At the school’s open house I was able to tour the facility (the way I prefer to: darting around by myself and taking notes) and it was easy to see what people are excited about: a top arts school for the 21^st century with features and amenities we could only dream about back in my student days at the old school, the five-story brick-and-stone colossus on Sycamore Street in the same downtown neighborhood.

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The architects of this project, design architect Curt Moody of Moody-Nolan in Columbus, Ohio and project architect Cole and Russell of Cincinnati, seem to have addressed the complex program requirements well. Where the old SCPA made do with two theatres this facility boasts three. The Corbett Theatre seats 750 in a European-style multi-tiered house. The stage and proscenium are immense and impressive, and the fly gallery (where scenery is “flown” up and away during scene changes) rivals that of grand Music Hall just up the street. The stage manager’s callboard, like everything else in this new theatre, is state of the art. The orchestra pit at the front of the stage is raised and lowered hydraulically. (The old main theatre at S.C.P.A. had no orchestra pit). The theatre has been soundproofed, as well. Theatre acoustics have always been a nightmare for directors and stage designers; space, people and furnishings tend to swallow voices from the stage, especially spoken words. Performers and stage technicians in this new space will be hoping that technology and engineering have eliminated some of the headache.

The more intimate Mayerson Theatre is suitable for recitals or other small music or dance performances. Wood-veneered movable panels will be used for voids and reveals since there are no wings. As with the Corbett Theatre, lighting and sound equipment are the finest available. Acoustics, as before, are top of the line. On the lower level is the Blackbox theatre, customizable to seat 100 to 150 audience members.

The dance studios are of a quality that Juilliard would envy: beautiful sprung wood flooring, sunlight pouring in through the windows, flat screen TVs, sound systems that would make an audiophile weep. Art majors will facilitate their development with fine basswood desks and custom-made easels. Focused track lighting shines down on each art desk, which is adjustable and equipped with brush and pencil holders. The showpiece art studio is on the northeast corner with views of Race Street to the east and Washington Park to the north. At 1000 square feet it is ideal for work on larger paintings. In the next room is the sculpture studio. Recalling the modest classroom facilities for visual art in the old school, this is a new day for art majors at S.C.P.A.

As I explored I realized there are no double-loaded corridors in the new school, which cuts down on noise in the hallways during and between classes. It also creates a more intimate feel among students moving between classes and using their lockers, which are larger than older models. A significant design choice was to separate the arts education classrooms and studios from the academic classrooms and labs. The eastern wing and corridors house the academic classrooms while the arts education rooms and studios are all on the west side of the school and fed by the north-south running corridor. Other than the eyesore of exposed steel beams on the classroom ceilings covered in cheap, spray-on fireproofing, the classroom model is a good one; a spacious, sun-filled learning room with video screens, grease marker boards and new desks and chairs. (Separate desks and chairs, not the terrible one-piece desk/chair modules we hated so much in high school.)

The two-story entry lobby, the views of the city, the modern media center/library, the wonderful cafeteria space with colored glazing and flooring and mosaic art works, the modern theatres, the breathtaking dance and art studios are the stars of the school’s vibrant interior. The building’s exterior, however, is another matter. It is overwrought, stylistically kneecapped and entirely charmless. Undoubtedly there was more budget for the interior than the exterior but that is no excuse. The jarring combination of metal panels on the south elevation (the storefront public entrance side) is bad enough, but then to pair them with cheap Jumbo brick is inexcusable in a high-profile building like this one. (Jumbo brick is a larger, cheaper brick unit usually seen in grocery store or other low-budget retail construction.) One metal panel type is of the dull, battleship gray variety and the shinier, patterned panel is inelegantly wrapped around the auditorium of the Corbett Theatre like a tacky ball gown. Rather than announcing a new arts school theatre, it more suggests a striptease academy.

On the north elevation, the cheap brick is a little less offensive without its metallic clubfoot, yet the fenestration chosen here is another disappointment: a generic, straight-from-the-catalog, narrow window for the pedestrian Jumbo brick skin. While the glass wall on the south elevation is welcome and opportunistic of the views of downtown, the use of these cheap and featureless windows as individual pieces elsewhere on the building smacks of lazy design. Come on, find a better-looking window and work out a deal with the distributor and put one of their ads in the school performance programs. Don’t just pull out your dog-eared Sweets catalog and pick the first window you see.

To be sure, there is a lot to admire and enjoy about the new S.C.P.A. The three theatres, the first-class art and dance studios, the museum-style lobby, the eight soundproof practice rooms, the music rooms for each style of music taught and played. And the mod cons: a water fountain in every classroom, air conditioning, a color-graphic scheme to reemphasize program areas, bright student gathering areas. But when the design of the building’s enclosure is as ham-fisted as this one is, the result is that it usually looks dated the minute its finished, and this one does. One has to ask whether the choice of Moody and his group was a good one, and whether the aesthetic collapse continued under the supervision of Cole and Russell, who aren’t known for strong design projects.

