The Limits of Building Big in the City

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 STREET VIEW [The Showman Becomes the Realist]( Bjarke Ingels and the limitations of building in New York. Photo: Thomas Prior A dozen years ago, the Copenhagen-born architect Bjarke Ingels decided he’d had it with a Scandinavian culture that strongly disapproved of arrogance. And so he made a beeline for the world capital of self-regard, a city where egotists are free to be themselves. He[arrived in New York]( intent on being a superstar, maybe even a superhero, with plans to[build a modern pyramid](. Soon, he was everywhere, a fast-talking futurist posing for magazine covers, schmoozing at Davos, snapping up sexy commissions, enlarging the firm he had dubbed BIG even before it was, and talking up the problem-solving magic of his profession with the sunny confidence of a tech entrepreneur. “Architects have to become more than just designers of two-dimensional façades or three-dimensional architectural objects,” he proclaimed in a[2011 TED Talk](. “We have to become designers of ecosystems — systems of both ecology and economy that … incorporate our consumption patterns and our leftovers into the natural environment.” He implied, without explicitly saying so, that the quickest and most efficient way to save the planet was to put up a lot of his buildings. Via, the pyramid building at the western end of 57th Street, was our first. [Continue reading »]( Want more on city life, real estate, and design? [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [Nir Meir’s Big Swindle The city is charging the former HFZ developer with fraud on three projects. His colleagues say they saw it coming.]( By James D. Walsh [New York Landlords Strike Out at the Supreme Court, Again Rent-stabilized tenants will continue to enjoy their automatic lease renewals.]( By Kim Velsey [Tennis at the Former Hotel Pennsylvania, Anyone? While Vornado waits for a better office market, it proposes a pop-up park on the vacant site.]( By Christopher Bonanos [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( [Sign up to get The Listings Edit](, a weekly digest of the most worth-it apartments in New York. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved