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Goodbye, Quirky 2 Columbus Circle
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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A judge has allowed the sale and redesign of 2 Columbus Circle, the bizarro building increasingly dwarfed by sleek skyscrapers. The Museum of Arts and Design had been fighting to get started on its new space for the past year, but various preservation groups filed a lawsuit to stop them from changing the facade of the Edward Durrell Stone building. Alternately called an icon of the Modern Movement and terrible 60s kitsch, the building was not approved as a landmark in 1996 by the Landmarks Preservation Commision, but it was on the National Historic Trust's list of endangered sites. The NY Times reports that the preservationists will still attempt further appeals.
Simply based on how weird and wacky it is, Gothamist would like it to stay as is. Architect Brad Cloepfil, commissioned with the redesign, has complained that 2 Columbus Circle looks like a "telephone transformer station", but as we love power substations and the like, we dig it. And we're not sure how we feel about his proposed design - click on "updates" at Cloepfil's website. What do you think?
And Curbed has more links to relief and uproar about the demise of 2 Columbus Circle.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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