Here’s a mid-life crisis that went good.

Wow. A developer who actually understands how to embrace history in the urban landscape, create a cool place and make money. Too bad we can’t get the yokel developers around here to understand how badly people want interactive, community-oriented spaces integrated with their abodes.

Then, even when the rare developer does try to do the right thing, they get stymied by bureaucrats who enforce militant landscapes upon all of us. Back when I was on Madison’s Urban Design Commission, we embraced piazza concepts proposed at several new developments.  In each case, we were stymied. What we got was either Design by Cop, or Architecture by Fireman, or Urban Planning by Engineer.

Exhibit A: The developer of a mixed-use apartment building at the corner of Charter & W. Dayton wanted to have a cozy outdoor seating area alongside the building. UW’s Sicherheitsdienst vetoed it. Why? Because it was alleged to that such a space would harbor criminals. Or fun. Or both. (For the cops, the most offensive aspect was probably the terrifying potential for fun.)

Exhibit B: University Square redevelopment. Let’s be clear, this was a monstrous, bloated project, but a major, major improvement over the bunker-like thing that preceded it. It intensified and enlivened the space right at the intersection of Town & Gown. The net result: A pretty good thing.

But all good things can be made better, great even. And in the hometown of a world-class university, you’d think we’d be aiming for great. Unfortunately, great design is being held hostage by retrograde planners, fascistic cops, blockheaded engineers or a fire marshal living in a box.

Here’s the scenario: The huge courtyard area of the University Square developement, set two stories (+/-) above ground level, and encircled by very tall towers, called out for connectivity to the pedestrian mall below. We suggested a “Spanish Steps” treatment connecting piazza above with piazza below (see photo here, look at the area immediately to the left of at the protruding cube: that’s where the steps were envisioned). The idea was to animate & integrate the upstairs/downstairs spaces with human-scaled connectivity, replete with more hanging out space, a see & be seen space. A Fun Place.

When I suggested this, not only did I get agreeing nods amongst the architects and landscape architects around the UDC table, the design team and developer positively beamed. It was one of those great-minds-think-alike moments (ok, that even a mediocre mind such as mine can partake of once in a while!).

Alas, their beaming turned to crestfallen-ness when they went on to explain that, indeed, they had proposed just such a Spanish Steps-style treatment, only to have the UW’s Sicherheitsdienst nix the idea. Once again, they conjured up criminals hiding behind potted plants. Worse, from their perspective, was the prospect of fun.

The result was an less-animated, Blade Runner-esque, sealed-up coldness to the building, and a much less socially permeable feel between the structure and its surrounding space.

Until we get better thinking — and leadership — at the political level (and it ain’t happening here), we will continue to have good, people-oriented design vetoed by the narrow & narrow-minded interests of small town cops, fire people, unimaginative planners, speed obsessed engineers and pliant/unprincipled &/or bought & paid for politicians.