Architecture on the News

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Comment by Ben on May 25, 2008 at 11:04am

iN THE nEWS..most interesting design work downtown will be dwarfed by the entirely unexceptional first 40-stories of the Freedom Tower.

Beyond that, the most useful part of the FESTIVITIES is the partial list of attendees, which included "Arquitectonica**, Santiago Calatrava, Diller & Scofidio, Nicholas Grimshaw, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Enrique Norten, Bernard Tschumi and Rafael Vi�oly". All in all, not a bad list, if you trim the front end a bit. Were you to have a sky blue shapeless blazer from Chess King packed away in a closet, you probably remember Arquitectonica best as the firm that made all those wacky apartment towers in the opening credits to Miami Vice. If you have been paying more attention recently, you know they are also responsible for the worst hotel ever constructed in Manhattan (the Westin Times Square, on 8th Avenue and 43rd Street) and the suburban behemoth in the East Village, Avalon Chrystie Place.

Though his list is not presented as exhaustive, we would hope firms such as Steven Holl, MVRDV, Smith-Miller Hawkinson (responsible for underappreciated Pier 11), Herzog & de Meuron, and Richard Gluckman (he might be a little short on total dollars completed, but has a great musuem and gallery portfolio) submit. Stepping down in scale just a tad would allow an even more interesting list with the likes of Office d'A and Mack Scogin/Merrill Elam, and locals such as ARO and Lewis Tsurumaki Lewis.