What a farce! They completely destroyed the most crucial architectural aspects of the design; namely, the base and the crown. Both have been severely truncated and have lost so much fine-grained articulation, thereby ruining the overall aesthetic beauty and sophistication of the tower’s architecture.
The design that was depicted in the physical model, about a dozen pages back, looked perfect and utterly sublime. I was anticipating its construction more than any other skyscraper in the world and now my interest has virtually vanished instantaneously. Way to ruin what could have been the most beautiful building to be built in New York in the postwar era. Incredibly frustrating.
This type of stuff drives me up the wall and it is why we should always be cautious to get our hopes up when we are presented with audacious and tantalizing renderings, as they usually aren’t indicative of what will actually be built, with few exceptions, such as Steinway Tower.
I’ve seen this happen so many times in my hometown of Toronto with a couple of recent examples being the previous iteration of Frank Gehry’s condo project, whose first phase is now rising with a diluted design, under the name, Forma. Check out this gorgeous model of the previous design (click the wheel to watch this in HD). This would have been absolutely stunning, if built as envisioned:
https://www.facebook.com/MirvishGehryTO/videos/790810224289261/
Additionally, Alison Brooks’ phenomenally-designed Western Curve was originally proposed as this (see the link below), but the the overall Quayside project that it is part of has been valued engineered to smithereens, resulting in a completely reimagined design, and based on some preliminary renderings of the adjacent buildings, a very mundane, cookie cutter plan is in the works.
https://alisonbrooksarchitects.com/project/quayside/
CAL’s 30 Scollard Street, also in Toronto, has lost much of its verve, due to meddling at the City Planning level, but I digress.
Getting back to 175 Park Avenue, the base now looks very squat and the lines are less elegant and sinuous. The asymmetry of the metal support lattice/glass walls along the east and west profiles of the base looks especially terrible.
As for the crown, the beautifully tapered diamond motif and supple curve has been whittled down so much as to appear aesthetically dull and timid in comparison to the aforementioned model design, which as a whole, was so well-refined and carefully executed that I don’t think any improvements could have been made. Seeing this neutered reworking of the design is flabbergasting and deeply upsetting. Was this really necessary? Surely they could have brought the previous vision to fruition, no?
The original design of this tower went from good to spectacular and now it has gone backwards several steps. The previous version was graceful and sleek, now it appears clunky and cumbersome. It is moments like this that I almost wish I wasn’t so emotionally invested in architecture and urban planning, as these sorts of letdowns are so disillusioning and difficult to accept.
Most of what has been built since World War II has been ugly and utilitarian, so to have these rare opportunities where something truly exceptional is proposed, and then have much of its core identity and intricate detail stripped back, makes it nearly impossible to not to be pessimistic about how development projects will turn out.
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