Reply With QuoteWebsite?
http://www.200beekman.com/
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Website?
http://www.200beekman.com/
Curbed reported a rumor that the final design may be posted on that website by week's end.
From The New York Times...
Sketch models depicting the evolution of the Beekman Street Tower, a 75-story apartment building in Lower
Manhattan, designed by Frank Gehry, who was commissioned by Bruce Ratner. Seventy proposals were produced
before the design was finalized.
...In 2003 Mr. Ratner took another giant step, hiring Mr. Gehry to design Beekman, his first luxury residential tower. Beekman has been an education for Mr. Ratner. Mr. Gehry begins every project by asking questions. Why, for example, do all the apartments have to follow a standard cookie-cutter formula? Do walls have to be flat? Then he churns out dozens of variations on a design before he settles on a final form. Mr. Ratner's team evaluated each one for cost before Mr. Gehry returned to the drawing board. The back-and-forth went on for more than two years and 70-plus versions.
Until recently a developer like Mr. Ratner might have hired a corporate firm like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to design the exterior but relied on an in-house architect for the interiors. Mr. Gehry argued that he should mold the inside, too, creating a seamless relationship with the exterior and — not incidentally — branding the interiors with the Gehry name.
The result is an unusually tough design. The tower rests on a base housing a public elementary school. A series of setbacks give the tower a palpable weight, like building blocks set on top of one another; a narrow vertical slot rises on the main facade, lending the building visual depth.
The massing is a response to the bulky McKim, Mead & White municipal building to the north and the 1913 Woolworth Building, its nearest competitor. In its scale and proportions, it also calls to mind Moscow's so-called wedding cake skyscrapers, a legacy of the Stalinist 1950's. But the titanium cladding will be rippled, as though etched by rivulets of water. As the light moves across the surface, the waves will seem to change form, giving the impression that the tower is quivering. Inside the apartments, those curves will be repeated, giving many of the each apartments distinct identities.
Mr. Gehry obviously focused most of his energy on shaping the tower. Sadly, the elementary school — the only truly public-spirited component — is a simple rectangular box with a few interior flourishes...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/ar...l?pagewanted=1
Last edited by krulltime; June 3rd, 2006 at 08:49 AM.
IMO some of the versions (particularly those shown in the top row of images above) that don't appear to "max-out" the zoning envelope are more elegant ...
Very glad to see that they jettisoned the "blooming" effect at the top.
The set backs as they move up the facade are good -- and this sounds promising:
... the titanium cladding will be rippled, as though etched by rivulets of water. As the light moves across the surface, the waves will seem to change form, giving the impression that the tower is quivering...
Most of those studies look pretty good, though I'm not sure they picked the best one. Gehry sure is a creative fountainhead; he should be required as design consultant on every Condylis commission. And Thomas O'Hara should be made to clean his latrines.
Personally, I like the massing in the series in the top row the best.Originally Posted by krulltime
From The New York Times...
[size=1]
The "final product" also works well IMO but its more a function of its height/width ratio and proportions than anyt of the architectural features.
So that's the final design? Not bad.....the setbacks evoke the pre-war scrapers that gave Lower Manhattan an unmatched skyline, but it could use a crown to finish it off. I'm also nervous about the "titanium facade."
I'm ready to watch it go up though, after all this time.
Last edited by sfenn1117; June 3rd, 2006 at 11:23 AM.
I like it. Not a traditional Gehry, which is good because he's been a one trick pony for a decade. Though, #2 from the left in the top row was good.
Amazingly...they're pretty much all good. Build them all; sprinkle them about the city. Get Kondylis to turn them into market condos. Send O'Hara out for coffee.
^ I agree, they're all quite tolerable. But I'm left feeling a bit underwheled by the final design. It's definitely a relief to see it has good proportions like its prewar neighbors, but I was hoping for something a little bit more, I dunno, wild? At the least a little more pizazz is needed for the crown.
As is, this almost looks like a lovechild between Gehry and David Childs. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for some reason the Bear Stearns tower pops into my mind looking at this...
The actual "love child," the Times proposal, actually looked much more inspired. I do like the Beekman's quasi-vegetal partition and serenity, but it lacks grace.As is, this almost looks like a lovechild between Gehry and David Childs. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for some reason the Bear Stearns tower pops into my mind looking at this...
Sums up my impression. It's okay.But I'm left feeling a bit underwheled by the final design.
I don't like the base. School or not, I'd prefer a base more harmonious with the whole tower. It's just my opinion, but I usually don't care for buildings that look like a sports trophy- square, brutish bases with an unrelated form sprouting out of the top. I would prefer to continue the organic curves all the way down, a clean design creating one continuous and elegant statement.
Yeah, the base is a bit wooden.
Which one out of those is the final design?
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