Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

In a 1/30/09 interview with with the American Society of Landscape Architects, distinguished landscape architect Laurie Olin talked about projects he'd worked on, including Canary Wharf in London, Columbus Circle in New York, and the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. He didn't talk of his work on the controversial Atlantic Yards project, which he had recently left . But an exchange regarding sustainability leaves a hint Olin was influenced by the controversy: Q. How do you define sustainability in landscape architecture terms? How do you think landscape architects can gain recognition for their work, which often inherently deals in sustainability? What core ideas do you think will connect with the general public? A. We've talked about that a lot in our office in the last few years. It seems kind of ironic because, as you say, landscape architects have been doing this as long as there have been landscape architects. Sustainability. We may be tire...

Forest City Ratner has done some pruning of the May 2008 Image Gallery that still appears on the Atlantic Yards site. The project, if you go by the images, has no arena block and consists solely of Phase 2, (for which there is no timetable). If you look carefully, however, you'll see that the Phase 2 images are holdovers from the May 2006 Image Gallery. June 2009 version May 2008 Image Gallery May 2006 Image Gallery

From Tuesday's New York Post : A Parks official... also said the city has a "bad" habit of commissioning renderings for park projects "it knows it'll never be able to fully fund" just to grab a quick headline "and boost the mayor's popularity." That sounds a lot like Forest City Ratner commissioning landscape architect Laurie Olin for some renderings of open space not scheduled until Phase 2, for which the State Funding Agreement imposed no timetable. Remember, according to Empire State Development Corporation CEO Marisa Lago, Atlantic Yards could take "decades." And the open space is all scheduled for Phase 2.

The Architect's Newspaper warns against reading too much into Frank Gehry's laying off staff members working on the Atlantic Yards project. AN's Matt Chaban quotes Kermit Baker: "What we’re seeing, as a result of the credit freeze, is a lot of projects, even a lot of good projects, being put on hold. Once the credit markets begin to unfreeze, though, a lot of this work will come back." Baker was not speaking directly about AY, but Chaban suggests that situation could apply. That's plausible. Then again, Forest City Ratner could have been a lot more enthusiastic in talking about the issue. Why not say Gehry's on sabbatical? Chaban also warns not to read much into Gehry's unwillingness to comment, calling it par for the course. Olin vs. Gehry? The Architect's Newspaper reported last month that AY landscape architect Laurie Olin, said to be on sabbatical, may be at odds with Gehry: Even if Atlantic Yards does build a second phase with Olin on the ...

The New York Daily News, which despite some egregious Atlantic Yards reportage and alleged interference by Forest City Ratner has been leading AY coverage among the dailies lately, advances the story by suggesting a rift between AY architect Frank Gehry and the developer. While the Wall Street Journal two days ago reported that Gehry had dropped all his staffers working on the project, in an article today headlined Architect drops ax on Yards staff , the Daily News suggests that the layoff of some two dozen workers wasn't quite amicable: "Almost all the people working on the Brooklyn project got laid off," said a source familiar with the cuts who claimed the developer had refused to pay Gehry additional costs for design revisions. "Basically, he's not willing to pay." That suggests the effect of limited cash flow, not the all-purpose excuse of litigation, for which Forest City has blamed the work stoppage at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's...

The New York Observer followed up my post today on Laurie Olin's apparent departure from the Atlantic Yards project by getting a statement from Forest City Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco (the "dark genius," as I once dubbed him): "Laurie Olin has been involved from the beginning of the design process and he will be involved in the end. The eight acres of open space will be built as part of Phase 2 of the project, which has always been the case. Mr. Olin has completed preliminary work on that and will be involved going forward." Reasons for skepticism Does that mean Olin is currently involved? No. Do the statements that Olin will be involved "in the end" and "going forward" mean he'll be designing the eight acres of open space? Not necessarily. Maybe he'd just show up for the ribbon-cutting. Is Olin on sabbatical, which implies that some level of a retainer and/or consulting relationship? Maybe. However, if so, why does his web site d...

It's time to update the FAQ on the Forest City Ratner web site which says, "The award-winning landscape architect Laurie Olin, who also designed the public spaces for Battery Park City, is designing the publicly accessible open space at Atlantic Yards." No longer, apparently. The web site for the Olin Studio suggests that Olin's work on Atlantic Yards has concluded. ( Updated 11:50 a.m. : Olin's office sent me a statement (I first inquired last week): "OLIN completed a master plan for Atlantic Yards that we believe was a serious response to the many issues raised regarding this portion of the City of New York, and the great need for large amounts of affordable housing with adjacent well-designed, environmentally-responsive public landscape. We enjoyed a supportive and appreciative relationship with the owner/developer, the architects and the City of New York public officials. The current economic turmoil points to the truth that plans of such scope almost i...

