The New New York Skyline

[Subdude]

By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF

Published: September 5, 2004

THE skyline is back.

For the last three years, our collective focus has been on ground zero. Meanwhile, some of the world's most prominent architects have been quietly pressing ahead with plans that will remake the city's skyline on a level not seen since the World Trade Center was built in the 1970's. The most remarkable expression of that shift is a growing list of stunning residential towers designed by celebrated talents like Richard Meier, Santiago Calatrava, Christian Portzamparc and Enrique Norten. But it also includes visions of corporate gluttony: colossal mega-structures that are essentially hybrids of residential skyscrapers and suburban office parks. And it coincides with the slow but inevitable erosion of the boundaries that have defined the edges of the Manhattan skyline for a century.

For New Yorkers who still feel stirrings of nostalgia for the prewar city, such sweeping changes are apt to provoke mild hysteria. But cities derive their meaning from the influx of new ideas, and the flowering of the new skyline reaffirms that New York's creative energy has not yet been entirely spent.

A more legitimate reason for anxiety is that the majority of the towers built in New York in recent memory have been so dismal. Manhattan's skyline was once a monument to the relentless force of modernity, but for decades now the city's reputation as a center of architectural experimentation has been losing ground to London, Barcelona, Beijing, and Shanghai

[largeTEXAS]

Fantastic! It's depressing how light years ahead New York is of Houston. Makes me look at our new county court building with utter disdain.

[ricco67]

LargeTexas,

They DO have a couple of hundred years ahead of us as far as construction and population.

To put in some perspective how VAST New York is:

Houston has about 3200 police officers.

New York has about that same number of DETECTIVES!

Unless we have a massive population shift over the next couple of decades, they're going to remain one of the most dense cities (and people? ) in the world.

Ricco

[jt16]

There are a lot of neat buildings in New York, but it's so dense that they hardly ever stand out. I think Chicago has a much more attractive skyline than New York.

[Montrose1100]

There are a lot of neat buildings in New York, but it's so dense that they hardly ever stand out.  I think Chicago has a much more attractive skyline than New York.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well Chicago and New York started building towards the sky right around the exact year. But Chicago lacked one important factor that NYC still has today. A major Port, thus brining High Population to NYC way before Chicago. NYC was one of the first cities settled here, by the dutch. "New Amsterdam" I belive was its original name. So before the english took it over, it was called that. They had a very advanced starting point. But I think were doing pretty good, and Houston can achive a population of 8,000,000. But when is probibly going to be many, many years away. But were already 1/4th there.

[UrbaNerd]

Many of the new skyscrapers are crap. I hate all of the Libeskinds.

[Montrose1100]

Many of the new skyscrapers are crap.  I hate all of the Libeskinds.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There "European"...

I like the AOL Timewarner Center, but the new WTC blows. Completely, how could you let somthing that ugly and horrible be a momument to the wonders which once stood there... for shame NYC, for shame...

[SpaceCity]

The highest floors of the New WTC is going a big "skeleton of steel." The last thing that site needs is a skeleton.

[UrbaNerd]

AOL Time warner is awesome! It was designed by Skidmore, BTW. Still, most of the new stuff is crap.

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

AOL Time Warner does have a good building. New York is so dense that you really don't get to see the good architecture on its buildings. Houston is doing good population wise. It could pass New York decades to come, but it could happen.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Quality of city is more important than size, IMO. The greatest thing about NYC (again... IMO) isn't so much its skyline or its density (I can take it or leave it) but its the hard work put in to lower the city's crime rate, and specifically its violent crime rate. At one time, during the late 70s and early 80s, it had one of the worst crime rates of any Western city with a population over 1,000,000. Now, it's one of the safest, although a report showed that NYPD doesn't report crime to the feds the same way some other agencies, including Houston, do--but nevertheless.

I also prefer Chicago's skyline to New York's, not to say that the combination of lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan doesn't make for one awe-inspiring skyline(s).