Fresh off the success of his Mercer St. apartments, one of my favorite architects is going to put up a 75-story tower between 53rd and 54th streets. It
promises to be the most exhilarating addition to the skyline in a generation. Its faceted exterior, tapering to a series of crystalline peaks, suggests an atavistic preoccupation with celestial heights. It brings to mind John Ruskin’s praise for the irrationality of Gothic architecture: "It not only dared, but delighted in, the infringement of every servile principle."
You've got to figure Renzo Piano and the people behind the new New York Times Building are none too thrilled with that "most exhilarating addition to the skyiln in a generation" description. But it does look like an exciting building.
Posted by armand at November 20, 2007 01:02 PM | TrackBack | Posted to ArchitectureThat tower is absolutely breathtaking. And all the carping about MoMA floorspace seems to me a little silly. It's already huge, there's room to reconfigure within its current footprint, a whole bunch of additional space will be inside the new tower, plus -- and the article doesn't even consider this -- I see no reason why, at some future time, MoMA can't buy back space in its tower, or rededicate space therein it already owns, to gallery space.
Posted by: moon at November 21, 2007 01:20 PM | PERMALINK