Gehry in Gotham

I am not going to condense the writings of architecture critics or critique their criticism of Frank Gehry. I am not qualified to do so and much has already been written on Gehry, this building in particular and its relationship to his other work. Gehry is an internationally known starchitect and this is his first (long awaited) commission in NYC - click here photos of the entire building. A quick visual review of his work will immediately tell you what all the controversy is about (such as the concert hall for Disney or this Dancing House). The recently completed IAC building shown in the photo is located in Chelsea at 19th Street and 11th Avenue and serves as world headquarters for media and internet empire of Barry Diller. This work is rather tame by comparison to Gehry's other work, typically very sculptural and characterized by warped, curved surfaces. His most well known work is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Spain. In spite of the critics, many do feel that works like Gehry's are much needed in NYC, which has been plagued by essentially very conservative, bland, utilitarian office buildings. I have written of a handful of other "starchitects" and their works in the city - click on the various links: Richard Meier and his residential towers in the West Village, David Rockwell and his renovation work at the W Hotel Union Square and at the Carlton, Philip Johnson and his Urban Glass House and Charles Gwathmey and his 21 story glass residential condo at Astor Place. There are new projects by Santiago Calatrava and Jean Nouvel ...