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September 15, 2009
Arena architects talk shop; AIA runs interference on questions of process and ethics
Atlantic Yards Report
Well, the second community information session promised by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) on Atlantic Yards, held last night at Brooklyn's Borough Hall, was much less eventful and enlightening than the first one held July 22, when representatives of the ESDC and developer Forest City Ratner faced, answered, and evaded a series of tough questions.
There was some helpful data: arena construction should take 26 months (the goal apparently is All-Star Break 2012); the arena would be 137 feet tall at its peak; and the floor of the arena would be 25 feet below grade.
And they suggested that the arena must be able to serve as a standalone as well as a composition with the other towers initially designed to wrap them.
When exactly those other buildings would be built was unclear, though the models leave spaces for them. Apparently there's no plan now to build foundations for them. Such bigger questions were missing--and the architects didn't stick around to answer them, as Forest City Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco quickly whisked them away from an impromptu press conference.
(Above, Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP architects, Bill Crockett of Ellerbe Becket, and Rick Bell of the AIA NY. Photos by Tracy Collins)
Last night's meeting was one of the weirdest twists in the Atlantic Yards public information saga — it was originally scheduled as a continuing education lecture sponsored by the Center for Architecture and somehow morphed into an information session sponsored by the Empire State Development Corporation.
Posted by lumi at September 15, 2009 5:36 AM