non-commercial public spaces are disappearing from use. . .big boxes and parking lots are our social parks now, where we brush up against each other in person. now we create public spaces online. I want to know. . . what the architecture of Facebook really looks like ?
I was invited to participate in an architecture critique recently. the students were all redesigning a local I.M.Pei building as a museum of money. (very clever assignment by professor Tim Nichols. this historic building is only 2 stories high on a block greedy for skyscrapers. this is prime real estate. small buildings waste space that could be making money. it stands just around the corner from the 615 building, which they killed two years ago, and the space still sits empty.) The design I remember the most was from a very shy young korean student. in her model, she removed the bottom floor of the building, and preserved the top as is. . . and then, she put an empty space for temporary open markets on the first floor. She made a simple yet lovely shady piazza! A place I would love to see come to fruition, especially on that corner which has dramatic spatial choreography.
But from what I can see, the developers will collaborate with I.M.Pei himself to deface his own building into a mixed use, and of course "green" mega-building. They intent to preserve "a portion" of the original. well, of course I'm skeptical. . .but I guess one can't be too critical of any attempts at preservation at this point. . . . . . . .
