Posted Sep 29, 2010, 2:45 AM
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NEW YORK | CHICAGO
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: NYC
Posts: 3,532
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What I like about it is that its a 600 foot building. But when I look at it, "cheap" is the first word that comes to mind. First are the random, inconsistent window placements. At the base, the segregated windows are more reminiscent of the Holiday Inn Express at Madison Square Garden than the solid modernist titans of downtown. However, uncontent with general blandness, the rest of the building has to vary, patches of windows here, clusters there, a single row here, and nothing over there. If the building was trying to be deconstructionist it would at least have an viable philosophy behind it, but it clearly doesn't. Two sides have arbitrary glass boxes of blue, not even addressing the presence or absence of concrete behind it. Add in random windows for elevator banks and stairwells, and corners complete the total lack of thoughtfulness.
I guess you could admire the cold practicality of only putting windows where needed, but clearly this building suffers from a lack of holistic vision. It would be better simply clad in blue glass (then it would be a direct relation to Trump World Tower). To its detriment, these problems are only worsened by the garishly contrasting white spandrel which dominates too much of the building and the childish black tic-tac-toe grid to cover the joints. If you are going to block the gorgeous views, at least do it for a reason, and with something more tasteful. Top it off with careless venting, an inelegant joke of a crown, and a dull, oppressive base that bears no relation to the rest of the building, and you have a building that I feel is utterly cheap, bland, forgetful, and at worst a frighting detraction from the general quality of downtown skyscrapers.
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