CG Atrocity: There Goes the Neighborhood
Carroll Gardens better get off its ass and create some historic districts pronto. Here’s the poster child for the cause: The addition to this house at 3rd Place and Clinton Street, made all the worse by its corner location, has to be one of the greatest bastardizations of a beautiful old brownstone we’ve ever seen….
Carroll Gardens better get off its ass and create some historic districts pronto. Here’s the poster child for the cause: The addition to this house at 3rd Place and Clinton Street, made all the worse by its corner location, has to be one of the greatest bastardizations of a beautiful old brownstone we’ve ever seen. May their condos languish on the market indefinitely. Do you think it would be possible to organize a buying strike against this place? Picket the open houses? GMAP P*Shark
Here’s the rendering of the finished product:
the problem in my eyes is that the city lacks anything between developmental anarchy and the frozen in time approach of landmarks.
Couldn’t the city set something up where you can replace your windows w/o a 1 yr approval process but the worst of the worst in design elements could be prevented (fedders, cinderblock construction, etc.)?
Anyone who thinks this is “cool” lacks the most elementary visual sensitivity and doesn’t get that in a dense city with diverse people architecture *must* be guided by “boring” conventions lest the contorted taste of the few be imposed upon the many in a manner the “cool”-seekers would likely find totally unacceptable in any other realm of life. This is execrable architecture of the sort that is suited only to the privacy of one’s own gated boondock retreat. Unfortunately, I am not at all convinced that in the present climate the Landmarks Preservation Commission would not have approved this. Brutal disjuncture is the name of the puerile game being played by our putative elite in the early 21st century.
By the way, this house is *not* a brownstone.
Holy bleep,
That thing is FUQQEN UGLY.
THEY JUST DEVOURED THAT BUIDLING.
QUICK BATMAN, TAKE THAT BUILDING EXTENSION OFF AND SAVE US ALL FROM THE MISERIE OF LOOKING AT THAT PIECE OF GARBAGE. PLEASE ARREST THESE GUYS WHOM ARE OVERPAYING FOR BUILDINGS AND SCREWING WITH THE ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPE.
IT HAPPENS IN THE CITY, NOW IT’S HAPPENING IN THE BKLYN PART OF THE CITY, too.
:o(
I tried. I really tried but I just have to say it- it’s hideous. It reminds me of that Greek Kouros sculpture of the shepherd with a sheep draped over his neck. They could have done so much with an addition but just seemed to go with the most expediant. The only good thing about it is that it doesn’t drastically alter the house from the front.
I can respond to 3:05 with authority: “It wasn’t me.”
Then again, I admire the lack of Ye-Olde nostagia. I mean, this project is at least a little *interesting*. And you have to give some points to the BK rendering that doesn’t show a kid with a balloon.
Pardon me while I hope on my High-Wheeler. Haircuts were JUST 5 cents!
The Zoning must consider future growth or else we would all still be living in farm houses! What brooklyn started out with in case you do not know was much less density.
I presume that this addition conforms with the existing zoning. I’m not trying to point out a zoning-code violation, which would be the province of DOB. (So relax, scarano – at least when it comes to this particular development.)
The point I AM trying to make is (re: my comments @ 6:59 last night), is the *zoning* itself appropriate for this neighborhood? Does the zoning reflect the existing built character (re: height, massing, FAR, lot coverage/open space)? Does the existing zoning encourage overscale development – and perhaps even, in time, pressure to tear down in order to rebuild in a more generous building envelope?
I would suspect it is within the allowable zoning. In many areas, allowable zoning is “bigger” than the existing zoning, even when contextual zoning is in force. As you (7:18) note, a 65′ height limit and 80% lot coverage is well above the existing built fabric. As is the FAR – looking at the addition, I wonder if they are really maximizing the zoning envelope (if the existing building is 1.25, does the addition double the square footage – I wonder?).
Michael Just, the Architect of record for the job, has as much right to build within the zoning and code regulations as anybody with a license has. I just hope he has the backbone to withstand the public as well as the onslaught of DOB reviews based on this Posting.