March 2008 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

This humdinger is the 120-foot Paragon Prairie Tower "marking the entrance to the Paragon Office Park at 123rd and Meredith Drive" in the western Des Moines suburb of Urbandale (according to the PR website for the R&R Reality Group). Kinda looks like a scented candle or a kalaidescope, doesn't it? No doubt mid-westerners will be making their vacation plans around visits to this sacred object for decades to come. Also from the PR handout:

"Located in the Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Paragon Prairie Tower was designed to represent the Midwestern work ethic of saving and harnessing our abundant natural resources. It will combine state-of-the- art technology with old world materials and craftsmanship. A colorful shimmering scene will be created on top of panels of pre-cast concrete using hundreds of thousands of individual fragments of glass. The glass mosaic will depict the Iowa prairie with a field of wildflowers, including Coneflowers, Black-Eyed Susans, Daisies and Clover amidst bluestem grass. When complete, the scene on Paragon Prairie Tower will be approximately 5,000 square feet, which to date will be the largest known mosaic glass tile mural in the U.S."

Good luck to R&R Realty in the gathering commercial real estate implosion.

Thanks to Timothy Skeers for the submission.