Two university structures caught citywide attention this month –one for excellent design and another for being terrible.
At the annual Orchids and Onions award night Oct. 18, the campuswas bestowed a prestigious Orchid for its urban planning and designof Parking Structure V, located on the corner of 55th Street andMontezuma Road.
It also captured the not-so-coveted Onion for the freeway sign onInterstate 8 near College Avenue.
The Orchids and Onions are based on public nominations and a jurycomposed of non-designers. The eight-member jury gave 15 Orchids todesigns in San Diego. A total of 10 Onions were also given out.
The $20 million Parking Structure V won the Orchid for itscombination of a two-story parking structure with a state-of-the-artsports facility on its roof.
The structure, which opened last summer, holds about 1,500 parkingspaces below an Olympic-size all-weather track, equipped to handle3,000 people. Inside the track is a NCAA-standard soccer field withlive grass.
“We really liked the mixed-use aspect of the parking structure,”said Sara Baase, who was a judge for the contest and a retired SDSUcomputer science professor. “They made it look not as bad asstructures usually do.”
However, the university couldn’t escape from the Onion. The judgesgave the university the recognition for the 70-foot-high I-8 freewaysign that advertises campus events and KPBS broadcasts.
The $380,000 sign has been accused of distracting drivers andportraying a Las-Vegas-style atmosphere for the university since itwas built in 1998. The readers of San Diego Magazine voted the signthe “Worst Eyesore” in the city in 1999. That same year San DiegoUnion-Tribune columnist Logan Jenkins called it a “classless horrorshow” for its flashing advertisement of campus events.
Judges on the Orchids and Onions Web site gave their own reasoningbehind the decision.
“To your right is San Diego State, in case anyone missed it. Wekeep expecting to see the glitzy marquee flash: Loosest slots intown! Siegfried and Roy at the Aztec Bowl! All night buffet just$3.99! San Diego State will never suffer an identity crisis again,but this sign certainly is contributing to an electricity crisis.”
Proceeds from this year’s awards ceremony benefit Christmas inApril, a non-profit organization that helps people in need with homemaintenance and repairs.
