Over-the-Rhine is getting more national praise — this time from Conde Nast Traveler, which on its website in December named OTR one of the 10 best architectural sites in the Midwest.
In “Seeking Frank Lloyd Wright: Best Architecture in the Midwest,” Ashley Petry writes:
Not too long ago, Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood was one of the roughest parts of town. Now it serves as a case study in successful urban renewal, thanks in part to its notable architecture. The district is home to a large concentration of 19th-century Italianate architecture, and those ornate brick buildings now house trendy restaurants and swanky boutiques. While you’re in town, swing by the University of Cincinnati, whose new building complex was designed by architecture firm Morphosis.
What is remarkable about this is the company OTR's 19th Century Italianate architecture keeps on this select list — except for the Victorian "painted ladies" of St. Louis' Lafayette Square, the others are all Modernist or Contemporary masterpieces, many by the world's great architects.
These include Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park as well as his contribution to Toledo Art Museum's complex; the bedroom at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin in Spring Green, Wis., as well as his contributions to Racine's SC Johnson company's headquarters (and home of one of its presidents), Eero Saarinen's Mid-Century Modernist Miller House in Columbus, Ind. (owned by Indianapolis Art Museum), Santiago Calatrava's breathtaking 2001 addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum and Jean Nouvel's 2006 Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Just a random thought here, but if Cincinnati's past architecture is worthy of such lofty company, should we be putting more thought into getting architects worthy of those mentioned above for our future projects? Calatrava has done some amazing bridges and the Cincinnati Art Museum in the past has had ambitious (but now-stalled) plans for a landmark Contemporary addition.
Read the full Conde Nast Traveler feature here.
