they chose for the base and one of the towers. The grey stone has a sort of stateliness to it.

[go4guy]

Very much agree with your comment about DC. I loved DC! Very urban and dense, even with the extreme lack of height.

[RailBaronYarr]

I actually really like the combination of materials. I'm obviously a fan of more variance in texture resulting from more(smaller) buildings, but this mixes things up as you walk along it, and I think the corners are quite stately.

[woofner]

I've been meaning to bring up the vertical section on the left side of this picture:



In general this building is looking a lot better than I'd feared, but this has to be one of the ugliest features of any building built in this town in the last few years. It's more awkward than a jr high school dance and I can't figure out what the reason for it is.

Also, I'm less optimistic about the pedestrian conditions on 2nd St and 1st Ave. There are some enormous curb cuts there and I'm imagining semis jutting out into the intersection from the loading zone. On Washington, though, it will be an improvement and on Hennepin quite nice it appears.

[schmitzm03]

I completely agree on that vertical section. It doesn't make sense at all aesthetically, and I can't imagine what purpose it could serve architecturally (I am not an architect, so what do I know).