Monday Links
Brooklyn Museum. Photo by Jan van Raay. Has the Slope Parking Experiment Been a Nightmare? [NY Times] As Bill Evolves, Mortgage Debt Is Snowballing [NY Times] City Point Construction on Horizon [NY Daily News] BBP’s State-of-the-Art Playground [NY Daily News] Slashed Groups Rip $59.1B Budget [NY Post] Subway Delays Up 44 Percent [NY Post]
Brooklyn Museum. Photo by Jan van Raay.
Has the Slope Parking Experiment Been a Nightmare? [NY Times]
As Bill Evolves, Mortgage Debt Is Snowballing [NY Times]
City Point Construction on Horizon [NY Daily News]
BBP’s State-of-the-Art Playground [NY Daily News]
Slashed Groups Rip $59.1B Budget [NY Post]
Subway Delays Up 44 Percent [NY Post]
Wrong. The Nazis rejected Modern architecture and design as “degenerate art”.
There is no complex reasoning going on with preservationists here. It’s simple, they hate new things. Every single time preservationists here tell us why modern architecture shouldn’t be built in Brooklyn it’s because it’s different from what has been there. You know, their favorite little phrase “out of context”.
I never said to reject the past. I said I hate sentimentality. Meaning I don’t cling to something simply because it’s from the past. Which is what the anti-modern people in Brooklyn do so ardently. None of them are able to articulate what is significant or important about a certain building or nearby architecture, the “context” they are so rigid about. It’s only about something being different.
it’s functional but fugly.
fugtional.
11:59- I can’t imagine why you live in Brooklyn then. The nazis did not hate all thing modern. they, in fact, thought of themselves as the new modern age and the reason they built in antique styles was to promote their vision of power an authority, which they felt was best expressed by those styles.
However you’re obviously equating sentimentality with a love of old buildings. Perhaps at its lowest common denominator, you could say that’s so. But you would be missing the many reasons Brooklynites love old buildings including their artistry, quality, craftsmanship and history. That has absolutely nothing to do with “backwards, narrow, fascist thinking and behavior.”
And for all the wonderful, progressive architecture in Europe, there’s a reason so many old structures stillexist- Europeans love and appreciate them and work hard to preserve them.
I should also point out that you are laying political issues onto the argument of old vs new architecture. By saying sentimentality (the reason we love old buildings) is the result of narrow, fascist thinking, and associating democracy with new building, you’re doing the same thing the nazis did- recognizing the political power of architecture. the flaw in your thinking is that new doesn’t necessarily mean good and doesn’t mean democracy.But if you’re going to condemn sentimentality, just understand that democracy is based on some very old concepts which an awful lot of us are very sentimental about.
Thanks all for the many kind words! That project means so much me, as it was an opportunity to bring back public accessibility and life to one of our city’s greatest treasures, and near a neighborhood to which my wife and I hope to move. For too long the Museum’s remarkable collection went relatively unnoticed, and the significant role of a major cultural institution in a neighborhood went unfulfilled. Seeing so much life there, and so many people enjoying the place (and not just on First Saturdays!) is wonderful.
bxgrl, thanks for your interpretation! I love it! I won’t tell you whether you are onto our big idea (not that that matters, though), but just to reinforce your position: the arcs, whether in the landscape, on the theater steps (the fountain can be shut down and used as a stage for the inverted amphitheater), or in the structure, all share the the same center, as marked by the axis passing through the dome. The radial lines in the building all spring from this point as well. Even the subway entry was reoriented to face the dome… There is a nice metaphor about the ripples expanding out into the neighborhood…Concerning the original stair: it was 28′ tall, quite a big larger than the Met, and people just wouldn’t go up it. Think of it this way: that’s about 2 1/2 brownstone stories, just to get to the door!
Thanks again. Always nice to hear good things…;)
LOVE the new entry to the Brooklyn Museum. It is really special and when I bring houseguests there, I’m so proud of its progressive design that reminds us of the cities of Europe.
Brooklyn people are just intensely sentimental.
I’m not. I loathe sentimentality. I only ever associate it with backwards, narrow, fascist thinking and behavior.
It’s like how the Nazis hated all things modern, and thought all new buildings should be built in antique styles.
Please let’s remember: Progress is good. Diversity of ideas is good. Democracy is good.
Roberto, ignore the hysterical, knee-jerk, “i have all new buildings” crowd. The entrance looks gorgeous and fits in very well with the original structure.
FYI 9:54- the Brooklyn Museum originally had a grand staircase that rivaled the Met’s but when they built Eastern Parkway, it was demolished, I think as a safety hazard. the entry you were used to was the driveway that went beneath the staircase to the ground floor. I used to work there- the Brooklyn Museum is awesome. we used to call the attic, where deceased chairs went, Chair Heaven- it was huge!
Get rid of the jerks at MTA now!
https://www.cafepress.com/firemtanow
I love the new entry! from above it looks like ripples in a pond going outward- like the way art affects us, maybe? and I love how the curves echo the dome and the contrast of materials is very beautiful. at night, it is so spectacular- then it becomes a waterfall, again the water reference, Roberto? Obviously I don’t know if I’m reading into things you never intended, but I think it’s wonderful and a totally fresh take on a grand entrance.