The owner of the World Financial Center wants to tear down the Cesar Pelli-designed Winter Garden and replace it with a new one designed by his son and partner, Rafael. The community is in an uproar over the plan, though, because the Winter Garden was one of the very first things rebuilt after 9/11 and its destruction i seen as too painful. Observer
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I don't see anything wrong with this. The new design looks more in tune with what's happening at ground zero then the outdated winter garden that looks more like a home depot garden center then a modern public space
Whose son: Pelli's or the Owner's?
Sorry, I'm in a grammar Nazi frame of mind today.
good question Donna Sink. Having read the article I can confirm that it's Rafael Pelli, Cesar Pelli's son & Partner at Pelli Clarke Pelli
Wow...
I do not necessarily see anything wrong with this from a design standpoint either - nice rendering.
What we should consider is how much of building/construction waste ends up in a landfill. As most of us know, construction of the current Winter Garden was completed in 1988 and reconstructed in 2002 due to damage from the disaster. Therefore, the building is only eight years old as of now. Oops, why not scrap it and start over...
As architects/designers, are we really that shallow? We have to "update" buildings every ten years...? Why not get it right the first time? Besides, shouldn't we focus on the buildings/structures on the site that have not been constructed or even started?
I think we have more important construction projects to worry about in the city. Lets at least wait until the structure is thirty years old. Then maybe the other structures on the site will be close to completion (or close to being started). Then we can have a discussion about rebuilding perfectly good/new buildings.
circumstances have changed k view. what was (possibly) right before the terrorist attack no longer works. i guess we could complain that the original design was not done well enough to accommodate the effect of the twin towers coming down, but that woulda needed a fair bit of foresight.
quite right donna. i thought it was the owner's son and this was gonna be a story of evil nepotism.
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