Last Monday, I wrote about Forest City Ratner's latest promotional brochure , pointing to a rendering of the Atlantic Yards arena that seemed to have been cropped in a very curious manner. Here's another. At right is a spread from the flier emphasizing the provision of affordable housing and the project's "eco-friendly nature." The rendering is long on foreground, short on background. Project towers--some of them planned to be 30, 40, and 50 stories, are cut off, with only half-a-dozen floors visible. The main image of the project is... trees. The original rendering The graphic in the brochure was cropped from the rendering at right, produced by landscape architect Laurie Olin. It's misleading itself, because it doesn't show the full towers, some of which would be 30, 40, and 50 stories tall. But at least it shows some 16 stories. The trees are there, but they're not the dominant image.

Shortly after new designs for the Atlantic Yards arena and one building were released on May 5, I wrote on May 8 that the magazine Landscape Architecture, published by the American Society of Landscape Architects, predicted coverage of Atlantic Yards in the June and September issues. The June issue is out and the Design section did not include an article on Atlantic Yards. When's it coming? Should we wait until September? Nope. A revised editorial calendar , as of 6/5/08, makes no mention of Atlantic Yards. So we're left wondering what Olin plans as temporary landscaping for empty lots that, as the Municipal Art Society suggested, might turn into Atlantic Lots.

First Frank Gehry's new designs, then more from Laurie Olin? That sounds like developer Forest City Ratner's new Atlantic Yards strategy. Remember, in May 2006, architect Gehry and landscape architect Olin appeared together at a press conference announcing new designs for the Atlantic Yards project. A photo of the two men with Jim Stuckey, then Forest City Ratner's point man on the project, showed them somewhat beleaguered. (Photo from 5/12/06 New York Times article headlined Developer Defends Atlantic Yards Plan for Brooklyn .) New strategy Gehry and Olin appear to be under wraps, with Gehry making pronouncements ("slimmer, more elegant and more festive") via press release. On Monday, Gehry's new designs were given to the Daily News as an exclusive, then released by the developer. As I pointed out Tuesday , Olin's somewhat stale designs, curiously enough, remain in the Atlantic Yards Image Gallery . However, as Gehry's new graphics suggest, the Urban...

In the list of Atlantic Yards promises broken, the newly-revealed loss of a green roof (3+ acres) on the arena follows 1) the decision to make promised publicly-accessible open space on the arena private and 2) the decision to move the project's flagship tower (then called "Miss Brooklyn"), promised to not block views of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank's clock tower, so it would block such views, even with a reduction in height. The difference might be that the green roof was relied on significantly in the Empire State Development Corporation's environmental review because it would help with stormwater management and thus help prevent against CSOs (combined sewer overflows). Does its loss invalidate the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which has been challenged in state court? Unclear. The case was dismissed and is now on appeal, with arguments to be heard in September . In plain sight For years, models of the project showed a green roof on top of the...

Is the Atlantic Yards project really progressing? The current Image Gallery has the exact same renderings by landscape architect Laurie Olin that were unveiled in May 2006 (bottom). Also, it's a smaller gallery because it lacks any images of Site 5, Phase 2, or neighborhood perspectives, flawed as they may be. Click on graphics to enlarge. May 2006 Image Gallery

The newly-posted Times video titled New Design for Atlantic Yards verges on an infomercial--even though the new 'video' section of the Times web site is supposed to feature "more original Times video reporting," the Times Company said last month. (Here's a letter to the editor.) Narrator: With the unveiling of the latest model for the proposed Atlantic Yards project for Downtown Brooklyn, architects Frank Gehry and Laurie Olin emphasize details they said would harmonize the project’s scale with the neighborhood it borders. In contrast to the last proposal, the new one portrays shorter and thinner buildings where the project abuts a mostly low-rise neighborhood. Downtown Brooklyn? Apparently the video department of the Times didn't get the correction memo. Shorter and thinner? Compared to what? The scaleback was five percent from the previous iteration--which leaves this version larger than the originally announced plan--and four buildings have new s...

So here's what I missed when I was blocked from attending the press conference yesterday: architect Frank Gehry, a self-described "do-gooder, liberal," accusing critics in Brooklyn of being, basically, Luddites. “There is progress. There's constant change,” said Gehry, according to NY1 . “People aren't riding around on horseback anymore.” "They should've been picketing Henry Ford," he cracked, according to several news reports. But Gehry, perhaps because he has been prevented from meeting with local residents concerned about the project, remains fundamentally wrong in his analysis. (Remember, in January, he called the proposed footprint "an empty site.") And the New York Times (and some other press outlets) let him get away with it. A Times article initially headlined "New Design for Atlantic Yards Presented" and later tweaked online Developer Defends Atlantic Yards Plan for Brooklyn (and in print as "Developer Defends A...