MSNBC reporta that Donald Trump dislikes the proposed New York World Trade Center redevelopment. Before I read this article, I wasn’t even aware of the counter proposal to update the original design by Minoru Yamasaki, but now that I have I’m very impressed. To me the design fits better with what I would expect in Manhattan.
The Freedom Tower is undeniably innovative and all that, but it looks far too much like the kind of building that wins modern design contests. There’s too much architecture and not enough building. I don’t understand the skeleton at the top. That part of the design comes off as a vain attempt to make a smaller building fill the shoes of a larger one. It strikes me as unlike New York to punt in that fashion: especially with regard to tall buildings.
More important than the design, the Twin Towers revisited design also has a powerful emotional factor in its favour. I don’t think that selling real estate, including really big real estate, is different from anything else people pay money for: the story has to be good. And, rebuilding the Twin Towers a wee bit taller and a wee bit better is a good story. It blasts Big Apple attitude in all directions, which is good given that it’s about New York.
BC-STV Falls Short
It would appear that the Single Transferable Vote didn’t quite have enough support to pass in yesterday’s referendum in BC. As a fan of political theatre and oddball candidates, I must admit that I’m a little disappointed. However, it’s good to see that both the premier and opposition leader acknowledge that a lot of people would like to see electoral reform. For obvious reasons, quite a few people deeply involved in party politics (like BC NDP leader Carol James) prefer the mixed member proportional system to STV. The party lists help keep the party machinery in charge and are a handy way to find slots for star candidates.
With his initiation of the process leading up to the referendum Gordon Campbell is doing a good job of making himself a comfortable spot in the BC political history books. It should be interesting to see what happens.