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]
“Nobody from Forest City has given a valid excuse for why they are not building a Gehry design now.”
Sense of entitlement much?
“If you were against the arena from the start then keep quiet. Because you are part of the reason the bldg was dumbed down.
Those who supported it can express their disappointment.”
Posted by: Petebklyn at June 9, 2009 9:46 AM
didn’t realize you were legislating this comment board.
that is red herring nonsense. the arena opposition was never about architecture. and, for those who like the Gehry design and are upset now, the blame lays with the developer who pulled a bait and switch. Notably Ouroussoff blames the developer as well.
Nobody from Forest City has given a valid excuse for why they are not building a Gehry design now. If they couldn’t afford Gehry, they shouldn’t have used him to gain their approvals.
northsloperenter…I agree with you about the assessment of this area. It’s just an area that I drive through to get somewhere else.
Petebrklyn, you’re dead on. This is your classic unintended consequences scenario. G
iven what Forest City paid for that land, and that they’re a long-term buy-hold-develop company (and that the NIMBYs lost every single court challenge) you had to know something was going to be built there eventually. Thanks to all the delays, this is what we’re left with. Really appreciate it Develop Don’t Destroy.
Why don’t you guys keep protesting this and maybe we can get further downgraded to a Wal-Mart and a homeless shelter.
They draw as many pictures as they want but this things never going to be built.
Petebklyn
That is not fair. The people that supported this venture were more interested in having a sports team, tax breaks and employment at this facility. Those people were not supporters because they wanted a Gehery building.
And the bait and switch was always going to happen and had nothing to do with the opposition. It was just about money.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another bait and switch and switch back to Gehery. Then they will say are you guys ever happy and yet the DDD was not so much about the architecture but the social and physical damage to Brooklyn.
I might have been able to agree with — or at least sympathize with — some of the outrage if this project were being built in downtown Brooklyn or some place where it would actually be part of the city.
But flatbush and altantic is a lifeless, annoying transportation hub that is fringed by 4 neighborhoods but belongs to none of them. There is no regular foot traffic through this area except for people going somewhere else.
There is no street life here, and I don’t think increasing traffic and congestion would help that, nor would the periodic influx of 25,000 stadium goers.
It’s an area everyone avoids if they possibly can because the noise, dirt, and danger from all the traffic is, well, it’s best avoided.
A commercial stadium was never going to change that; nor do I think commercial construction projects should be really be looked to as glorious expressions of architectural artistry. They are not public spaces.
Just about the only thing I completely agree with from the article is:
“Arenas are notorious black holes in urban neighborhoods, sitting empty most of the year and draining the life around them.”
Unfortunately, I doubt this new stadium will ever be uttered in the same breath as the Guggenheim or the Louvre.
Yawn. I think the following quote from Teddy Roosevelt is suitable for this situation, as no matter what Rattner does, some folks will spew venom:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena”