Thats the vague platitude people use to justify greed. We should 100% strive for a beautiful world and not some Biff Tannen dystopian world. The more people let developers get away with this stuff the more the overton window shifts. Humans have an uncanny ability to be lulled by incremental change. It’s up to the smart ones to remind people that beauty is aspirational. Thats what the entire City Beautiful movement was all about and its what made American cities strive for more civic virtue.
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The problem with that argument is that “beauty” is subjective.
Reading this thread I’m not sure if people really don’t like this building or don’t like it because other people don’t like it.
I’m going to wait until the building is complete before I pass judgement.
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On the bright side it could have been bigger. They wound up having to reduce the footprint. Also this is why the city banned sliver buildings, then they repealed the ban and we wind up with this.
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Beyond its architectural mishap something just doesn’t sit well with me that a Russian-based firm designed something so terrible at this height to block an American icon from a highly appreciated pedestrian sight-line. Feels almost like a goading slap in the face. Do I wish it was torn down? Nah, what’s done is done. It would hurt less if the building blocking the ESB was stunning but this isn’t it.
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Love or hate it, this building will be a big success both financially and in popularity… It is delightful: the glittering metallic facade, the robust round windows, the tall thin profile, and majestic square crown.
It will be adored - or at least admired - by the majority of the general viewing public. This is simply Architecture as eye-candy, and in that sense it is a lovely addition the NYC Architectural landscape.
A complete survey of the public opinion will not be forthcoming; however, I believe my above conjecture is probably SPOT ON….
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Serious question, are you involved with this project somehow? I don’t know how any neutral observer could say that with a straight face.
Call me conspiratorial if you want, but I would not be surprised if the Moscow-based architects redesigned this to be uglier after the Ukraine invasion and ensuing sanctions by the US. The original design was bland but not downright offensive like this one.
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This is a bold take that probably shouldn’t have been shared in a public forum.
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Which one?
The details on this tower are clean and simple. The blank facades are getting clad in a custom textured cladding. I’m not really seeing what’s so “ugly” about this tower.
Are all of your head’s gonna explode when you actually see something ugly?
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Yeah it’s really not that bad. It’s a little too thin for my taste, but the facade will probably turn out better than people think.
The fact the Russian firm is still credited on this project is pathetic though. No firm with any sense of decency should be providing money to Moscow
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I’d be fine with that cladding if the building was a low rise, so you could actually see the details. Or if they just used it for the base. 860 ft of it is unsightly. It’s just going to look dull and gray on the skyline. The original stainless steel, while not great, would have been better.
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All of this “outrage” has been humorous to me, all starting with that one Instagram reel reposted on a popular NYC page. It’s really not as “devastating” as people project it to be. “This tower blocks the Empire State Building” yet if you took just five minutes to walk up north from Madison Square Park you’ll see the ESB again just next to this building. And the facade, I personally see the change as an improvement. The years we’ve complained about blank walls on this forum, yet when they change it to ADD detail its a problem? I really don’t get it. I’ve even seen people on that Instagram reel call it garbage…each floor has orange construction netting and a crane still attached…why are you so quick to judge the design if the facade and tower isn’t complete? Give it time, I believe people will forget about it, with minor complaints on public posts like Billionaires Row. Hell, the people who commented on that Instagram post probably have already forgotten about this tower
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I think the building is hideous but I’m not going to start supporting view corridors and height limits just because I hate this building. That’s an overreaction. This will be like the Verizon Building or those 70s boxes on the FiDi East River waterfront: ugly and disliked, but not the end of the world. The NYC skyline is so large it can absorb some ugly buildings and not lose its charm.
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You can’t appreciate light without darkness. Or beauty without ugliness. So in that function, it’s doing its damn job.
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Pretty sure there are a few reasons other than a luxury building not being pretty enough that will keep people out. Lol
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Thank you. The vast majority of people are not choosing where to live based on how “beautiful” a city is. Maybe if you’re in the billionaire pied a terre class then architecture can be a big consideration, but for regular people, costs, jobs, and climate are much bigger factors. In fact, the fastest growing cities in the US actually seem to be the ugliest ones: Phoenix, DFW, Charlotte, etc. Since we are in a housing crisis, the last thing we need are more onerous regulations that make building housing more arduous than it already is. Enforcing arbitrary standards of “beauty” is a great way to increase construction costs and in turn housing costs.
I think there should definitely be design restrictions. If you don’t put pressure on developers to strive for something aspirational, they will build a strip mall / suburb in the sky tower in 0.2 seconds.
If Vornado’s Penn will materialize with the current designs, then we might as well not be able to see the ESB at all within a decade in this pace.
Either way, the thing about this tower’s facade is that the rock pattern in itself is cool for pedestrian levels and public areas, but you won’t actually notice the pattern from just a block away - it will roughly appear as gray and depressing. If they were to follow with the original reflective aluminium facade, at least it would be shiny and more dynamic.
See my comment right above yours. We shouldn’t be putting any extra pressure on developers when construction and housing costs are so high. We need to make it easier and cheaper to build housing, not harder.
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I disagree. Once a building goes up it’s there for a lifetime. We always need to build with intent not just build cheap for cheap sake.
If we allow our standards to be lowered (Espicaly in a city like NY) our cities would literally just turn into vertical strip malls. We have to have standards. Tough times pass, let’s not be left with the crap surrounding us for the rest of our lives from those tough times.