[artspook]

never met an architectural model I didn't love . .
even the Ingles models of 2 WTC look great . . but only as models . .
so too does the model of "the Vessel" pictured above . .
it's fascinating as a small sculpture . .
and it probably would be exciting full scale, in most other locations . .
but I'm not sure that's the case here . .

Hudson Yards is already getting to be an alienating neighborhood . .
. . with all that biggness everywhere . . all covered in silver glass . .
Will this spiral vessel . . in proximity to "the Spiral" Ingles' building . .
send HY spiraling into the twilight zone . .

The other day after touring HY construction . .
I found myself walking down an avenue canyon in the west 30s . . B'way, I think . .
in the monotonous Garment District . . a stretch of the city I used to hate . .
It's an ugly endless progression of massive masonry factory buildings . .
it could use a glass building or two there . . to break up the sameness . .

but after the mirrored corridors of Hudson Yards, . .
with silvery-blue 10 HY & 30 HY, reflecting 3 manhattan West . .
with its slick glass reflecting everything else . . more such glass at 5 MW . .
it's disorienting corners . . mirroring into each other ad infinitum . .
then envisioning all the proposals in the HY pipeline . . with lots more sterility
coming very soon into this environment . . OMG . . it was truly a relief
to experience the ugly Garment-District canyon . .
with it's cozy warmth of earthy masonry materials . .

So, in this relentlessly brand-spanking-new neighborhood . .
you'll get these intriguing, but daunting stairs, going every which way, . .
in a harsh, visually confusing, Esher-esque geometry . .
Doesn't this uninviting, uncomfortable human-hamster maze . .
seem sort of "fun-house horror-movie-ish" ? . .
not cozy, not serene, not tranquil, not sublime, . .
Please God, just send us an unpretentious little brick church here . .
or an old tenement building with a decorative cornice and a rusted fire escape . .

So my point about the Vessel is . .
relationships of scale & location make all the difference . .
in its large actual-size scale . . with it's harsh windswept vibe . .
it sort of wont attract the everyday passerby to get in there and party . .
Well, certain people, in a vivacious mood, will surely dig it . .
But overall, for the average bloke shopping or coming from work ? . .
or his grandma, it's not gonna be happenin' . .
but hey, it's better than the Eiffel Tower . .