The New York Times recently published the results of a "study project", the brainchild of Herbert Muschamp, the architecture critic. Don't Rebuild. Reimagine. While everyone can probably agree that the plans produced by the Port Authority were dreadful, here we have architects who think they are urban planners - as they usually do - with predictable results. The "thinking big" touted in the slide show amounts to spewing post-modern whimsy (and worse) over the landscape of lower Manhattan.
But, these are architects afterall, and all the dreamy notions I've seen so far about reconstructing - or deconstructing - lower Manhattan have come from their fevered brains. Where are the voices of the greatest minds in urban planning to temper and counter, to bring to the fore truly "big" ideas that go beyond wavy buildings? Has our profession been so reduced in stature and thought that we stand idly on sidelines of what is likely to be the most significant urban planning event of the century?
But, these are architects afterall, and all the dreamy notions I've seen so far about reconstructing - or deconstructing - lower Manhattan have come from their fevered brains. Where are the voices of the greatest minds in urban planning to temper and counter, to bring to the fore truly "big" ideas that go beyond wavy buildings? Has our profession been so reduced in stature and thought that we stand idly on sidelines of what is likely to be the most significant urban planning event of the century?