Making exceptionally beautiful places is good business.
After the boom of suburbia, we are beginning to realize strip malls and track homes might have made a good investment in the short term, but aren’t the best investment in the long haul. When the principles outlined in this site aren’t followed, properties tend to embark on a downward spiral until the land is utterly devalued and eventually opportunistic immigrants, artists, and/or visionaries come in and reverse the spiral. But what happens if we aim higher in our initial build? Does it pay off? The 2019 fire of Notre Dame in Paris demonstrates an resounding yes. As the building burned people wept and banned together to save it, and gave millions to rebuild it. People, of their own accord, take better care of and will fight to save beautiful places while entropy prevails in uninspiring places.
High risk, high reward: Bilboa
A “grimy”, tiny port city in Spain called Bilboa, went for the architectural equivalent of a Hail Mary. They told Frank Gehry, “We need the Sydney Opera House. Our town is dying.” In 1997, the Basque government partnered with the Guggenheim and signed a 75-year agreement, in which the government planned to pay $100 million for the museum’s construction, $50 million for an acquisitions fund, a one-time $20 million fee for the Guggenheim Foundation, and $12 million to subsidize the museum’s annual budget. The Guggenheim is responsible for managing the museum, bringing in collections and pieces of art, and creating shows. How did their risk pay off?
Aside from its cultural and aesthetic impact, the Guggenheim Bilbao put the city itself on the world map. It was immediately considered one of the most important buildings of the 20th century. Upwards of 100,000 people visited the museum per month; hotels, restaurants, and public spaces were modernized; and the city generated about $100 million in taxes in the museum’s first three years of operation. Still today, 20 years later, about a million people visit the museum per year. The phenomenon has been termed, The Bilboa Effect.
The real risk: Replication
Some critics knock The Bilboa Effect since many try and fail to replicate the phenomenon. However, Juan Ignacio Vidarte, the museum’s director points out, “Many people are just trying to replicate its most superficial aspects.” The project was not just about the building, he says, but also a “sustainable” plan for its management and content, and the regeneration of Bilbao was not just about the Guggenheim but also about investment in infrastructure and other urban essentials, like a new airport and subway system. Gehry himself stresses an aspect of the design often overlooked by imitators, which is that it works hard to connect to its surroundings: “I spent a lot of time making the building relate to the 19th century street module and then it was on the river, with the history of the river, the sea, the boats coming up the channel. It was a boat.” Sweet terroir.
How to “trend-proof” your place
The impulse to replicate a winner is common in developers and investors. It can work on occasion or for a while, but overall, it’s never going to reap the big payoffs. It’s the difference between a star and a cover band.
don’t aim for “on trend”
Many developers and investors tell their designers things like, “I want it to be cool, hip, on trend.” But placemaking is not fast fashion. Aiming for “on trend” is a losing game—by the time your product gets to market it’s often no longer on trend.
front of the curve
Something “on trend” is usually already at it’s peak. By the time your cover band version is released, it’s probably a copy of a copy of something already in decline. Also, creatives tend to fall into the innovator/opinion leader/early adopter columns. If you can get them on board, you will get the masses, but not the other way around. If you aim for the mass market you will miss the creatives all together.
trends v. time
Of course, the danger of playing at the front of the curve is that you want to reach adoption and longevity.
The question becomes: How do you create something original that won’t just be a fad?
bypassing fads
Innovation that draws from the deeper layers of culture and nature mitigates the risk of creating a fad. Additionally, drawing from and embodying the values already existing in your target audience will ensure the new product will connect deeply with them.
cool = a classic
Cool - A person/place with a clear sense of who they are as an individual and able to express that identity in an appealing way.
To be “cool” is to be yourself, comfortable in your own skin. It may be offensive, politically incorrect, but it is always self-confident. To be “cool” is to be natural, not obligated, born of oneself without force. The “cool” person is not afraid to say or do something. They are magnetic. Without knowing why, we want to be in their presence. “Cool” is kind. “Cool” calls our attention and has its own personality, without posturing. It is original, it is timeless.
— Anuksi y Jester
Beautiful & authentic places will always have the best chance of becoming a classic. They are here, now, & timeless. These are the places that will always be cool.
Steal from your marketing budget.
Lastly, some developers and investors may balk at the idea of spending so much on building the place itself. They want to stick to a more “normal” breakdown in their pro forma. Play it safe. Well, when you play it safe with what you build, you have to spend a heck of a lot of money to convince people to come check it out. And then a heck of a lot more to get them to come back. Money that probably could have paid for the best version of the project on the front end.
On the flip side, if you sink more of your budget into the place itself (which, of course is a more lasting investment), and you make the effort to make an exceptionally beautiful, one-of-a-kind place…you run the risk of landing…free press. (How much is an write up in the Times worth to you? What’s the chance of you getting one with your “safe” building?), Instagrammers, people Facebooking their visit, and most coveted of all, people telling their friends about your place.
Food for thought.
Summary
It makes sound financial sense to invest more to make a place beautiful and original. It might take more investment up front but it will draw significantly more visitors, residents, and press. People will take better care of the place and will rally to save it if/when the time comes.