tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post2214600802442019439..comments2024-03-18T19:27:54.524-04:00Comments on EV Grieve: 51 Astor Place demolition begins July 1; 17 months to build new black-glass towerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-42430337752611178902012-02-07T03:16:16.046-05:002012-02-07T03:16:16.046-05:00"roar. ROAR! I dislike modern style buildin..."roar. ROAR! I dislike modern style buildings and that means they're all objectively bad! ROAR!"<br /><br />Seriously. There isn't yet a reasoned argument against this building other than "I don't like it." In 10 years, nobody's going to even notice it. And I'm sure it won't be nearly as intrusive as the thirteen-storey, glass dildo catty-corner to it. The designs for that tower were so much better before they were changed to its current "Curvaceous!" design.<br /><br />As for Blue Glass's comment regarding how money seems to dominate the discussions - yes. That's exactly how it works. Primarily because uneducated grunts decry every single new thing and champion nothing other than a watered down, uninformed nostalgia for old buildings, which they declare to be of "quality and beauty". And because the culturally illiterate masses spend all their time maligning architects when they really should be attacking the equally culturally illiterate world of developers, buildings get built according to the whims of frivolous, money hungry developers. <br /><br />For those who really don't understand, here's a rundown: Step 1, an architect is hired by a developer (who already knows exactly what he wants) and presents an idea. Step 2, the developer points out everything wrong with it (aka the parts that don't conform to his original preset "vision"). Step 3, the architect takes the design back to the desk and tries to accommodate the developer's "ideas" and then presents it again. Typically, Step 2 and Step 3 are repeated until the final design is what the developer had in his mind all along (but couldn't build without an architect because he hasn't been trained how to design a 3000 ton structure that won't collapse and kill people). Step 4, the architect goes home with a few extra bucks for alcohol to help ease the pain of living life as a slave to somebody else's maniacal, well-financed whims. That's how it works 10% of the time. The other 90% of the time, there's no architect involved at all in the design (this is a real statistic regarding development in the US). <br /><br />In the other 90% of cases, the developer "designs" a building, then hires an architect or engineer to make sure it won't collapse. They're then paid to put their stamp on it saying "I swear on my professional license and personal freedom (i.e. not being in prison) that this building will not collapse and kill everybody".<br /><br />In this particular case, the "developer" is a board of trustees of a non-profit institution. Unfortunately, they have no real ties to the intellectual debate or creative rigor of the institution itself - they're just a bunch of rich bastards who have been hired to run a free school. It looks real good next to their name...<br /><br />So let's keep demonizing the good guys! How else would we help the bad guys get ahead?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-12552553667176346612011-06-09T11:25:49.916-04:002011-06-09T11:25:49.916-04:00new is fine. without new we would be living in bu...new is fine. without new we would be living in buildings without electricity. without elevators, some without heat. toilets in the hall. water in the basement. airless apartments. <br />but change to ugly and uglier is not ok.<br />the reason we look to the past is that there was consideration and time given to quality and beauty. <br />today the emphasis is on differences which turns into sameness. and money rules. seems money is more important than anything else these days. cut the costs and quality, make the shell appear to be unique. until all we have is the same and ugly.<br />maybe we should all go to the meeting and try and stop this monstrosity. maybe somebody should challenge their right to do this on city-owned land that they pay nothing for. their non-profit status is contrary to all their money generating activities and holdings.<br />and their architecture school is certainly educating the future destroyers of the universe.blue glassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-38381722858018231872011-06-09T00:12:06.642-04:002011-06-09T00:12:06.642-04:00Funny that people are so in love with the architec...Funny that people are so in love with the architecture of the past. Daniel Burnham encounted the same problem in his days as a draftman and as the central planner for the 1892 World's Fair. Everyone was in love with the styles of the past and didn't want to try anything new or create an "American" style of architecture.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-22756784599355238002011-06-08T17:29:29.585-04:002011-06-08T17:29:29.585-04:00Horrid. One the ugliest and most dehumanizing buil...Horrid. One the ugliest and most dehumanizing building designs I have ever had the displeasure to witness.<br /><br />Cooper Union has an architectural school. Yet this is the best they can come up with? So many beautiful buildings nearby, like the Wanamaker and original Cooper Union building, and the "starchitects" insist on insulting the neighborhood with monstrosities like the Cooper terrorist-plane-crash building on 7th Street, and how this.<br /><br />In Dante's Inferno, is there a circle of hell for bad architecture?<br /><br />- East VillagerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-25866194603681339462011-06-08T16:45:14.750-04:002011-06-08T16:45:14.750-04:00will quote this again from pete hamill's the n...will quote this again from <a href="http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/48277/" rel="nofollow">pete hamill's the new york we've lost</a><br /><br /><i>A city is always more than its architecture, but to destroy the past that is expressed by enduring architecture is an assault on history itself. Growing up here, you learned one bitter lesson: <b>Whenever something was destroyed for the crime of being old, what replaced it was infinitely worse</b>.</i>esquared™https://www.blogger.com/profile/03535683572170541615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-40622500461490688592011-06-08T15:55:29.690-04:002011-06-08T15:55:29.690-04:00Why is UGLY and UGLIER the standards in designing ...Why is UGLY and UGLIER the standards in designing new construction?<br /><br />Architects of the past were influenced by classic Roman and Greek structures (see the original Penn Station, grand Central Station, the 42nd Street public library for examples). <br /><br />Today's architects seem to be influenced by twisted visions brought on by excessive consumption of psychoactive substances, and I'm not talking about the good stuff!!chris flashhttp://shadowpress.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-59421370547991838652011-06-08T15:39:00.300-04:002011-06-08T15:39:00.300-04:00Goggla, That is exactly what I thought too!
