Suggestion for Building the Signature Tower (San Antonio, Austin: buying, construction, school)

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Do we have any towertop restaurants in downtown that are open to the public?

I personally think rather than a signature tower, Austin would do better in investing in major points of interest such as an aquarium (that isn’t sitting inside of a strip mall outlet well outside of the core), or A museum of Science and Technology (since we have all these tech companies, would be something they could contribute exhibits towards while remaining an attraction to the public), and a larger museum dedicated toward the history of Texas, ect…

If we are going to be about the hype, we should atleast have some things that live up to it.

this for sure. We have enough billionaires that can start foundations to do this.

The museum should be modern things explained including economics, philosophy, high tech, e.g. meta verse/VR, self driving car track sponsored by tesla, how the internet works, cryptocurrency, the stock market etc. The university could have grad students create exhibits. My school had an engineering open house for grad students to showcase what they are working on. It would be cool to have those exhibits in a permanent building. Something like the thinkery but more sophisticated.


I was thinking a museum of controversial topics that would go over a lot of the hot topics of the day. Abortion, critical race theory, gun control etc. And actually try to present both sides with their best arguments instead of strawmen


And then an Austin museum of the weird (which probably could just be a ripley's believe it or not)

[ashbeeigh]

We had a wax museum of what appeared to be weird on Congress. It was bulldozed and is now condos. It won’t last. Ripley’s believe it or not in San Antonio is lame and another tourist trap. (Again, pointing to my statements before).

https://communityimpact.com/local-ne...ngress-oct-31/

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by Nyc1664

The Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg has an observation tower attached to it and something like that could be attached to a world class aquarium or museum. The Glasgow Science Center includes an observation tower and that is another option for Austin. Also an observation tower with an aquarium in Thailand and one at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.
https://www.elevatorscenestudio.com/...x3rwf9k158sssr
https://www.glasgowsciencecentre.org...-glasgow-tower
https://itsbetterinthailand.com/acti...rvation-tower/
https://deyoung.famsf.org/hamon-observation-tower-0

Have you ever been to Austin? Do you know anything about the city at all from the perspective of its history and culture? Why do you think that throwing one more tall building for the sake of being a tall building would make the city (or any of the several others around the globe that you have made the same suggestion for with the same claim) any more iconic than it already is for actual accomplishments? Do you build towers as a profession?

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Have you ever been to Austin? Do you know anything about the city at all from the perspective of its history and culture? Why do you think that throwing one more tall building for the sake of being a tall building would make the city (or any of the several others around the globe that you have made the same suggestion for with the same claim) any more iconic than it already is for actual accomplishments? Do you build towers as a profession?

I had to spread the love.

[Need4Camaro]

Well, to be fair, tower building does (and used to in America) symbolize a certain status of prominence. There are reasons across the globe nations like China and places like Dubai are racing to the sky. It’s a status symbol. America was very much apart of this race in the early century as seen by the Empire State, John Hancock, Sears Tower, ect… when we were trying to portray our influence to the rest of the world, but that largely died off in America when racing to the skies became cost prohibitive and also when America’s symbol was no longer represented by the glory of its buildings but rather its economic presence. Austin as well as many southern cities were largely omitted from said race as they did not incur much of their growth during that period.

I personally am indifferent about the presence of a super tall. I like Austin’s skyline as it is, would be nice to have a restaurant in the sky to overlook the city though… but actual attractions where people can actually interact would do Austin a lot better IMHO.

[ATX Wahine]

A “signature tower”?

Hahahaha!!!!!!

Urbanists crack me up.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It’s a status symbol. America was very much apart of this race in the early century as seen by the Empire State, John Hancock, Sears Tower, ect… when we were trying to portray our influence to the rest of the world, but that largely died off in America when racing to the skies became cost prohibitive and also when America’s symbol was no longer represented by the glory of its buildings but rather its economic presence. Austin as well as many southern cities were largely omitted from said race as they did not incur much of their growth during that period.

Austin is understated. It's not part of our culture. You've been here long enough to know that. Even with the changes that are happening on a daily basis, I don't see this happening. You make a good point about the culture of the early 20th century.

[DMChicago]

Nothing says overpriced crappy food like a revolving rooftop restaurant.

For a land based, stationary example, see the Oasis.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by DMChicago

Nothing says overpriced crappy food like a revolving rooftop restaurant.

For a land based, stationary example, see the Oasis.

I used to visit SunDial @ Westin Hotel in Downtown Atlanta for special occasions.

Crappy? Not terribly, but very small servings
Overpriced: Definitely
Scenic: Absolutely

[ScoPro]

Same with the Stratosphere in Las Vegas and the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio, although the overpriced Chart House in the latter tower should be a cut above the average.