After last week’s announcement that Frank Gehry would no longer be designing the Nets stadium at Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development, now comes word that the internationally renowned architect will not be designing any of the structures in the complex. Over the past few years, his iconic design has been scaled back and simplified due to changes in the economic climate and legal and political hurdles. Now, Ratner says, the only building Gehry will continue creating for him will be Beekman Tower — in Lower Manhattan. “We remain extremely proud of our work on the Atlantic Yards master plan and on the original arena, which we designed in close collaboration with Forest City Ratner,” Gehry said in a statement. “While there are always regrets at designs not realized, we greatly appreciate our ongoing relationship with Bruce and his team.” At this point, critics of the Atlantic Yards development (and there are many) are likely to get even more enraged, now that the site’s architectural value has been scrapped, its low-income housing pledges delayed, and it’s office space set aside for now. According to the Times, even supporters of the project are turning sour on it. If the subsequent design comes out looking similar to the bunkerlike new arena plans, it won’t be long before even proponents like Jay-Z (a part owner of the Nets and a Brooklyn native) become haters.
