Someone, somewhere once said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and I truly believe this applies to the new building currently being built for the art museum in downtown Roanoke. This building is seen by some as an elegant ode to modern design with graceful swooping metallic wings and by others as a tragic, hideous, and gigantic piece of shrapnel. Which ever belief you ascribe to you cannot deny one key issue: the structure will forever alter and shape downtown Roanoke.
Downtown Roanoke isn't known for its architectural deviants or revelations, as far as small city downtown's go it's fairly on par with similar ones trying to revitalize themselves. However, there is a general architectural unity to the downtown area. At the economic and social core of the Center in the Square there is a modern meets quaint colonial-like feel, as the downtown spreads out that is quickly replaced by a sometimes dreary modern, utilitarian architectural feel. Closer to the Center in the Square core than not the new art museum building promises to resemble nothing downtown. As an art museum I assume the Art Museum of Southwestern Virginia believes it should take risks with its interior and exterior building design. After all good art is always controversial, art sometimes seeks to destroy your preconceived notions and to hopefully open up your mind to the new possibilities that it seeks to confront you with. So with this building the art museum no only becomes just an art museum, it becomes art itself.
Is this the type of building that downtown Roanoke needs? Well, maybe. Perhaps this innovative design will spur further innovation downtown, which seriously needs some help. Maybe it will attract interesting new businesses and spur creativity in the region, acting as a catalyst to some new, shiny, metallic future. Who knows how this could affect the future development of downtown, in 10 years times maybe it will be a show piece of modern, "green", innovative architecture and businesses. Or maybe not. What if this seemingly innovative building turns out to be failure, what if people don't flock to the museum but avoid it because they disagree with the building. Maybe it would be considered an eyesore and something the community will come to dislike and make fun of. Which in turn would mean no similar development downtown, keeping it on it's present somewhat unoffensive and kind of boring track. Which in all likelihood would lead to stagnation at some point because people, let's face it downtown Roanoke is an economic hub but it isn't some packed, bustling urban core. And that, in the future, will be a key to Roanoke's development: urbanization/modernization or key areas of the valley.
So in the end the building of this museum, despite if it fails or flies, reminds more of what Roanoke has to be in order for it to remain relevant.