theres an excellent op/ed by clay risen of the morning news on 2 columbus circle, the enormously hideous white marble building that the museum of art and design is currently trying to renovate. the crux of the issue is a group of preservationists who decry the new renovations of the building, citing its architectural elegance, historic context, and need for preservation…or whatever. theyre essentially fighting to keep the building as it is, despite the fact that not only is the building currently deteriorating and unusable in terms of interior space, but that its also really really ugly.
originally designed by edward durell stone in 1964 for the gallery of modern art, 2 columbus circle was stones statement against the high modernism of the time. it incorporated a marble facade, portholes, and islamic-inspired columns. risen argues that the preservationists are rallying behind (seriously) flawed architecture. they want the public to believe that the building would be razed, when in fact MAD and the chief architect, brad cloepfil of allied works architecture, intends to preserve as much of the original building as feasibly possible while concurrently remedying all that was wrong with the original buildings design. this pretty much encompasses 90% of the building. as risen duly points out, “Prizing mediocre architecture simply because it is controversial doesn’t just prevent urban growth and renewal—it also retards the development of great architecture.” heres to hoping the project progresses.
> withering heights (via tmm)
> allied works architecture
