Skip to comments.
Gaudi bid for Twin Towers memorial (NEW WTC DESIGN)
The Times ^
| January 23, 2003
| Nicholas Wapshott
Posted on 01/22/2003 4:59:02 PM PST by MadIvan
A SOARING, glass-domed tower designed nearly a century ago by the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí has become the latest entry in the competition to find a replacement for New Yorks twin towers.
Grand design: Antoni Gaudi's 1908 commission |
Gaudí, the architect of the Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, was commissioned in 1908 to build his 1,181ft-tall hotel, to be topped by a public observation platform in the shape of an enormous glass star, in Lower Manhattan, but the project was never realised. Now Paul Laffoley, a Boston-based architect, has teamed up with scholars and artists from Barcelona to revive Gaudís dream, with the new structure decorated with artefacts from the fallen twin towers as a memorial to those who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
The revised plans will be unveiled at the City University of New York graduate centre tonight.
A lot of the other proposals are literal ego trips, but here is a way that everyone can be involved in a historical project from around the world, Mr Laffoley said. The Sagrada Familia has become the symbol of Barcelona and Gaudí meant his hotel to be the symbol of New York.
If they only knew about this building, the people of New York would come to love it, Marc Mascort, who has made computer models of the building, said. Bringing this to New York would be more important than the Olympic Games.
A decision about what should eventually fill the site at Ground Zero has been repeatedly delayed by confusion about who is entitled to be the final arbiter, with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the site owner, the site lessees and Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, all claiming the final say.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: New York; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: gaudi; hotel; phallic; spain; twintowers
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-60, 61-80, 81-100 ... 121-124 next last
To: inkling
That one picture does no justice to Gaudi's work. I don't know how familiar you are with him, but he is (was) amazing.
He not only designed the church, he designed an entire town. When one first sees the houses, schoolbuildings, etc. one thinks they are in a fantasy world, or taking acid.
The church he designed (the one in the picture) he started. After his death, his followers continued the work on the church. From what I remember, after 70 years they were still not done, and expected to continue work on it for maybe another hundred years.
The size of the church is incredible. Much of his work involves blending with the environment. The spires of the church are designed to represent the cluster of mountaintops near Barcelona, which he saw throughout his childhood. Rooflines of schools have lines of turtles on their peaks. A house he built has stained glass circular windows that one must continually get closer, and closer to to see more and more detail. All continuity of straight lines is lost. You would have to see it to believe it.
61
posted on
01/22/2003 7:10:31 PM PST
by
UCANSEE2
To: ricpic
Remind me tomorrow, and I will do it. I am getting ready to call it a night.
To: MadIvan
Produced by Bob Gaudio!
63
posted on
01/22/2003 7:17:45 PM PST
by
Revolting cat!
(Someone left the cake out in the rain I dont think that I can take it coz it took so long to bake it)
To: ricpic
Phoenixi is quite stunning, and strikes me as far more American in spirit.
To: Oschisms
If I was an architect, I'd stop trying to be so darn creative . . . The problem is everyone is trying to be aesthetically creative when they should be technically creative. I'm sure, knowing what we now know about the collapse of the towers, that we could rebuild the same twin towers with a high probability of survival in a similar attack and that they could be built faster and cheaper than any of the other concepts.
There would also be no need to explain the message.
65
posted on
01/22/2003 7:34:06 PM PST
by
NJJ
To: habs4ever
That was the 2nd thing that came to mind...the 1st is a cob of corn.
To: MadIvan
I;ll go with hellinahandcart[sp?]. There is a Twin Tower trade center in New Orleans. Lets do something NYish.
How about something on the style of "The Ark of the Covenate"?
To: MadIvan
Far from the worst design I've seen, but I'd say we can do better. I'm one of the ones that didn't like the twin towers in the first place, and see no reason to put them back when we can do better.
The PHOENIXI complex mentioned above is an interesting idea, different without being horrifyingly ugly. I'm also partial to the Art Deco skyscrapers, and wouldn't mind seeing another one on the skyline.
To: JennysCool
I won't say what you're getting at, but it sho' seems to deserve a big fat, GaudI *BUMP*
(or *BUMPS*)
69
posted on
01/22/2003 8:03:25 PM PST
by
nicollo
To: Miss Marple
I am not sure I like it, but it seems to be an improvement over the things they showed the last time. Beats the hell out of the banal. And a giant schlong is certainly a fitting symbol of the New York financial district.
70
posted on
01/22/2003 8:21:17 PM PST
by
eno_
To: tet68
71
posted on
01/22/2003 8:30:55 PM PST
by
Orion78
(I hope Golitsyn is wrong)
To: ricpic
That building your mentioning is nice in how they incorporated a memorial of the victims into the building, making it a "living memorial". It seems just alittle odd. But I suppose it could have the potential of being a famous landmark because of it's unusual shape like the Eiffel tower or the famous arched opera house in the harbor of Sidney, Australia if it were to be built.
The site you listed had some very very nice pictures of it within the NY skyline with night and day views, even a view from the harbor. I cannot post those interactive pictures, but I can provide the link. The PHEONIXI Building is sure worth a look. Just move your mouse over the small pictures.
To: habs4ever
Glad you said it.
I wasn't sure how to convey the message.
73
posted on
01/22/2003 9:33:27 PM PST
by
BenLurkin
(Socialism is immoral.)
Comment #74 Removed by Moderator
To: MadIvan
I have never seen a building so phallic. NO thanks.
75
posted on
01/22/2003 9:40:57 PM PST
by
lawgirl
(FREEP Congress--we need Bush's judicial nominees approved!)
To: mewzilla
John Edwards (the psychic) Miss Cleo seemed much more authentic then he ever did.
76
posted on
01/22/2003 10:15:12 PM PST
by
weikel
(Screw the dems... Its the greens socialist and hardcore commies from now on)
To: nutmeg
I guess rebuilding an identical building is out of the question, as that's not even being considered. For what it's worth, I actually liked the style (and height)of the Trade Center.
I still think fooling around with these alternative designs will prove disappointing in the long run.
77
posted on
01/23/2003 6:24:50 AM PST
by
Paulie
To: MadIvan
It looks like the World Viagra Center.
To: MadIvan
79
posted on
01/23/2003 6:29:02 AM PST
by
steve-b
To: KineticKitty; ricpic
Thanks for the link, but a big "no thanks" to the creator of Phoenixi. There's too much MASS and the shape is utterly alien to Manhattan. Particularly Lower Manhattan. Again, there is no regard whatsoever for the surrounding area, or the distinctive 'look' of the city. It does not belong here. It belongs in some growing city whose downtown is in a state of flux and can accomodate something as mock-futuristic as this.
Just another architect's massive ego-trip, dropped like a gigantic anvil on the tip of the island. A blight to the senses.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-60, 61-80, 81-100 ... 121-124 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson