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September 25, 2009
Bait & Balance
The almost farcical turn of events at Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards makes it all too clear that ambitious public/private partnerships are beyond this generation's skill-set
The Architect's Newspaper, Editorial
by Julie V. Iovine
In spite of all the acreage they have to offer, the biggest building sites in New York have cultivated more cynicism than anything else. And when the developer Forest City Ratner swapped an ambitious Frank Gehry basketball arena at Atlantic Yards for a pedestrian design by Ellerbe Becket, even the most jaded cried foul. And so it seemed almost poetically appropriate that Bruce Ratner’s next step would be to try and re-insinuate himself into the public’s graces by mesmerizing us with a sinuous, snake-like wrap by SHoP Architects, the architectural equivalent of indie film stars.
Critics have charged Ratner with a classic case of bait-and-switch, but even under the new lineup, the arena’s prospects look dim. Ellerbe Becket is still on board, leaving many to wonder how meaningfully SHoP can reshape the design. And recently the city’s Independent Budget Office reported that the basketball arena stood to be a $40 million net loss to the city over 30 years, even as city subsidies to the project have ballooned to more than $772 million. Somewhere in the shuffle the original idea of a carefully orchestrated ensemble of great buildings well-knit into the community has been sidelined.
...Perhaps rather than try to force these gigantic projects into instant being, we should allow them to evolve more glacially like great performance pieces, with equally lasting consequences.
More coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, In the Architect's Newspaper, AY as bait and switch, and the need to debate urbanism rather than aesthetics
I'm not sure "the original idea of a carefully orchestrated ensemble of great buildings well-knit into the community" was ever viable.
Bait and switch?
Iovine quotes developer, architect, planner, and now professor Vishaan Chakrabarti: He also noted that in New York you can’t get away with bait-and-switch tactics more than once, or you’ll get a reputation. “People have long memories in this town,” he told me.
Well, beyond the Gehry bait and switch, Bruce Ratner has managed the 10,000 office jobs bait and switch, the park on the arena roof bait and switch, and the 50% affordable housing bait and switch.
Posted by eric at September 25, 2009 10:33 AM