In this age of blogs and 24-hour cable news, rarely does breaking news come from an old-fashioned hardcover book. But that is exactly what happened with Studio Daniel Libeskind’s New York Tower, which can be seen above (and which we also talked to the architect about earlier today).
Ever since the project leaked onto the Internet last year, the real estate blogosphere has been following every rumor and murmur about the project. But it took the November 18 publication of Counterpoint, Libeskind’s latest monograph, for the world to get its first look. Indeed it wasn’t until last week, when New York architecture critic Justin Davidson pointed out the project’s publication therein, that people started to take notice. Fortunately for us, we happened to have a review copy lying around the office, from which these images were taken.
But before we go, one caveat. The developer refused to release any of these images–except for the one we posted of the terrace gardens–when we requested them. “They were made at least a year ago, for publication purposes, and no longer reflect the current state of the project,” Lloyd Kaplan, spokesperson for developer Elad Properties, told us. Still, they provide the most complete picture of the project yet. And, even if it does change, as long as it looks half this good, we think everyone will be happy.
Also, if you care to learn more about the book (and, we hope, the tower), Liebeskind and Paul Goldberger–his interlocutor for Counterpoint–will be giving a talk at the Center for Architecture on December 10.
Posted by Matt Chaban: December 2nd, 2008 under News.
Tags: Architecture, Liebeskind, Madison Square Park, New York, New York Tower
Comments
Joseph Geronimo
December 3, 2008 at 11:19 am
Libeskind’s New York Tower
Jeremy
December 4, 2008 at 4:57 am
Libeskind says the rounded corners were inspired by the Flatiron Building. – Exactly who, does this idiot think he’s fooling with that stupid comparison. The Flatiron Building is a noble, dignified piece of Architecture. Libeskind and his entire oeuvre are a series of ignorant one-liner gimmicks that fool no-one.
Mario
December 4, 2008 at 8:35 am
Yawwwnnn! OK. We get the joke, but like all Libeskind’s humorous attempts at design, it looks tired and boring already.
Melissa
December 4, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Lacks gravitas. Looks like a cheap amusement park ride at Coney Island.
Vesna
December 4, 2008 at 5:29 pm
looks like a left-over design from an unbuilt project in Abu-Dabai.
GBarasian
December 4, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Libeskind shows how superficial he is by saying the rounded corners “nod to the Flatiron Building”. This is classic Libeskind BS, creating entirely spurious and pretentious and non-existent associations with great architecture like the Flatiron Building. A better analogy would be between his building and the garbage can under my desk which also has rounded corners.
Raan
December 5, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Libeskind’s pretentious buildings are blemishes on the cities they become part of. New York needs to learn from Denver and Toronto’s mistakes.
Martha JP
December 6, 2008 at 7:05 am
RE: (in the telephone interview, you note), “Libeskind said the cut-outs for the terraces, would pay special deference to the structure’s historic neighbor.”
What?!?
This is just the latest half-assed line of bullshit from Libeskind who’s trying to justify what is, in reality, a capricious decision to cut holes in the facade.
Did anyone at AN even think to ASK Libeskind how these cut-outs pay deference to the historic neighbor?
Quality journalism would examine and rebut this sort of garbage. All AN has done is become an unwitting PR agent for Libeskind’s brand of personal stupidity.
Van The man
December 6, 2008 at 11:07 am
Smart dogs don’t shit on their own doorstep. – Libeskind might want to mop this up qyuickly, or else move to Russia where they still seem to like this sort of uncivilized crapitecture.
Robert
December 7, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Hopefully, after Libeskind finishes ripping the outer skin off this ugly tower, we’ll all find there’s a really good Richard Rogers or Renzo Piano design underneath.
GeeBeeWeBe
December 8, 2008 at 11:06 am
Libeskind’s capacity for foolish ideas is impressive. What inspired this one? Unraveling an orange peel? Sheesh …. he should at least try to be an architect if he insists on calling himself one.
Inhabitat » Daniel Libeskind’s Soaring Glass Sky Garden for NYC
December 9, 2008 at 3:00 am
[...] new book, Counterpoint, was released on November 18th. The pictures you see here were actually scanned from his book, as they are the only known images of the [...]
Hyung Sook
December 9, 2008 at 11:15 am
What we got here is a couple of holes cut out of an otherwise tubular building. This idea is about as smart as painting red stripes and a sports car and claiming it makes the car go faster. Libeskind panders to low-brows who confuse gimmicks with architectural ideas.
JohhPPJ
December 11, 2008 at 7:59 am
This reminds me of SOM’s tower with hanging gardens in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia. Looks like Libeskind has found a new mentor after his WTC collaboration with David Childs.
Binky Limbo
December 13, 2008 at 1:08 am
At least it’s not triangular and crystalline as is the stock Libeskind cliché.
Now it’s more Hadid-like. Ug.
Francesco X
December 14, 2008 at 3:35 pm
You only have to look at Richard Roger’s elegant and architecturally refined solution for the new tower on top of the Port Authority Building to appreciate how dumb Libeskind’s building really is. It looks like Libeskind spent a lot of time rendering an idea he thought about for less than two minutes.
Joshua C
December 16, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Libeskind seems to think the term “green” means a couple of trees get added to a goofball design. Is he the world’s biggest idiot, or what?
Russ M
January 2, 2009 at 9:15 am
Libeskind tries to create a war-torn image with each piece of architecture he proposes. It’s no surprise quite frankly considering his background. New York is not the place for that kind of morphology.
Russ M
January 2, 2009 at 9:39 am
Also, what’s the deal with the WTC-esque exoskeletal expression? What a thoughtless use of his own resources and a slap in the face to all New Yorkers. Indeed a ’see-thru’ piece of architecture with no ideas.
Daniel Libeskind’s Soaring Green Garden Tower for NYC «
January 15, 2009 at 2:40 am
[...] new book, Counterpoint, was released on November 18th. The pictures you see here were actually scanned from his book, as they are the only known images of the [...]
Syung Kyoo
March 17, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Libeskind is looking more like an ass every day. How does he get people to work for him on this crap?
Chris
April 20, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Daniel Libeskind’s capacity to crank out limitless amounts of crass and ignorant garbage never ceases to amaze me.
Adam
December 3, 2008 at 3:24 am
This website has been passed on to myself via an American colleague at work in the UK. Great information and pictures…
I am final year student and have wrote a blog acting as an open sketch book for my final year thesis…
Please feel free to make comments:
http://futurecityarchitecture.blogspot.com/