Well stated, all of it. What made me chuckle is that many people I know, myself very much included, almost never, ever fly out of or into CVG. I’m much more familiar with the Dayton and Indianapolis airports because they tend to be much cheaper for leisure travel, and I’ve gone on more road trips in my 8 years of living here than in the previous [however many] years of my adult life. Those have been fun, for sure, but everything I’m mentioning is a big ol’ workaround to how obscenely expensive CVG tends to be. I’ve also heard that Dayton is a popular airport for business travelers to Cincinnati.
All of this is to say that CVG’s shabbiness, which is extreme, at least doesn’t impact all travelers to this fair city.
Your assessment of P&G seems spot on. Between them and Macy’s, that’s a ton of “creative” need, but almost none of it is all that creative and tends to be very middle-of-the-road, which seems like an apt descriptor for Cincinnati as a whole.
There have been some bold moves — Zaha Hadid’s CAC commission was historic, and UC has courted several starchitects for its campus buildings. I suppose Nick Lachey deserves credit for shining a positive light on this city in his own ways.
Over all, though, the “design capital” designation unfortunately holds no weight if so little of it is groundbreaking or impactful, either within the community or as a face presented to the larger public.
I’m seeing a brilliantly middle-of-the-road coffee table book here visualingual. One I think you might enjoy a collaboration of. Lets collect all things designed here, in the heart of Cincy. Give em a nice little photoshoot. Bind it at the Ohio Book Store, and sell them back to the populace at city flea for some absurd amount of money. It would go well with my coffee table book on the Architecture of Corporate Headquarters As Seen Driving By.
Well stated, all of it. What made me chuckle is that many people I know, myself very much included, almost never, ever fly out of or into CVG. I’m much more familiar with the Dayton and Indianapolis airports because they tend to be much cheaper for leisure travel, and I’ve gone on more road trips in my 8 years of living here than in the previous [however many] years of my adult life. Those have been fun, for sure, but everything I’m mentioning is a big ol’ workaround to how obscenely expensive CVG tends to be. I’ve also heard that Dayton is a popular airport for business travelers to Cincinnati.
All of this is to say that CVG’s shabbiness, which is extreme, at least doesn’t impact all travelers to this fair city.
Your assessment of P&G seems spot on. Between them and Macy’s, that’s a ton of “creative” need, but almost none of it is all that creative and tends to be very middle-of-the-road, which seems like an apt descriptor for Cincinnati as a whole.
There have been some bold moves — Zaha Hadid’s CAC commission was historic, and UC has courted several starchitects for its campus buildings. I suppose Nick Lachey deserves credit for shining a positive light on this city in his own ways.
Over all, though, the “design capital” designation unfortunately holds no weight if so little of it is groundbreaking or impactful, either within the community or as a face presented to the larger public.
i love the way your writing keeps me wanting more to read. Excellent !!!
I’m seeing a brilliantly middle-of-the-road coffee table book here visualingual. One I think you might enjoy a collaboration of. Lets collect all things designed here, in the heart of Cincy. Give em a nice little photoshoot. Bind it at the Ohio Book Store, and sell them back to the populace at city flea for some absurd amount of money. It would go well with my coffee table book on the Architecture of Corporate Headquarters As Seen Driving By.