Why We Should Build Apartments at Ground Zero by
Paul Goldberger:
In an ideal plan, most of Ground Zero would be devoted to housing, hotels, and retail space. Lower Manhattan currently has a range of housing options: the converted lofts of Tribeca, the converted office buildings of Wall Street, and the retro-style apartment complexes at Battery Park City. The one thing missing is experimental architecture. Ground Zero would be the perfect place for an inventive alternative to the prim, packaged urbanism of Battery Park City. [...] With several blocks to build on, Ground Zero provides an opportunity to think not in terms of single buildings that are stand-alone works of sculpture but of ensembles that fit together to make coherent streetscapes and complete neighborhoods – something modern architecture has rarely succeeded in doing, in New York or anywhere else.Martin Filler in the NY Review of Books on books about the proposals for Ground Zero, including Goldberger's 2004 addition,
Up from Zero:
Goldberger's establishment-friendly attitude toward architecture has always lacked a discernible moral center. Although here he displays less of the maddening equivocation that has been his most defining characteristic as a critic, the targets he picks are most often easy ones, and unlikely to bar him from the corridors of power.
posted by gramschmidt
on Jun 3, 2005 -
13 comments
A Love of Monsters: Gargoyles & Architectural Details in NYC. 'They crouch in the corners and lurk under windows. They curl around drainpipes and blend into doorways. They're so clever at hiding most folks won't see them at all. '
'But I know where the monsters live. I see them all the time. If your heart is understanding and your eyes remember wonder, then take a quiet stroll with me and see what you can find.'
Self-guided walks, too.
posted by plep
on Mar 17, 2003 -
17 comments
WTC Redevelopment Today at 1pm EST, the 7 proposed
new plans for redevelopment of the former World Trade Center site will be revealed. Currently, they're carrying the announcements of the new proposals (with architect descriptions of their projects) live on wnyc.org on the
Brian Lehrer Show.
posted by callicles
on Dec 18, 2002 -
30 comments
Thinking Big - A Plan for Ground Zero and Beyond - from this past Sundays NY Times Magazine. Some months ago, when the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation made public
their plans, Metafilterians were, for the most part,
underwhelmed. This new plan, from an
impressive set of architects, goes far beyond the LMDC plans and really redevelops much of the surrounding region as well. There's certainly no lack of bold or controversial designs. I for one, think this is the best set of suggestions that I've seen so far. Delightfully bold.
posted by warhol
on Sep 9, 2002 -
16 comments
Six WTC site plans released by LMDC public-private partnership. Each idea revolves around a different conception of the memorial and is named for that, while showing variation in the structures that will be built around it. There are 3D renderings from above and from the south of the Battery, and skylines as seen from Jersey City, to show how the concept will fit into the existing neighborhood. None as imposing as the Twin Towers, but several include at least one distinctive structure that will rise above the nearest buildings, so Manhattan pedestrians can navigate again. All may be discussed Saturday in a public meeting at Javits Center, expected to attract 5000. I suspect that figure will be low.
posted by dhartung
on Jul 16, 2002 -
57 comments
Things Fall Apart. Particularly in urban environments. Individually, the moments of entropy-in-action caught here may not mean much; collectively, they recite a visual poem about decay. A slightly melancholy site for you insomniacs out there. (By the way, you have to scroll
right to get to the thumbnails.)
posted by BT
on Apr 3, 2002 -
8 comments
The New York City I first saw in 1985 has partially disappeared, and vanishes more everyday. The New York of 50 years ago, the veneer of daily life in the city, is but a memory. The city of 100 years ago is a shadow, remembered by no one.
But the past remains, if not in direct human memory, in
"lampposts, advertisements, bridges, buildings, signs, and things you pass every day in the street that bear silent witness to the NYC that once was." What lies
forgotten below the streets?
The decaying splendor of an bygone age, as well as
the deep roots that have sprouted and nourished the present, living city...
posted by evanizer
on Mar 22, 2002 -
37 comments
