« 'NET' RESULT: TRAFFIC CHAOS | Main | Columbia’s Expansion »
June 19, 2006
Brooklyn's Trojan Horse
What's wrong with the buildings Frank Gehry wants to put in my neighborhood?
Slate
Native Brooklyn novelist Jonathan Lethem tells Frank Gehry what he really thinks about the Atlantic Yards plan.
Letham on scale:
The scale of this project was one of Ratner's company's preconditions for the site; it's not something that originates in your aesthetic. Guess what? It's a huge mistake—emphasis on the huge.
...on Gehry's development partner Forest City Ratner:
In the spirit of calling a liar a liar, let me be absolutely clear: Your partners have been lying to Brooklyn.
...on "Ratner's abhorrent track record:"
it's these dim, soul-crushing buildings that created such distrust in Brooklynites in the first place.
...on the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower:
Your proposal would both dwarf and block sight of the tower, the rough equivalent of erecting a new World Trade Center within a block or two of the Chrysler Building.
...on the narrative behind "Miss Brooklyn:"
Pardon me, but bleeechh. I don't know whether many great buildings have been founded on notions at once so metaphorically impoverished and so slickly patronizing.
Posted by lumi at June 19, 2006 3:27 PM