Chelsea, New York —

Another great aspect of the Highline Park is that it offers a nice architectural tour of new projects in the city. It shoots you straight north from the Meat Packing district into the heart of Chelsea. For better or worse, this is what will grace the skyline of the Lower West Side for years to come.

First up, we’re back at the Standard Hotel. It’s brand new and as I said in the previous post, much in the news. About all I can say about the Standard is that it lives up to its name. It does not suggest long hours of feverish creativity and almost looks as if it was tossed off during a lunch break. I believe it would have astonished in 1958. In Cleveland.

Next, the big guns. The IAC building is Frank Gehry’s first project in New York and a lot has been written about it. The critics talk of “billowing sails set against the Hudson”, “a sumptuous wedding cake” and the “crisp pleats of a skirt”. I am starting to tire of Mr. Gehry’s work. His art museum Bilbao was really fresh. The Walt Disney Concert Hall in L.A. looked a lot like Bilbao. This one looks like a low energy version of its predecessors. It looks a little lazy, like maybe the contractor screwed up. It also looks like someone spilled milk all over it. All in all, a bummer.

I don’t know who designed this one but it certainly stands out. The main idea seems to be “let’s get creative with window size”. I try to imagine it at night and wonder if it will look fun or annoying. I can’t decide.

I used the word bummer above but I’ve really got to use it now. You’ve got that nice, elegant structure on the left and the new “addition” just screams out TUMOR. And, it’s a tumor about twice the size of the patient.

By now it must be clear that I am pretty much a philistine when it comes to modern architecture. When I look over to the east, I feel the warm glow of nostalgia. The Empire State was once as jarring a structure to the skyline as any of the others I’ve seen today. Will these new entries have such a lasting impact? That’s gonna be for somebody else to decide.

The nostalgia continues.

This one has grown on me. At first I thought it was garish, like a flash bulb going off in the neighborhood but the size and shape are just right for what surrounds it. The reflections are interesting. In the lower right hand corner, it seems that a giant child is screaming for help. Spooky. Fun?

Ok, now this is New York. The size, shape and function blend perfectly. Like the diner above, it’s a classic.