NeRd aLeRt!

so there is THIS article in nymag lamenting New York's lost Frank Gehry architectural icons. I mean LA gets the walt disney concert hall and stinky old Bilbao has its guggenheim. New York is at least half as cool as Bilbao, so where is our awesome titanium clad ribbony confection? the author suggests new york lost her chance for loving him "too little too late."

there is even a glittering slideshow to show us all the fabulous architecture we could have had if we had just jumped on the bandwagon in time. included projects: east river guggenheim, atlantic yards, IAC hq, beekman tower, nytimes hq.

um, point of order... one of these is a built project, and one is currently under construction. it would seem that new york and frank gehry HAVE had their opportunity to dance and create iconarchitecture.

caveat section: it is regrettable that forest city ratner conned the city and mr gehry with the old smoke and mirrors atlantic yards debacle (more so because of how much what we're getting sucks, not because of how great it would have been).

in terms of the missing downtown guggenheim, the model is compelling (bilbao with a skyline). it leads me to

believe that the best way for gehry to succeed in manhattan is to shoot off of it in all his glory, unencumbered by the street grid and pesky sightlines. party of the reason why frank lloyd wright's guggenheim is so special is that you can step back and really see it.

BUT: with the iac project, gehry had an amenable client who wanted a showplace headquarters that made a statement. unfortunately, the building only knows how to shout at you from far away. ive walked around this building and seen it in passing from the westside highway, and it seems like everyone forgot about one of the most important aspects of any building in manhattan, how you engage the street. the doors down there seem like an afterthought, like the architect forgot that people had to get in and out of his beautiful white fritted billowy sail office. why couldnt this project have been new york's great chance? not big enough??

then what about beekman tower, currently under construction in lower manhattan. you get a good view of it taking the brooklyn bridge into the city. gehry basically admits in this article that he fell victim to the typical new york trap and basically gussied up a spec high rise tower with some metal clad bay windows. the layout lady (re: broker) had to coax him into delivering something remotely special. was the budget too small for this to be new york's great chance?

new york times then? gehry says he was basically given the commission, but turned it down and returned the money because he couldnt commit to Monday meetings in new york. oh really frank. renzo piano somehow made it work. given the success of piano's ny times building, and the lackluster streetscape of IAC, i think we're better off. also, what a dick move to be like, oh yeah, i turned that down. also im an outsider in case you didnt know. sniff sniff.