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New York's New Ghost Town

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RollsRoyceRevenge
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
I think the Warner's towers are lovely, even if the base is a wreck...the Times Building is quite elegant...and I've always loved the Conde Nast for being so frankly eclectic. The Lehmann building is a harder case to argue, but I've seen much worse, and a lot of it only a few blocks away.

No. 7 WTC will be the one that the others will be judged by, just as the Chrysler overshadows the Chanin, French & Co. and One Wall Street.
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pot-pourri
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
The Woolworth, SO and Cunard buildings would make Howard Roarke gag.
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RollsRoyceRevenge
04/13/09

@pot-pourri: You say that as if it would be a bad thing.
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Iceland Spar
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Though the renovation of Lincoln Center, the Gehry building in downtown Manhattan and Calatrava's transportation hub (if any are actually finished) I think all could be quite nice. Though, I am a fan of the Time Warner Center (more so when viwed from a distance), so I may be dq'd from this post.
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MattGaymon
04/13/09

@Iceland Spar: The towers are terrific - I love the way they embrace and echo the circle and various street patterns. It's the base that sucks so hard.
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Dickdogfood
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
The early 20C buildings were crafted for beauty's sake? That's a pretty rose-colored view of things: they were done partly out of vanity, too.
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Maulleigh
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
I've always been a fan of Henry Cameron's Dana building.
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BxgrlJeri
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
How many sheets of glass pop off these buildings on a fairly regular basis and rain down on unsuspecting tourists?
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MattGaymon
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Oh, I love the Conde Nast building. I want to break off the top and fly it into the Black Hole.
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Urbania
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
i think this analysis is spot on. nyc commercial architecture blew this boom.

the real interest was in the residential luxury super awesome starchitect buildings

[www.tropolism.com]
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Almostbanned
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Yeah, but try working in one of those old buildings. If it's been gutted and completely reworked, sure, but more often than not you're in for small windows, inadequate ventilation and crappy elevators. I worked at 25 Broadway for a few years (Cunard), and while our offices were a total renovation and it was a delight, I visited a few of the other floors and couldn't believe it was the same building.

The new 7 World Trade, on the other hand, is an absolute triumph of design. Beautiful to look at and the floorplans are brilliantly laid out.
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Urbania
04/13/09

@Almostbanned: yes, 7wtc is the exception to the rule...it's really gorgeous to be in and move through.
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jiminy.peep
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Those buildings are quite ugly, but it's unfair to write off all modernist buildings in Manhattan. The Seagram Building, for example, is a masterpiece and a milestone of architecture.

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FormerEnglishMajor
04/13/09

@jiminy.peep: Yes, but it's what all the other buildings are copying, it's like a record skipping since they finished it in '57!
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ADismalScience
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Those art deco Gotham relics all very pretty until a rotted chunk of it falls from somewhere high and crushes someone. They've also got all the ambiance of a moist armpit and are about as green as the Exxon Valdez.
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Dickdogfood
04/13/09

@ADismalScience: Actually, many tall structures built before central air-conditioning and cheap electric light (the Park Row Building comes to mind, tho it's not Deco obv.) were designed to take full advantage of natural light and ventilation, and as such are potentially quite green.
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Dickdogfood
04/13/09

@ADismalScience: (Also, the ones with the crumbling details tend to be somewhat older than Deco. Brownstones are probably the worst crumblers of them all--in their heyday, the stone was typically cut in such a way as to maximize future instability.)
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thevirginconnieswayle
04/13/09

@Dickdogfood: Was this to ensure the stone masons future jobs making repairs?
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Dickdogfood
04/13/09

@thevirginconnieswayle: Ha ha, no, I doubt they had that kind of foresight--brownstone's weaknesses weren't discovered until a couple decades after the first big craze for it.
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overunderover
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Shit, does this mean we're stuck with Donald Trump forever?? (see, 40 Wall St., "The Trump Building")
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FormerEnglishMajor
04/13/09

@overunderover:

"No, you're not".

Signed, Pan Am
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TedSez
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Something about those mighty erections makes it hard to know what those big-headed architects were thinking of as they speared the sky with their steel columns.
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saythatscool
04/13/09

@TedSez: I, for one, am thankful that they decided not to go the other route as large dugout gorges tend to flood easily.
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resipsaloquacious
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
I would also like to add the Dakota building to your list, Richard. Not only was it crafted for beauty's sake, but also to be an inter-dimensional portal for Gozer's entry into this world.
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BxgrlJeri
04/13/09

@resipsaloquacious: Gozer came at 66th and CPW not 72nd
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SpicyMeatball
04/13/09

@BxgrlJeri: Actually, as this has been a common misconception, the Ghostbuster building does not exist. It was added into the skyline. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man did in fact exist and just happened to rumble through on the day they were shooting. Fact.
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SpicyMeatball
04/13/09

@SpicyMeatball: The facade of the building at 66th was used, but the roof was special effects. People often think the Dakota is the roof, but they just added one. There is no temple of man-dogs on the roof of the building at 66th nor on the Dakota.
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FormerEnglishMajor
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Well, unfair comparison. In the "old days" - they built stone edifices. Thanks to labor costs and more job opportunities for recent immigrants - you don't find stonemasons for minimum wage anymore.

Name what HAS been built in NYC to house a large corporation, that ISN'T steel and glass (no matter the industry)? It ain't 1905 or 1940 anymore.
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bytememehard
04/13/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: How about the stunning po-mo World Wide Plaza, completed in the early 90s?

[www.nyc-architecture.com]
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FormerEnglishMajor
04/13/09

@bytememehard: One person's Po-Mo is another's Brutalism. I guess I never got the love for WWPlaza, to me it looks like they were going for the glamor of stone on-the-cheap.

I just think comparing buildings that were done when the price of materials were infinitesimal, is unfair to architects who have a budget and can't use unlimited granite or limestone and chrome, with hand-painted mosaics and gold leaf.
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ninety_nine
04/13/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: Someone likes Worldwide Plaza? I challenge you to produce this person.
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FormerEnglishMajor
04/13/09

@ninety_nine: That would be @bytememehard above!

@son of spam: And that - I agree with. I love the Chippendale top.
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