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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

Gehry's speaking at Pratt November 10 (on "Architecture and Beauty"); chances of getting in low, but he should field some AY questions

Though the Pratt Institute has announced that architect Frank Gehry will speak at the School of Architecture's fall 2010 lecture and events series at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, don't expect to get in.

The event, to be held at Memorial Hall Auditorium is free and open to the public, but priority will be given to Pratt students and faculty members with valid ID at 2:30 p.m. Members of the public will be admitted at 2:50 p.m. should seating be available.

No press access for me

I asked for press access and was told that "we are at capacity for press seating... Please note that we have an extremely limited number of press seats and that seating priority at the event will be given to Pratt students and staff members."

I asked which news outlets had priority, so we know where to look for coverage, and also asked if the event would be taped/webcast.

I didn't get a response.

Questions Brooklyn might have for Gehry

That's too bad, because Brooklyn is the place where Gehry should be asked if he has second thoughts about wanting to "create a neighborhood practically from scratch," about letting Forest City Ratner keep him from meeting with the community, about cracking that Atlantic Yards protesters "should have been picketing Henry Ford," and whether he thinks an outdoor plaza can work at Flatbush and Atlantic avenues.

Details of the talk: on beauty

According to the press release, Gehry seems more likely to talk about aesthethics than a contentious project:
Gehry will converse with Julie Iovine, executive editor of The Architect's Newspaper, and Yael Reisner, author of "Architecture and Beauty: Conversations with Architects about a Troubled Relationship" (Wiley, 2010), which is based on 16 interviews Reisner conducted with some of the world's most creative designers, including Gehry, on their beliefs, experiences, and position on aesthetics. The 16 designers discuss their formative experiences, creative processes and motivations, and whether they think that beauty is integral or nonessential to architecture.

Gehry's notable projects include the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao; Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles; and the "Dancing House" building, Prague. He received the Pritzker Prize, the world's most prestigious architecture award, in 1989.
The press release mistakenly claims that "[r]ecent projects include the Barclays Center sports arena," somehow missing the news that Gehry in 2009 was taken off not just the arena but the entire Atlantic Yards project.

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