[NYguy]

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/11/03/ar...nson-new-york/

Architects protest AT&T Building plans with "Hands off my Johnson" placards

Architects and preservationists including Robert AM Stern were among those protesting Snøhetta's plans for Philip Johnson's postmodern AT&T Building in New York today.

A small crowd attended a planned protest at the base of the Midtown Manhattan skyscraper this afternoon, carrying signs that read "Hands off my Johnson", "Granite is great" and "Save AT&T". Reporters from Metropolis magazine captured images of the protest, as did several Instagram users.

Among the pack was New York architect Stern, carrying a model of the building – replicating a 1979 Time Magazine cover that shows architect Johnson doing the same – and British architect and postmodernism enthusiast Adam Nathaniel Furman. It was organised by filmmaker Nathan Eddy, who also launched a petition against the project.

The group was rallying against a proposal to replace the iconic skyscraper's base with a scalloped glass frontage, unveiled by Snøhetta earlier this week.

The design triggered outcry from several members of the architecture community, with two online petitions – Eddy's and another created by Swiss journal Archithese – launched shortly after it was revealed.

officialnormanfoster

In Europe and unable to join the protest tomorrow Friday 13:00-16:00 in front of the historic AT&T building by Philip Johnson to object to the proposals to eradicate the original base. I was never sympathetic to the short lived post modern movement - and this building in particular. However it is an important part of our heritage and should be respected as such.

http://www.metropolismag.com/archite...est/pic/31973/













“Hands off My Johnson,” Say Architects and Preservationists at AT&T Building Redesign Protest
Robert A. M. Stern was among those protesting outside Philip Johnson's Postmodern icon on Madison Avenue today.

By Zachary Edelson and Anna Fixsen

Among the protestors were members of the preservation group DOCOMOMO, the Historic Districts Council, and a number of architects and advocates. Architect Robert A.M. Stern joined the rally at the urging of his architecture studio. “It’s one of the most important buildings of the last third of the century,” Stern told Metropolis. “After the Seagram Building, you basically have AT&T.”

Architectural significance aside, Johnson’s Postmodern icon has long been a lightning rod for criticism, though numerous design figures have rallied against the proposed changes, with Norman Foster and Adam Nathaniel Furman quickly voicing their support. Others, such as Denise Scott Brown, have suggested that the revamp has laudable features, such as an increase in public space. Though a New York fixture, the building is not landmarked, meaning Snøhetta’s proposed changes can be executed without a major review process. (Protestors are petitioning the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to intervene.)

Nathan Eddy, the filmmaker who organized the protest, told Metropolis, “I understand that a lot of people hate Philip Johnson and hate the AT&T building, but this building is historically important and should be preserved.” Eddy, who was born in the U.S. but is based in Berlin, makes films about endangered buildings including Prentice Women’s Hospital, and most recently, the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. “As someone who is really good at rattling the chains of the hoi polloi, this is a way I can contribute,” he said. “We’re going to win, by the way. But no matter what happens, if we get busy Manhattanites to look up and say, ‘Wow I’ve never noticed that building before’ and have an opinion about it, that’s the way forward.”

The redesign would leave the tower’s famous Chippendale top untouched, though the suggested modifications would come in two major areas: the first is the building’s Madison Avenue street front, which Snøhetta, in a press release, called “fortress-like” and “uninviting.” As per the architects’ design, the large glass facade would expose the building’s structure as well as its atrium, lobby, and first two levels.