The heavy work of redesigning Lincoln Center is under way, and Robin Pogrebin of The New York Times has fantastic detail, including a handly little map of what’s going to happen. One important detail: the bridge over 65th street is coming down, to be replaced by a slender model that will let more light through to street level.
I, for one, am not weeping at the changes. The design of Lincoln Center has never done it for me. Think of the world’s great performance spaces–from La Scala in Milan to the Opera House in Sydney–they have a certain breathless majesty. Lincoln Center, on the other hand, has always looked to me like a really big budget elementary school. Architecturally, it has never seemed deserving of its place as an epicenter of New York City culture.
Pogrebin has an interesting quote from Gale Brewer, putting this project in a bigger context:
City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer, who represents the West Side of Manhattan, said the construction had so far not been unduly disruptive. “With cranes and construction everywhere in our community, and change that threatens the middle-class fabric of our neighborhood, the Lincoln Center project is the most positive construction site,” she said.
