No More Frank Gehry At Atlantic Yards At All

A 2008 model of the "B1" building Gehry designed to replace his Miss Brooklyn design

Just a week after announcing it was ditching plans for the Brooklyn Nets Arena from world-renowned architect Frank Gehry and instead taking a more pedestrian and less expensive approach, developer Forest City Ratner has confirmed to the NY Times that Gehry will no longer be involved with any part of the Atlantic Yards. Joe DePlasco, spokesman for Bruce Ratner, said, "We do not anticipate that Mr. Gehry will be designing any of the individual buildings." Why? Because Gehry's designs, though dazzling in 2005, are expensive (which is exactly what Times critic Nicolai Ouroussoff was worried about last year!).

According to the Times, DePlasco also "conceded that the announcement issued last week 'should’ve been clearer.' But, he added, Mr. Gehry’s master plan for the development and his guidelines remain in place." Whatever! In the statement released by Forest City Ranter last week about the change in Brooklyn Nets Arena design (PDF), Gehry himself said, "We remain extremely proud of our work on the Atlantic Yards master plan and on the original arena, which we designed in close collaboration with Forest City Ratner. While there are always regrets at designs not realized, we greatly appreciate our ongoing relationship with Bruce and his team."

Flashback to the February 2, 2004 issue of the New Yorker, where in a Talk of the Town piece by Ben McGrath, FieldofSchemes.com's Neil deMause predicted, "I’d guess it’s probably fifty-fifty the arena gets built entirely...I wouldn’t be shocked if five years from now we’re still arguing the logistics."

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By Jen Chung in News on June 11, 2009 9:28 AM

Comments [rss]

tmz is evil

I can't believe ppl are lamenting the loss of Gehry. But then, these are probably the same people who think the most important thing about a designing label is its name.

suepart

in japanese, the word 'geri' (pronounced the same as gehry, aka frank goldberg) means, quite fittingly- diarrhea.

BlueFairlane

Every day, I have to look at the the exploding stainless steel monstrosity that is Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago, which in 30 years will look as ugly and dated as any pastel palace from the '80s does now. You people should feel fortunate you don't have to deal with some fad piece of crap architecture from this guy.

tmz is evil

Oh trust me... we are feeling fortunate! I practically did a Mexican hat dance when I heard we'd be spared from a Gehry abomination.

matty

Isn't Ratner developing Beekman street? That's a real ghery project off the ground. I really don't think this is a bait and switch.

EricGewiz

For starters, I'm in no way for this project. But, I have always liked that Gehry had created the designs. That said, without him, the entire plan becomes un-iconic, and does not promote the idea that eminent domain is "necessary" for the public good. If you're not going to put enough affordable housing in an area and economy that needs it, and you no longer have the superstar architect that would make the project appealing, then why is this project still a "go?"

Spirit of 76

Somebody really needs to explain how a "superstar" architect's ridiculously expensive designs would create affordable housing. I, for one, am glad those eyesores at top will never see sunlight. Good architecture stands the test of time. Gehry's won't.

JRod5417

Nevertheless, anything by Gehry is much better than whatever generic crap Ratner is going to put in its place. And I actually like the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

babyhitler

Frank Gehry's problem is that his last name isn't Lloyd-Wright. Dude is a hack. It's like he looks at a Lloyd-wright piece turns it on it's side shakes his head a bit to make it different and calls it his own. every piece I've seen from Gehry is an eyesore. I wouldn't let him design my urinal.

PTG in nyc

Even though Gehry doesn't need the money, it's comforting to know that he'll always have a career in building tiny models of things that greedy developers can use to pull bait and switches on the public.

whitecastlerock

I don't see enough bike lanes in any of these proposals. How do they expect fans to get to the games????

MT

They need to use eminent domain to yank Atlantic Yards back from Ratner. He's f**ked this up royally and shouldn't be allowed to inflict whatever crap on us that he has up his sleeve now.

Brooklynbobby

Never mind the fact that the project has already put tens of millions of dollars into Gehry's pockets for design. Typical NY fiasco.

nicemarmot

The real question is, what generic piece of crap are they going to build instead?

NannyState

Are you kidding? Kostas Kondylis here we come!

Jen Chung

Haha!

Global Wombat

Whew. Though it would have been a bit interesting to find myself one day walking through an area ripped from a bad issue of Heavy Metal.

Think2wice

Wright's "Falling Water" inspired Gehry's "Falling Blocks". If you don't like it, then you're obviously too déclassé bourgeois to understand. Obviously.