Bunker Mentality at WTC
It had to happen, there were just too many opposing interests in the rebuilding of Manhattan’s World Trade Center. Call it Freedom Tower if you must, but it’s been bunkerized, made fearful instead of free by the heavy hand of Skidmore, Owings Merrill (the Wal-Mart of architectural firms). There is absolutely nothing even recognizable left of Daniel Libeskind’s award-winning original design.
Libeskind and Skidmore’s David Childs no longer speak. Yesterday’s unveiling of this mundane, heavyhanded and pedestrian-unfriendly hulk showcased attitude instead of architecture, including:
Libeskind’s unwillingness to walk away from being trivialized as a designer. Color that decision, if not yellow, surely saffron.
The developer’s (Larry Silverstein) unending greed for floorspace in a building no tenant will anchor. Red will suffice.
Skidmore’s eagerness to do anything, no matter how ungainly, to secure a commission. Brown? Does brown work for you?
Governor Pataki’s desperation to get something b…