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October 5, 2010
Gehry on New Gehry Building
The Wall Street Journal
by Peter Grant
The WSJ interviews Frank Gehry, principally about the Beekman Tower.
His earlier designs for major signature projects, like a new Guggenheim museum over the East River and a Nets Arena at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, never got off the drawing boards.
In an interview he discussed the new tower, which is going to be marketed by its developer, Forest City Ratner Cos., as "New York by Gehry at Eight Spruce Street." Here are excerpts:
...WSJ: How did your design take into account its neighbors like the Woolworth Building?
FG: I am a contexualist. I pay a lot of attention to where I'm doing things.
Whoa. What? Gehry allegedly said "I don't do context" when asked about the Case Western Law School in 2005. And nothing about his monstrous Atlantic Yards design betrayed any interest in context. Must've had a change of heart.
WSJ: It must feel satisfying to see this tower completed after some of your other projects here, like the Guggenheim and Atlantic Yards, didn't come to fruition.
FG: The Atlantic Yards was the same client [Forest City Ratner] and there was a business decision to change and make it a much smaller building.
It wasn't like everyone says that my building was more expensive. That wasn't it. My building was within the parameters of their program and not more expensive. I'm very careful about that.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Gehry: change of arena architect a business decision, says his plan was within cost parameters
Well, the new arena, since it's smaller, is less expensive.
As I wrote in July 2009, Gehry's design was impossible, unless all four towers wrapping it could be completed roughly in sequence.
Also, the New York Daily News reported that the high cost of safety glass had contributed to the astounding 50% increase in the announced price tag, from December 2006 to March 2008.
NoLandGrab: Yeah, when they finally figured out that locating a glass-walled arena just 20 feet from two busy New York City avenues might be a bit of safety risk.
Posted by eric at October 5, 2010 10:32 AM