Burn: Oroussoff on Atlantic Yards

Nicolai Oroussoff's review in the New York Times of the Ellerbe Becket design for the Nets new arena at Atlantic Yards is scorching. It is at once an indictment of the project's current state, but also decries the most odious aspects to large-scale urban development today: greed and a lack of concern for the public realm, Oroussoff writes:

"Its low-budget, no-frills design embodies the crass, bottom-line mentality that puts personal profit above the public good. If it is ever built, it will create a black hole in the heart of a vital neighborhood.

"But what’s most offensive about the design is the message it sends to New Yorkers. Architecture, we are being told, is something decorative and expendable, a luxury we can afford only in good times, or if we happen to be very rich. What’s most important is to build, no matter how thoughtless or dehumanizing the results. It is the kind of logic that kills cities — and that has been poisoning this one for decades."

But he also gives Frank Gehry's design its due, acknowledging its thoughtfulness and creativity, regardless of what early detractors said.