So what's new on the upper stretch of the Bowery, besides the one-hour waits at Gemma at the Bowery Hotel? Courtesy of an alert phototipster, it appears that the sharklike Cooper Square Hotel has topped off (above right), somewhere around ten stories too many. But that's not the most exciting development above East 5th Street. Check this out—at the site of architect Thomas Mayne's forthcoming pleasure palace for Cooper Union, the flood is on (above right)! Blogger EastVillagePodcasts speculates it may have something to do with foundation work, but where he sees standard practice, we see the mind of Thomas Mayne at work, toying with our desires and expectations even as he subverts our emotions. All of which begs the question, how will these two buildings look more or less side-by-side? Too trippy to contemplate.
· New Cooper Union Academic Building Bubbles [EastVillagePodcasts]
· Cooper Square Hotel Further Burnishing Astor Place [Curbed]
· Cooper Union's Psychedelic Pleasure Palace [Curbed]