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Saturday, April 26, 2014

Looking Back at Architecture of 2013- Daily News


New York City architecture in 2013: The great and the not-so-great  

A toast to 4 World Trade Center, Sunset Park's new recycling center and Walker Tower, plus a hard look at Prospect Park's new skating center

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, February 7, 2014, 2:09 AM
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 Real estate shot of 4 World Trade Center at dusk.
Joe Woolhead 4 World Trade Center.
In the spirit of the Olympics, here are our three favorite projects from 2013 — plus one that didn't stick the landing.

Gold medal
4 World Trade Center
It may not be the biggest building on the 16-acre site, nor the boldest, but it is certainly the most beautiful — a quiet, dignified tower that honors its sacred home. Using simple geometries, Japanese master architect Fumihiko Maki put a notched parallelogram atop a trapezoid and covered the whole thing in a crystalline glass sheath. The result is a solemn sentinel watching over the site.
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 The Sims recycling center.</p>

Marc Lins

The Sims recycling center.

Silver medal
Sims recycling center
Annabelle Selldorf is best known for designing Fifth Ave. boutiques, Chelsea galleries and luxury apartments. And now a recycling plant in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (below). The firm used standard prefabricated beams and modules to create the hangar-like structure on the harbor. The surprisingly sleek industrial facility shows that simple components and a clever hand can achieve great results.


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 Walker Tower.</p>

 

Walker Tower.

Bronze medal
Walker Tower
There's a reason the wealthy and celebs like Cameron Diaz have been flocking to Walker Tower (right). Take a neglected art deco telephone exchange towering over Chelsea, gut it and turn it into a modern throwback. Period details and newfangled accessories are expensive, which explains why the penthouse is in contact for $50.9 million, a downtown record.
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 One of the rinks at the Lakeside skating center.</p>

Christie M. Farriella

One of the rinks at the Lakeside skating center.

Dishonorable mention
Lakeside skating center
A good effort by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, but the new skating center in Prospect Park (right) is more of an unpolished diamond — nice rinks, but utterly lacking in necessities like changing rooms and benches for hockey. We can only hope the problems will be addressed. Matt Chaban

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