On Demand
Glass, Concrete, and Stone
Thursday, September 18, 2008
New York Magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson takes a building-by-building look at New York's architecture boom.
What recent building do you love or hate? Comment below!
Slideshow: Justin Davidson's Notable Buildings
The Glass Stampede at NY Mag
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The apartment building on 2nd Ave. between 75th and 76th is totally out of sync with the neighborhood. In the past when a new building went up I evenutally got used to it being there, but not with this one. Every time I walk up 2nd Ave. I am still surprised to see it there.
The new 14 story apartment buildings on 4th avenue in Park Slope are completely out of character with the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a shame there are not aesthetic requirements in the zoning laws.
Oh, this is actually a video of favorite old building of mine on Broadway and East 11th Street in Manhattan. (I hope the commentary gives you a laugh!)
Nine Floors in a Stack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APvI2lhXvJw
-Juliana
I don't see any mention of an important point here - all-glass facades are a step BACKWARDS in energy efficiency. The modern glazing used in these buildings is a poor insulator relative to any opaque wall, and all-glass facades create tremendous solar heat gains which must be mechanically removed, far outweighing any modest reduction in lighting demand.
A little more information. The thermal resistance ("R-value") of various wall constructions:
Typical double-glazing of the type in these buildings: approx. R-3
Triple-glazed window of the most cutting-edge type, NOT used in these buildings: approx. R-5 to R-15
Solid masonry wall of the type in the demolished buildings: approx. R-8
Generic 2x4 stud house wall with old-fashioned batt insulation: approx. R-25
Ryan Enschede, architect, brooklyn.
What's great about your slide show is that I put the addresses into Google Maps, then do a Street View of all the addresses and get a better perspective of these great buildings working my way down the block! It's very cool!!!
Some glass buildings introduced to the cityscape are wonderful--acting like mirrors of the sky, street trees, and neighboring buildings. Too many glass buildings would cancel out this effect.
Isn’t the use of glass less about aesthetics and modernity and more about cost… Glass panels can get expensive, but they are also less intensive as far as field work goes and cheaper than some hand-laid brick, natural stone, elaborate terracotta or other claddings and fenestration details. A lot of glass decisions seem to be ones of economy and not expression.
Isn’t it the same as the International Style craze of the ‘50s and onward. It’s was popular because it was cheap by comparison. Imbedding any more meaning into it (such as voyeurism or exhibitionism or high-class style) seems disingenuous (to me).
Is there any word on how the requirement of affordable housing is kept up? For these new buildings? And how is "affordable" determined?
Bad architecture is like pornography... you know it when you see it. The best example of that is the Hearst building on Eighth Avenue and 57th Street. It's so out of scale with the surrounding buildings, the monstrosity looks like an alien spaceship that was looking for Area 51 and ran out of gas and had to make an emergency landing.
I love the Times Square and "Piggy Back" Buildings.
The rest look like Shanghai, China, where buildings seem to be dropped together piecemeal. Where did NYC go???
p.s. I don't DO windows!!! : )
I love the Times Square Building and "Piggy Back" Buildings.
The rest look like Shanghai, China, where buildings seem to be dropped together piecemeal.
p.s. I don't DO windows!!! : )
ryan - i came on to post the exact point you are making, the energy efficiency of glass buildings always struggles to meet the energy code, and has implications on the amount of heating and cooling a building needs.
I heard you mention Art Deco which I love. I know years ago Miami Beach had a big Art Deco restoration revolution and I understand they're starting to become popular in this area as well. For example, I've heard there is a huge Art Deco landmark being restored in Jersey City. I'd love to see a show done on Art Deco.
In Houston, many windows in the JC MorganChase Building were blown out during hurricane.
Energy efficiency of glass is an issue.
Comment please
I don't get all the residential buildings I see that are floor-to-ceiling glass. Who wants to live in a window display? Weird.
I wonder if Mr. Davidson could comment on the privacy issues of glass buildings. I can see right into many livingrooms of the Richard Meier buildings, which is especially odd considering that very wealthy, very famous people tend to live there.
I'd also like to hear Mr. Davidson address the energy issues of glass buildings. They must turn into greenhouses at the slightest appearance of sun.
I live at the top of a building 1 block from the Richard Meir buildings on the West Side HW.
I've watched the last (southernmost) building be completed and become occupied.
It's been an interesting experience to watch new couples move in, not appreciating they were now living basically, outside. After a few weeks the blinds are forever drawn and the fun stops.
However after 3 years I have to conclude that these buildings are a failure as works of art and architecture.
They are beautiful on their own but in an environment like we have here they make no sense. No thought is given to the terrible reflections they throw on the streets and all the way down the pier, or that complete lack of any greenery which stands out terribly amongst the trees and ivy-covered rows of buildings, or the constant undulations of the glass in the wind which reflect a constant nervous energy to a community of homes. And ultimately, if you walk amongst them daily, they feel like office buildings dropped into a small European town.
Sorry -- but they are a complete failure for the neighborhood.
THe WNYC website seems to be crashing from everyone trying to get a look
Too much of a good thing?
This guy is strictly aesthetic in focus - and i am over all that glass aesthetically - and I really am concerned about hurricanes! I think it's cold and impersonal and I think enough is enough
too much glass renders an area sterile
PS the site is really really slow today!
"Impoverished neighborhoods have improved" I think should be qualified - how and who is benefitting?
MY WIFE AND I HAVE LOTS OF BOOKS ON LOTS OF BOOKCASES, AND WE NOTICE ON ALL THE FLOORPLANS OF THESE GLASS-WALLED CONDOS THAT THERE'S PRACTICALLY NO WALL SPACE WHATSOEVER.
Brian,
Sounds like time for fall cleaning! There is a simple elegance and beauty in an open airy space that can't have too much clutter.
I read a book a day but I donate them or recycle them. I don't like clutter and think it detracts from the beauty of the place.
I love these glass buildings. They are very modern and hip.
It was so disappointing that the site could not handle the traffic during the broadcast!
I guess I will have to listen again to the podcast tomorrow.
Michael, they usually have a thing where listen through the webpage after 1pm.
i am sick of glass buildings and the feeling of sterility they impart in general when they take over. I also dislike them for taking away all our mom and pops and subjecting us to more atms and walgreens. Glass no longer look fresh and new as it once did - Also I can't believe this guy knows nothing about how dangerous all that glass will be to all of us in the inevitable hurricane! For Pete's sake they wouldn't even stay on the conde nast bldg and the bank of america bldg when first constructed. I am really starting to detest New York.
The guest should stay away from any indirect social commentary, such as his comment, without qualification, that these buildings "improve" neighborhoods. To me, while some are interesting and attractive and some are not, the bigger story is how they symbolize the wholesale gentrification of New York, which is becoming a city of zero economic diversity. Sorry, but that's not an improvement to me.
Sorry you did not mention the monstrocity on Eastern Parkway at Grand Army Plaza opposite the Library. All glass amid some of the best of New York's 19th and 20th century stone work. This is so out of caracter that even the lay man has commented on it. It is over a year now and I am still waiting to life in it.
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