Wednesday, December 18, 2002

Re: Don's post on WTC proposals, I concur that Foster and Partners is the best of the lot. Nothing really groundbreaking [for Lord Norman that is], but the most balanced design and most likely to be a wonderful urban space for the long term. And I love the renderings! Though I appreciate much of their work individually, the team responsible the Hollywood Squares plan managed to make a perversely cold formal study out of an extremely emotional site. "Dreadful" is certainly not too strong a word for it. At least we didn't see yet another version of the tremendously insensitive melting towers from Mr. Eisenman. THINK and United Architects also had some strong ideas. Daniel Libeskind's proposal is both emotionally and intellectually stimulating, though I am leery of a deconstructivist vocabulary for the site. Yeah, for me Foster nailed it with dramatic, sustainable structures, great street level presence and a stunning and appropriate memorial. For the most part, a very good day for architecture in New York. Other thoughts?

No comments: