a Starbucks coffee shop opened its doors inside a renovated space-age concrete gas station at Grand and Forest Park boulevards, the subject to an intense demolition threat just one year prior. By the end of the day, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch broke the news that another chain, drug store CVS, was backing off its plans to demolish the elliptical mid-century modern AAA Building in Midtown. Within a few hours, months of protest ended in celebration. — americancity.org
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I know you want to say it: "great, another Starbucks". Just stop. mid century modern culture built this place decades ago - and look, now the piece has evolved, now including some of the culture from the current day. Like it or not, Starbucks is a small representation of our culture these days. The building seemingly works well for retail programming in that it lends itself as a landmark form, memorable for sure. "where's the Starbucks? Drive down there until you see a big spaceship looking building - you can't miss it".
10-15 years from now, maybe it'll house a Google store, and a place to recharge your unmanned electric vehicle - who knows... Either way I bet it'll always hold that original look. At least I hope so.
It may not be aesthetically pleasing to some of us, to others it may look fantastic, but either way it plays an important role in layering history. For that reason I have a great deal of respect for it!
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