The students will determine the efficacy and potential of this new building, which required numerous fund raising campaigns and private donations to bring to reality. The hope for the neighborhood is that the school can improve it through the energy and urban connection it will bring; help clean up derelict Washington Park and its surrounding blocks. The bunker mentality that sometimes set in at the old school in its rough neighborhood was disappointing, so here’s hoping the new S.C.P.A. will lift its community to its level of exploration, learning and love. The school’s motto is written “Esse Quam Videri” in the old building, and its Latin means “to be, rather than to seem.”

To exist as a finished work of art, or a finished building, or a student who loves to learn and work hard, is the thing.

Geoff Simmons is an architectural critic based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Daniel Libeskind created his design for the Ascent from a careful study of the waterfront area in Covington and the multiplicity of views in all directions. View: this was the genesis of the project, the possibility of giving every tenant a unique view of the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati, of Covington and I-75 to the south, of developing neighbor Newport to the east, of Park Hills and Devou Park to the west. The architect thoroughly studied the entire panorama in order to maximize the visual experience of living in each of the units, from the smallest 900 square foot one-bedroom unit to the thrilling penthouse units at the top. No two views are alike, but all of them are stunning. Every tenant here gets a river view, an egalitarian touch uncommon to high rises. No one stares at a brick wall. The design is holistic; patterns and compositional attributes of the exterior are repeated on the interior, but cleverly and in ways that a lesser architect would quickly drop into boring repetition. The pearl white hue of the concrete panels is matched by the color of the walls in the lobby and by the lush carpet in the penthouse we visited. The modular tile patterns of the concrete and glass panels of the façade are repeated in the tile patterns in the lobby’s walls and floor. The curve of the building is repeated by the shape of the outdoor pool and in the design of the patio and fire pit area. The concrete canopy at the main entrance is cantilevered just as the balconies are. And looking up, one sees the sizes of the balconies are not uniform but changing in a pattern similar to that of the concrete panels on the façade.

References:
Books referenced for this publication that document the architecture of Daniel Libeskind.

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Form-wise, the curvilinear building takes its shape from the soaring cables on Roebling’s bridge and from site conditions (a compact square block) in order to create the angled views. A metal frame within supported by concrete columns is enclosed by a curtain wall system (the exterior enclosure wraps completely around the structure of the building, like a curtain), in this case a syncopated rhythm of precast concrete panels and blue glass panels. I have never seen concrete look lighter; the combination of its smooth surface and bright color paired with the glass imparts a feeling of lightness to the whole structure, as if it could take flight. The east and west faces come to a common edge that sweeps to the building’s high point at the top of the curve (over 30 degrees above horizontal), which looks like the prow of a great ship slicing through the air. Just beneath this great arc of concrete and glass lies the Pinnacle, a 7800-square foot, three-story penthouse, the domus maximus, available at $5.4 million. (I’m hoping to put in my bid as soon as I can find a $5 million buyer for my $500 car.)

Resident Steve Frank calls the Ascent “a social building” as tenants enjoy each other’s company for dinner, walks around the neighborhood or special events like the WEBN fireworks. He and his wife are representative of a number of empty-nester tenants who’ve fled the suburbs to live in the city, and to live in a signature building like this with its amenities and aesthetic status makes him “feel like I’m 19 again.” He feels a part of the community, which lesser high-rises can all but eliminate. He mentions the views, the sociability factor (“the unusual, gifted people who live here”) and the comfort factor in living in a modern building with warm, contemporary interiors, which the architect left neutral enough for tenants to customize in their own tastes. The east and west resident elevator banks (two on each side) separate the living units into smaller clusters and eliminate the need for long, institutional corridors. There are no more than three homes in any core lobby. This design move at once imparts a greater sense of privacy and enhances the sociability factor.

The ground floor double-height lobby is criss-crossed with steel strips in the tile floor, which are echoed on the ceiling by crossing strips of recessed lights. This is a signature move of Libeskind’s; force lines that repeat themselves throughout the building, serving in most cases to reinforce the geometric conditions, or forces, at work in the building’s design. At the top of the staircase in the lobby are the public spaces: meeting rooms, a dining room and catering kitchen, a billiard room, a theater/screening room, a children’s playroom, and guest suites. The amenities continue outdoors on the same level to a private patio/gathering area with a custom-designed fire pit and cooking grills. There is also around-the-clock concierge service and limousine service for tenants.

Libeskind sees the Ascent as more than just a modern apartment block; for him the goal was to create a “cultural edifice”, a living member of the river front area that will help define the city and its people. “It has to be symbolic in its own way, and it is. We judge cities not just by their civic buildings. We judge them by: How do people live in those cities? What is the quality of their urban fabric?”

To this point in time there have been precious few residential buildings designed by star architects, usually there is far more prestige and money involved in larger commercial projects. Libeskind’s awareness of the significance of the urban fabric of a city and the way its residents live is an encouraging sign that designers are increasingly aware of humanity as a whole, not just an opinionated few. What if America in the 21^st century can be more than freeways, blacktop, bland office buildings and strip malls? Buildings like the Ascent show that it’s possible. It incorporates the basic elements: it’s of the earth in its integral connection to its site, it reaches for the sky and reflects the sky in its glass envelope, it presides over the water of the Ohio River, and it captures the fire of sunset from the west. It’s a work of art that provides a home for its residents. How I wish I was one of them!

Geoff Simmons is an architect based in Cincinnati, Ohio and a writer for Eastsider Magazine

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