A resounding NO! to Foster’s NY tower
The New York Landmarks Commission has rejected Foster and Partner’s design for a 30-storey glass tower to be located above a historic building at 980 Madison Avenue. Ten of eleven commissioners voted against the project. The decision pinned prominent New Yorkers against one another as the merits of the project were debated. Writer Tom Wolfe criticized the project while artist Jeff Koons supported it. The commission said the project was out of scale and that its materials and design were out of place in the toney Upper East Side neighborhood. According to the New York Times, Mr. Foster offered a passionate defense of the project sighting other projects like the recently completed Morgan Library addition by Renzo Piano as justification for juxtaposing modern glass and steel additions on older stone structures.
While Foster and the building’s owner, Aby Rosen, said they plan to return to the Commission with another proposal, the Board made it clear it would only support a modest proposal. To read the project posted on 27 October 2006 click here .........more
Sharon McHugh
US Correspondent
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