What...Goggla, That is exactly what I thought too! <br /><br />What is wrong with all of these architects? Seriously, how do you look around at the gorgeous architecture on Broadway and other parts of Cooper Square and come up with something like this?Viviennehttp://nythroughthelens.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-50556106139801794162011-06-08T13:54:33.263-04:002011-06-08T13:54:33.263-04:00Hi Goggla,
Unfortunately, we're stuck with th...Hi Goggla,<br /><br />Unfortunately, we're stuck with this. The OK for the design and everything all happened in 2002 with the City, DOB, CB3, etc.<br /><br />There will be a public meeting next month to discuss the public plaza roughly where the cafe is now... I think there's some opportunity for feedback on that space.<br /><br />Otherwise... Ugh.EV Grievehttp://evgrieve.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-90360439848901497882011-06-08T13:53:51.163-04:002011-06-08T13:53:51.163-04:00cooper union owns the land that the astor place to...cooper union owns the land that the astor place tower chase bank building sits on. <br />the original design resembled metal patchwork pajama bottom.<br />the community board was somewhat involved, lots of folks protested, and somehow the design was changed.<br />while not much better, it is, at the very best, bearable.<br />does anybody remember how that design was defeated?<br />these new glass architectural nightmare "distructures" completely destroy the tone of the neighborhood. <br />for a school that has an architecture school it is a disgrace.blue glassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-62781008936886743312011-06-08T13:46:39.995-04:002011-06-08T13:46:39.995-04:00It looks like a bad 80s shark fin that might adorn...It looks like a bad 80s shark fin that might adorn a bad 80s hot dog drive-in. Please tell me there's still a chance the design could change.Laura Goggin Photographyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15517481509431547970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-62608510910009696132011-06-08T13:11:08.032-04:002011-06-08T13:11:08.032-04:00I can't believe they invented something uglier...I can't believe they invented something uglier than what's there now. I would have thought it impossible, short of building a twin for the Astor Place Tower -- but they rose to that challenge.<br /><br />And if they're <i>projecting</i> a completion time of seventeen months, which is outrageous enough...I expect that in July 2013 we'll all still be wondering when they're going to be done.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01714171897239398438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-3644119445448112442011-06-08T12:31:43.607-04:002011-06-08T12:31:43.607-04:00I care what it looks like, too.
Black glass??? Wh...I care what it looks like, too.<br /><br />Black glass??? Why not just create a si-fi black hole and be done with it. The color and granite alone will suck the life out of Astor Pl. But the design is just as bad -- a big ugly box on one side.<br /><br />They're totally trashing an excellent opportunity to build something wonderful. Right next to the glorious Cooper U's landmark building and beside the original Wanamaker Department Store, they could have designed something contexually cool that would have lifted up, and been lifted up by, the surrounding architecture. But no. This is City planning and amatuer urban design at its worst.<br /><br />This will be the ugliest building since nyu dropped Bobst Library on Washington Square Park; and the developers will be living with the legacy of this crime just like nyu.bowery boynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-53031823602832852102011-06-08T11:52:02.733-04:002011-06-08T11:52:02.733-04:00god
another one of those architectural student fai...god<br />another one of those architectural student failures - or is it a contest to create the most inappropriate building to ruin a now pleasant street?<br />the one up-man-ship in architecture is ruining our neighborhood as much as the rising rents.<br />and while dowdy 51 astor place has a history and reflects a period of architecture, while ugly is still historic and should be preserved.<br />the no longer "local" for the city free college, cooper union cries poverty yet owns massive amounts of real-estate - can pay for this, what they consider top-notch construction, on city-owned land that they pay no taxes on - and they are not even going to use it for upgraded cooper union classrooms! and they want to rent this ugly space to other schools? <br />doesn't the local community have anything to say about this tax funded monstrosity?blue glassnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-15831518404867961872011-06-08T11:06:08.726-04:002011-06-08T11:06:08.726-04:00The link from anon 9:36 goes to a Billy Joel "...The link from anon 9:36 goes to a Billy Joel "Glass Houses" cover art... appropriate!EV Grievehttp://evgrieve.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-48417833622136073072011-06-08T09:36:29.893-04:002011-06-08T09:36:29.893-04:00http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2009-12/12617...http://www.israbox.com/uploads/posts/2009-12/1261777939_6.jpegAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-11980222681296086532011-06-08T08:53:03.843-04:002011-06-08T08:53:03.843-04:00I care what it looks like.
The thing about brick ...I care what it looks like.<br /><br />The thing about brick buildings, even dowdy ones like the current 51 Astor Place, is that they're kind of inviting, kind of warm and organic. The new building is extremely elegant. Also, cold and imposing and probably will be impossible for humans to warm up to, at least for the next hundred years or so. Not to mention the out of place factor. Like wearing a tux to a barbecue.Ken from Ken's Kitchenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08893862652001372560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5694390946037511355.post-57604804354786266282011-06-08T08:06:12.246-04:002011-06-08T08:06:12.246-04:00Let's start a movement to preserve that 1st fl...Let's start a movement to preserve that 1st floor men's room. <br /><br />We'll say the President took a street-meat induced crap there and that it's historical...or something. <br /><br />Just to be dicks.dmbreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12010750084489813951noreply@blogger.com