Gehry and Ratner At Odds Over Scope & Design

An interesting behind-the-scene relationship between Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner and his publicity-soaked architect Frank Gehry is gradually coming to light. In comments made last Fall at a Columbia University lecture, Gehry revealed some differences of opinion over the project’s scope and design.

But as people in Brooklyn expect the borough to be all “brownstones and tree-lined streets,” Gehry’s project has met with opposition from the community. “You can’t do that with a project of this size,” he said, adding that he had asked the developer, Bruce Ratner, to scale back the project several times. Meanwhile, he hasn’t convinced Ratner to do something else: bring in other architects to design parts of the project, to ensure a variety of styles. “He wanted to be able to deal with one person, so he refused,” Gehry said.

Comment: Not even starchitects always get their way.
Frank Gehry: Architecture as Service [Columbia News]