Can Armor And Aesthetics Be Combined?

Does the design of the new Oklahoma City federal building answer the question about how to balance security and openness?

1 minute read

May 3, 2004, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"The new Oklahoma City federal building, designed by Chicago architect Carol Ross Barney and set to be dedicated Monday, offers a highly intelligent, visually arresting but ultimately unsatisfying answer to a central question of our time: How to fortify buildings against terrorism yet make them inviting to citizens who come to do business with their government... And yet, it's hard to ignore those concrete walls. There's something very 'maximum security' about them. The brute walls and the crude handling of the bollards render this building a first step, rather than the last word, on the question of balancing security and openness."

Thanks to Chris Steins

FULL STORY: Can architects combine armor and aesthetics?

Monday, May 3, 2004 in The Chicago Tribune

Architecture Oklahoma

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