With the glassy sheath enveloping Charles Gwathmey's Sculpture for Living apartment tower on Astor Place (recent view at right) nearing completion, it seems a good time to again take stock of this latest addition to the downtown skyline. For color commentary, let's see what the folks at the Architect's Newspaper have to say:
Granted, the building's not done yet, but our thoroughly unscientific poll has revealed that 100 percent of a select handful of acquaintances think it?s somewhere between "ugly" and the B-word (that would be "banal"). "It?s shiny. I'll give it that," one respondent offered. In fairness, we should mention that some people?actually, just Gwathmey?have admiringly compared the curvy glass tower to an obelisk (come to think of it, our fire escape evokes Louis Sullivan, too)... However, call us chumps, but many of us had higher hopes for a site as storied as Astor Place.But it is shiny.
· The Results Are In... [Architect's Newspaper]
· Astor Place Development Photo Gallery [pith.org]
· Sculpture for Living... Expensively [Curbed]