Richard Rogers, the famed British architect selected last month to oversee East River redevelopment plans, lets slip some of his early thinking about what the fuck to do with the FDR Drive:
Rogers: The area around the East River is run down. There's a high-level highway along it. On the East River Drive, the buildings look away from the river. They should be facing the river. They should have parks and cafes.Though the difference between "bringing some part of the highway underground" and "burying it" seems a bit particular, we cannot help but endorse both approaches.We're learning that motorways don't solve transportation problems, they just bring more cars. On the East River we may bring part of the highway underground around the United Nations Building, or we may bury some of it.
· Richard Rogers working on NY East Side Plan [Bloomberg via Archinect]