Last week before the Thanksgiving break, I went to pay a visit to my high school for Alumni Day. My school is located in Tribeca and so I decided to walk through City Hall to get there. While walking I noticed the building pictured above. It is the Beekman Tower at 8 Spruce Street. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry and it was his first skyscraper. I never realized that it was completed and upon further research I found out that it was completed two years ago. As a high schooler I used to always walk by the building as it was under construction. Designed by an architect superstar or not, I thought it was ugly then and still think its an eyesore. Many praise it as one of finest skyscrapers to have risen in New York. To me, it will always look like an uncompleted building still waiting to receive its finishing touches.
I’ve never seen this skyscraper before, but I’ve always enjoyed looking at oddly shaped buildings, and this definitely fits the bill. The waves look extremely interesting and seem to bring an ocean like quality to it. But until I read you thought it didn’t look complete did I notice it as well. It seems as though the top is just missing something, as if the building’s waves just come to a complete stop, and in my opinion, it throws the whole building off.
It’s weird. I’ve passed by that same building many times but I’ve always thought it looked very cool. You can’t see it well in this picture but when the sun reflects on the waves of the building, it fragments the light; which creates a very beautiful and shimmering effect. I believe the waves give so much more dimension and texture to the building given that its just another luxury condo that no one but CEOs can afford to live in.