High Rise Rises

 The view from our balcony. This one will be 40-plus stories when done. 

Where's That Crane?

It's not often that you see the end of a crane rope in front of your condo window. They were using a portable hydraulic crane to assemble the static one for a building just south of us.

Views are Fleeting

There was a Teju Cole essay on photography in the NY Times magazine a couple of weeks ago. I saved this quote because it really seemed to define photography for me:

"Photography is inescapably a memorial art. It selects, out of the flow of time, a moment to be preserved, with the moments before and after falling away like sheer cliffs."

Given this definition, just about any photo from any contributor to the City Daily Photo blogs would do for this month's theme day: ephemeral.

This is a photo taken from my chair in our apartment. A very heavy rain is almost blocking out the buildings that usually populate this view. But is there a non-ephermeral view? Across time buildings are built, the light changes and, yes, the rain falls. The point in time matters, the point of view matters. In reviewing old pictures in this blog of our building and views from here, I came across this one showing the view when we were sleeping on a hide-a-bed couch in the living room because our bedroom wasn't furnished yet. That moment was ephemeral, too. But I couldn't have said it better than Teju Cole.

Click here to see how others have interpreted the theme.

Good Morning

We stumbled up early enough to enjoy and take a picture of the sunrise. Worth getting out of bed. Like every moment in life, these moments of morning colors are fleeting.

G'Day!

Friday morning, Linda and I watched as a young man created this masterpiece with his feet on the top level of the parking garage across the street. Linda took this shot from our office window in our condo.

Stadium? Race Track? Holding Pond?

The site of the former Green Water Treatment plant is almost decommissioned as you can see from our balcony. We can't decide what the purpose of this earth sculpture is serving. I'm thinking they are just trying to control drainage. Ultimately the site will have a couple of high rises, according to the plan. This picture shows in the foreground the plant before decommissioning.

Vacant Lot

That's the Capitol beyond the vacant lot in this picture. Why am I showing you this, with the dull graded lot in the foreground? Because the lot will contain an eight-story Federal Court House, built with stimulus money. I thought we should track the progress of this project, starting with the ground. Will we be able to see the Capitol when this is finished? My guess is no. What do you think?

This lot, by the way, used to contain an unfinished shell of a building built by Intel during the last bust. It was imploded in 2007 to make way for this project after the city talked Intel into selling the land to the Feds.

Progress on Austonian

A few days ago we posted a picture of the progress on the Austonian Condos as of June 8. This is a picture this morning around nine. Can you see progress? Also the W Hotel and condos are appearing above the chilled water plant now. This building will partially block our view of the Austonian when it rises to its (planned) thirty-odd stories. Watching downtown progress from our balcony is lots of fun.

Austin's Tallest Building

We were gone a couple of weeks. This is how The Austonian condos looked on the morning of June 8. It is already Austin's tallest building at 48 stories as it is in this picture. It will eventually be 56 stories. I will show a newer picture in the next few days and we will see how it progressed. Here is a picture showing the AMLI on Second building on the right as reference taken about a year ago.

Seaholm Power Plant

Last month I took this from the 44th floor of our building as the sun headed down (hence loonngg shadows). This old plant is no longer generating electricity. Before the downturn the site was scheduled to be repurposed as a hotel, condo, retail complex. At one time it was to be the site of a new library. It's hard to say when such new projects will actually begin so I think for some time it will sit idle with its big stacks and idle gauges inside. Hopefully one day it will add to the dense and vibrant downtown that is just across Shoal Creek from our home.

YAS

Yet Another Sunset. And another one reflected on our eastern view at that. But I just had to show you this one. Earlier black clouds scuttled behind the tower, driven by a fierce wind from the south. Later, playing a game with my friend at our dining table, I looked over her shoulder and saw this. It's hard to capture in a picture, especially the stages and changes. It was so nice that I didn't even bother to go across the hall to the fitness center and see the actual sunset.

Before Picture

I took this photo back in June from our balcony. The cranes peeking between the red building and the silver building were working on the Austonian. I can now see the steel rising there. It is interesting living amond a skyline while it changes. When my move from Central Austin is complete I hope to be watching it even more carefully.

The Capital from On High

As friends move into higher and higher units you can see the Capitol from different angles. From our tenth floor perspective you can just see the dome. But from the 22nd floor you can see the entrance and a little of the lawn. Our building tapers at the 17th floor to accommodate view corridors that are maintained to the preserve views from here and there.

Lining up for the Cure

Not the cure for Cancer. But the band 'The Cure.' It was a sold out show at the Austin Music Hall a week or two ago and so eager were some fans to get in (was it general admission and they wanted good seats?) that they lined up well in advance. The Music Hall people made them line up behind the state garage across from out condo. Yes, the fellow first in line has a tent.

One Day I'll Be Able to See This

The other day I shot a picture of the Austonian Condo project from Third Street. They are putting floor markers up for the sidewalk engineers. That's a good idea. I keep having to count the floors to mark progress at Spring from our pool deck. I can see the Austonian crane from my window and when it rises up into view I think it will stay there for a long time. Although intervening buildings may one day block it (although it will be fifty stories, a closer building would not need to be that tall to block the view) I suspect once I see it, I'll see it for a long time.