My One Critique of the New OLOL Renders

[Jacob81]

No I'm not saying it needs a shingled roof. I think the stadium facade would be stronger if it had a dark pointed metal roof like Russo or a flat dark metal roof like the new Engineering building.

If you stripped away the name Russo Park from the exterior, and you didn't know it was a baseball stadium on the inside, you can drop the building right on main campus and it wouldn't look out of place. That is one of the strongest design elements about Russo Park.

Now apply the same criteria to OLOL stadium, (take away the signage of OLOL, the tower name, and the glowing Louisiana) what does it look like?

Does it look like a football stadium? Or an academic building? Maybe. That's subjective. I think it looks more like a nice new factory or industrial building. The new designs fit within the palette of other campus buildings, but there was just a missed opportunity for more connectivity to them.

I got you. I don’t see a problem with modern architecture in this case. Otherwise everything built here or on campus would follow a 100 year old architectural guideline. Now for the building that are ugly on campus, 70’s and 80’s architecture was just terrible. They do look bad next to the traditional buildings. Which also makes the new stadium architecture fine with not following your guidelines. Because it’s a stand alone building. It’s not in the center of campus or near any other building that it should look similar too. I mean if you stand at the corner of Congress and Bertrand you can see the difference in architecture between the football and baseball stadium, but they’re more similar in design than the soccer/track complex.

[Jacob81]

I do like the arches over the windows of the entry way. And remember. OLOL stadium is a lady. She’s gotta be different. Haha

[zeppelincajun]

The only thing I really miss is the white from the original renderings. Always thought Cajun Field looked good with the white accents, especially when the wall on the student side was white. Oh well. The designs looks great, and I’m hopeful this new stadium will be a huge upgrade for us in quality and practicality.

[CouillonCinema]

Ya know, I came into the thread expecting to pull a Vic and complain about a complainer, but I agree on having a darker roof tying better into being Russo Park's next-door neighbor.

I guess we have to keep in mind that these are architectural renderings and subject to change(s) and also the rendering software may not capture the true color palette or the materials as they would view in real life.

I do think a darker top section that matches the darker metal on the entry tower buildings would look slick:




But material and color type could have been chosen for cost reasons. Both in terms of paint and reflectivity/hvac concerns. I'm with you though, happy today finally came!

Haha shoutout to Vic always catching strays. Guy can't catch a break ahaha. I appreciate you approaching this calmly and recognizing I'm not complaining, just merely critiquing on what could have been missed homerun; a triple is still pretty good!

I'm with you on waiting to see what the actual building will look like and how real life materials may look different. I truly think they did a great job everywhere else! I have no critiques for the interior of the stadium. BUT your suggested change does look really cool! Well done!

[facelessjonmoon]

Another point in this is the front of the APC has a brick facade with a similar gray metal color and design scheme as the stadium…. It’s hidden now by the Cox building but eventually it will be demo’d and the apc front will be more visible

[RedTails]

Another point in this is the front of the APC has a brick facade with a similar gray metal color and design scheme as the stadium…. It’s hidden now by the Cox building but eventually it will be demo’d and the apc front will be more visible

That is a good point, hadn't thought about it also needing to tie into the aesthetic of the APC.

[CouillonCinema]

I'm legitimately curious why you think the modern architecture works here since you already see the flaws in the 70's and 80's style of buildings. I'm not implying your opinion is wrong, I just serious want to know what other people are thinking.

You say it's a stand alone building, but I think it's really not; nor should it be treated as such. Football stadiums are the front porch of every major university. It is one of the most active and visible structures on many campuses. Most college stadiums go into their design process with campus building association as a priority because the stadium itself is on campus. Just because Cajun Field is away from main campus, shouldn't mean we should treat it like it's own thing. It's going to be asked to do the same things, and serve the same purposes as any other college football stadium. That is why I'm emphasizing that the facade matters. Good stadiums add precious iconography to the university. I'd be hard pressed to say a bunch of big blocks of various materials put together to look like a factory adds to that.

I think CF being seen as its own thing was part of its problem and why it's scheduled to be demolished today. It can't survive on its own. It needs the university, because it's for the university, so it should feel like the university. It differs from the soccer complex because like the rest of our athlete structures, none of them will carry as much significance as our CFB stadium.

But yeah, I'm very curious to hear the perspective of people who like the modern exterior.

[Jacob81]

I wouldn’t have had an issue with basically the tigue repeated just in a straight line obviously. That probably would have looked better on the property especially once they build the parking tower to match. Haha

[facelessjonmoon]

I'm legitimately curious why you think the modern architecture works here since you already see the flaws in the 70's and 80's style of buildings. I'm not implying your opinion is wrong, I just serious want to know what other people are thinking.

You say it's a stand alone building, but I think it's really not; nor should it be treated as such. Football stadiums are the front porch of every major university. It is one of the most active and visible structures on many campuses. Most college stadiums go into their design process with campus building association as a priority because the stadium itself is on campus. Just because Cajun Field is away from main campus, shouldn't mean we should treat it like it's own thing. It's going to be asked to do the same things, and serve the same purposes as any other college football stadium. That is why I'm emphasizing that the facade matters. Good stadiums add precious iconography to the university. I'd be hard pressed to say a bunch of big blocks of various materials put together to look like a factory adds to that.

I think CF being seen as its own thing was part of its problem and why it's scheduled to be demolished today. It can't survive on its own. It needs the university, because it's for the university, so it should feel like the university. It differs from the soccer complex because like the rest of our athlete structures, none of them will carry as much significance as our CFB stadium.

But yeah, I'm very curious to hear the perspective of people who like the modern exterior.

Cajun Field’s upper deck isn’t being torn down because of its aesthetics. It’s being torn down because it has exposed rebar/ spalling and is a long term structural concern as well as an outdated layout

[billbeck451]

By the look of the renderings it looks like my nice shady seats under the overhang are not going to be shady and dry anymore.

[LaCajunsFan]

By the look of the renderings it looks like my nice shady seats under the overhang are not going to be shady and dry anymore.

I noticed that as well. No more overhang to protect any seats in the lower bowl.

Along those lines, looking at the renderings of the UD, I guess the lower the suites the better/more exp, right?

[facelessjonmoon]

By the look of the renderings it looks like my nice shady seats under the overhang are not going to be shady and dry anymore.

If I understand correctly, the rows that were under the overhang will not be there in the new setup . The top row will start a little lower