Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Don't worry, it's supposed to look like that

From NBC:

A new building being constructed in Union Square has triggered concerns among neighbors and passersby who think the structure looks crooked, but officials say it's all part of the design.

The building going up on Fifth Avenue and 14th Street will eventually become the new home of the New School's University Center, housing a dormitory, cafeteria and auditorium.

But as it's being constructed, some of the columns holding up the concrete floors don't appear straight.

But it's no mistake, according to the dean at Parsons' New School for Design, which is part of The New School. Instead, it's an engineering achievement.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another bad example of function follows form.

Anonymous said...

Don't worry it's designed to fall down properly! Where is DOT?

Anonymous said...

Overly cute architects that fall into themselves and out of design sense ...

with developers with too much money and no equivalent refined sense of taste ....

has always made ugly architecture.

Anonymous said...

Gravity has a priority over aesthetics in this case.

A crooked floor creates a non-uniform load and that's a classic building (and people) killer.

transport_eng said...

The floors aren't crooked. The columns aren't conventionally designed. Corner and perimeter columns typically pull inwards due to loads on the interior side and no loads to counter outside. Having it bent like that resists forces like a crude flat arch. There are girders that tie to the the columns at/near the top of the building like arch abutments.

Anonymous said...

Give it 10 years until it collapses and we are giving the "developers" another tax break to do it all over again.