View Single Post
  #44  
Old Posted Dec 22, 2011, 11:16 PM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Why Hard Times Can Make Great Buildings

By JULIE V. IOVINE
December 23, 2011

Quote:
A slow economy is hard on architecture, except when it isn't. As the best buildings of 2011 amply show, closer scrutiny to the bottom line and even the need to lop off extras can lead to a sharper and more forceful design.

The 76-story Beekman Tower by Frank Gehry, renamed New York by Frank Gehry and now known as 8 Spruce St., opened early in the year. During more than five years of intense scrutiny, the tallest residential building in the city re-emerged after financing difficulties—and a halt in construction that spurred rumors it would be half its final height—as a rental with its market-rate rents stabilized for 20 years. For now far taller than anything in its City Hall company and dwarfing even the 57-story Woolworth Building, Mr. Gehry's steely undulating spire—the architect's first skyscraper in the U.S.—will make good company when joined on the skyline by all the super towers a few blocks west at the World Trade Center.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote