« Forest City Ratner Seeks Bonds for Affordable Units | Main | Tony Avella is Mad as Hell (And Running for Mayor) »
April 3, 2008
LETTER: How to Build a City
The NY Times, Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
Re “Profit and Public Good Clash in Grand Plans” (Architecture column, March 27):
Nicolai Ouroussoff comes to the right conclusion: When you are trying to build a city, it’s about championing the public good, not counting beans.
But by bemoaning the quality of the proposed buildings and the watering down of Frank Gehry’s work for the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, he adds to the confusion about the difference between building a city and treating big chunks of the city as if they were architectural design problems.
The fact is that great cities do not rely on cutting-edge architecture. They rely on a clear framework of streets and open spaces, designed by and for the public, that over time can support the full spectrum of architecture, from the pedestrian to the heroic.
Indeed, how many heroic buildings can you have in one place before none of them are?
Robert Lane
Director of Design
Regional Plan Association
Posted by lumi at April 3, 2008 4:35 AM