I’m not really a fan of a lot of the more recent “modern” architectural things happening around New York City, and I’d imagine other cities around the world. Hudson yards, for example, leaves me cold. The outer features are interesting enough and probably reflect years of work put into innovative building materials and such, but there really isn’t much to them. There isn’t even a theme or aesthetic that runs through the project. It’s a hodgepodge and if you take the buildings as a group, it looks entirely random. The insides reflect little to no innovation at all unless there is some new air conditioning process that keeps them at refrigerator temperatures. Beyond the exterior eye candy, the multi-billion dollar mess lacks real imagination. It could have been a Magic Kingdom but it’s really not a lot more than a crass mall that blocks the view of the river. It all sees to be done for the sake of “we can.” That makes me wonder “who cares” but apparently I am in the minority.

This one though, down in Fi-Di, appeals to me. The aesthetic, to me, is kind of how we saw modern or space=age back in the 60s or 70s. The Jenga design is a sort of “retro-modernist” tip. I like it. I would actually live here. It excites me. It’s the first new building design I’ve seen in years that makes me giddy.

Giddy is good. It makes me feel ten years old again. I’d like to see a cluster of a half dozen of these things.