Goodbye, Crosley Tower

The classic example of Brutalist architecture attracted fans, critics

Demolition is set to begin on one of the University of Cincinnati’s most iconic buildings.

Crosley Tower on Martin Luther King Drive will be taken down incrementally over the next 10 months. Love it or hate it, Crosley Tower has engendered surprisingly strong opinions about a topic most people take for granted: architecture. The crumbling facade of the 17-story building posed a safety issue while its functionality has been a subject of regular criticism.

For generations, Crosley served as an unmistakable beacon for UC’s Uptown campus, visible for miles all around many of Greater Cincinnati’s seven hills.

At UC, Crosley was a square peg in a round hole that was perfectly at home on a campus known for its eclectic and celebrated mix of architectural styles.

“It’s kind of a meme,” said UC graduate Anna Hargan, who works as an architectural designer for the local firm Drawing Dept.

She wrote her master’s thesis about the history and architecture of the building that for the last 57 years served students in subjects including chemistry, sociology, physics, geosciences and biology in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“It’s considered ugly and unadaptable. But I see it more as monolithic or monumental,” Hargan said.