Earlier this month, the 92nd Street Y hosted a panel called "The Future of New York's Skyline," with four big-name architects—Rick Cook, Bjarke Ingels, Annabelle Selldorf, and Richard Meier—participating in a roundtable discussion on the topic. A video of the talk just became available, and for those who are obsessed with architecture, urbanism, and the like (so, everyone reading this, probably), it's a fascinating way to spend an hour and change.
The four architects generally agreed that a connection to nature will become more important as the built environment in New York changes. "High-rise building is here to stay—it's going to continue to get taller," said Meier, though he noted that "public outdoor space" is one big component missing from many buildings. Both Ingels and Cook made similar points, with Ingels sharing an anecdote about sleeping on his Brooklyn apartment's terrace and waking up to birds tweeting. (How charming!) "I crave trees, nature, parks…but more than anything I crave a better, more equal place for people," Selldorf said. "We need to do a little bit more to create more dignified and more civilized space in our urban environment." And that's just in the first ten minutes—the roundtable is as lively as you'd expect when four of the city's biggest starchitects come to the party.
· The Future of New York's Skyline [92Y]
Loading comments...