“The New York skyline is a medieval atrocity. … Good architecture shouldn’t have to depend on distance or the dark for its effects.”
Frank Lloyd Wright
I ran across the Frank Lloyd Wright quote above over the weekend and I could not help but wonder what he would think of the new crop of new “Supertall”, ultra high end luxury residential buildings that are scheduled to be completed in midtown Manhattan over the course of the next few years? I think it is safe to say he would not be lavishing praise on most of them.
The first of these buildings, One57, located on West 57th street, just recently opened, but there are at least half a dozen more of these towers on the way along 57th street as well as other parts of midtown north. Several of the these buildings will be significantly taller than the 90 story One57, believe it or not. I saw the completed One57 for the first time during my visit to NYC last February. I must admit I was a bit stunned by the shear height of the tower as I emerged from the subway stop at Columbus Circle. I have mixed feelings about the design of the building. I don’t mind the height, but I wish it was located 3 to 5 blocks south of where it is now located so it didn’t loom over the significantly shorter buildings that occupy Central Park South and 58th street.
In the May 2014 edition of Vanity Fair there is a very interesting article about these next gen skyscrapers appropriately titled Too Rich, Too Tall, Too Thin?
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/05/condo-towers-architecture-new-york-city
gmf journal 