Times Square tango - Front Page

Art in America, Dec, 2002 by Stephanie Cash

A splashy new hotel in Times Square has drawn lots of attention for its colorful and quirky appearance. It is designed by the Miami-based firm Arquitectonica, headed by the husband-and-wife team of Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Laurinda Spear. The $370-million, 863-room Westin hotel consists of a 17-story irregular blocky structure with an asymmetrical multicolored facade dotted with windows, and a 45-story tower bisected by a slicing white arc that, at night, is extended into the sky via rooftop spotlights. One half of the tower is sheathed in blue glass, representing the sky, the other is a coppery pink for the earth; both are punctuated by "brushstrokes," actually stripes of contrasting tones. The 42nd St. side of the lower structure houses a multiplex cinema, stores and restaurants, as well as eight floors of hotel rooms.

Variously described in the press as bold, innovative, carnivalesque and ugly, it is one of the more controversial buildings erected recently in the city. New York Times critic Herbert Muschamp praised its Latin flavor, hailing it as a pivotal structure that "signifies an important shift in the history of taste." On the other hand, Paul Goldberger of the New Yorker calls it garish and shrill, saying it "enthralls in the way a gruesome accident does." He asks, "Why try to upstage the electronic spectacle that defines Times Square?" Fort-Brescia explains that "we wouldn't do this on Wall Street but Times Square is the entertainment district of New York. The building is performing. It has to be somewhat histrionic." For his part, Goldberger, along with other critics, is more appreciative of the building's interior spaces and architectural details.

The Westin is the latest addition to the redeveloped, cleaned-up and Disneyfied Times Square, a project begun under former mayor Rudolph Giuliani. One more project, a 35-story tower designed by Fox & Fowle--the firm responsible for the nearby Conde Nast and Reuters buildings--is under way. The $500-million building, which will combine office, retail and residential space, is being developed by Howard and Edward Milstein, who expect it to open in 2004.