Ouroussoff, Tell Us How You Really Feel
New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff doesn’t mince words in reviewing the new design for the Atlantic Yards Arena. “The recent news that the developer Forest City Ratner had scrapped Frank Gehry’s design for a Nets arena in central Brooklyn is not just a blow to the art of architecture,” he writes in today’s…
New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff doesn’t mince words in reviewing the new design for the Atlantic Yards Arena. “The recent news that the developer Forest City Ratner had scrapped Frank Gehry’s design for a Nets arena in central Brooklyn is not just a blow to the art of architecture,” he writes in today’s Arts section. “It is a shameful betrayal of the public trust, one that should enrage all those who care about this city.” But wait, there’s more: “In a stunning bait-and-switch, Forest City Ratner has now decided that it can’t afford an architect of Mr. Gehry’s stature. Neglecting to tell the public, the firm went out months ago and hired Ellerbe Becket, corporate architects known for producing generic, unimaginative buildings. And although it has refused to release details of the design, the renderings, obtained by The New York Times, tell you all you need to know.” Indeed they do.
Battle Between Budget and Beauty, Which Budget Won [NY Times]
i disagree…Pac bell is an excellent example of how that whole area of SF was revitalized.
I don’t agree with the conspiracy theorists here that this was a bait and switched. Too much money has gone down the drain and its largely the fault of the NIMBTs and their lawsuits that dragged this project to the point that, because of a lot of exogenous economic factors, it now has to be done on a reduced budget. Maybe the original expectations were too grand and costly but then, after so long in the courts, reality is different now than it was at the conception stages.
i’m glad he switched, now we all see what Ratner really thinks of brooklyn. i assume this was always part of the plan.
Well, obviously this was going to happen, with or without the support of people in the neighborhood. Did anyone really believe that the people who brought you the Atlantic Terminal, Atlantic Center, and Metrotech would do any different?
Anyway, it is pretty common knowledge that the fate of sports arenas is to be demolished. Maybe we can hope for a park there in another 40 years, or another shopping mall, or maybe some housing.
http://www.arcaro.org/tension/album/usair.htm
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/Dodgers/dodgers.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7xjSdABoi4&feature=related
Or maybe we can get something better and more useful sooner…
wrigleyville in chicago is a nice neighborhood.
i’ve been ambivalent, because i live in the neighborhood and i truly believe that a world-class arena with inspired architecture could have been great for this part of brooklyn. though the process was clearly far from ideal, i still believe that it will take the acumen and political savvy of something like FCR to coordinate all the working parts here and to actually get done all that is necessary before anything can get built. i believe this even though, in principle, i’d much prefer slower, more deliberate development.
i simply don’t agree that sports facilities (or other large facilities) have to be the death knell to a neighborhood. pac bell park is a good example, and there are many others. and this area is much more like the neighborhoods with successful arenas than it is like the ones that do not succeed. but it seems to me that the complexes have to do something to uplift the area in order to avoid being a “black hole.” the sports and other events themselves don’t do it – there has to be the right kind of development and, yes, the right kind of reworking of the space – including through its architecture – to bring that “something else.” a something else that can bring the area up, not down, has to give people a reason to treat the space differently – to respect it, to want to be there, to want to feel part of it, to want to locate your quality business there because good patrons will come, both during games and after. this design, plainly, is not that. i might go so far as to say it’s insultingly ugly. no, i don’t think it will destroy my neighborhood – it’s certainly not worse than some of the crap that’s already there – but i can’t see it making it better.
it also seems to me that without the discipline of building the housing or other business development at the same time, the incentive for FCR to make it a welcoming or inspiring location is vastly decreased. building just the arena has always seemed to me the worst case scenario, and now it seems we are there.
that said, i believe FCR has said outright that it’s the economy (through increased cost in credit) that’s led them to make the switch. it doesn’t make sense to say that the architecture didn’t matter to supporters but that it’s a bait and switch. who is being baited and switched on, then? obviously, the architecture mattered. it mattered particularly to those of us who were ambivalent but came down on the side of optimism, believing that the increase in traffic and years of construction in our neighborhood might ultimately be outweighed by the development of what currently already IS a black hole.
I don’t buy the whole bait and switch argument one bit. I’ve said it here before and I still believe the blame falls on the anti-AY groups for stalling the the project. We could have had world class destination architecture in the hub of Brooklyn and instead we will end up with some generic crap that belongs in the mid-west designed by some generic bozos in the mid-west. It truly pisses me off. “AY will result in instant gentrification!!!” Are you kidding me? You moving into the borough results in instant gentrification. What a sham.
agree with sam. or maybe you’d think it was a structure built to train demolition professionals. any bets on the price of a coors in the new stadium? $8.50?
If I were from out of town looking at this image, I would guess that it is a picture of the 1960’s arena that was slated to be replaced by a new, state of the art facility.
TD, I’m not sure how you can calm traffic enough to make that area more pleasant for pedestrians. How would you get around the problem that Flatbush and Atlantic are the only through streets for bridge traffic from much of Brooklyn.
Maybe build the Cross Brooklyn Expressway…