“Did anyone at Columbia think of the existing buildings here? This looks like just another SOM glass sculpture imported via Photoshop and thrown around with some Starchitect names over a contextual background of West Harlem. There are buildings there; materials there, an inherent history which has spilled out on these streets of NYC for many years before Columbia existed. These renderings, plans and models seem to reinforce the stereotypes of Columbia as the giant space-hungry, ignorant neighbor interested in nothing more than the PR and vested self interest of expansion. What happens to the people, building, businesses, and functions of our city that is outplaced by the shiny glass boxes? It is quite ironic that Columbia's architecture school is heavy in the conceptual and when they expand their campus they seem to miss all the Arch 101 lessons inherent in any schooling of the subject (site/context/etc). I just moved into Manhattanville little over a year ago, very excited to find home in this unique, beautiful, and oft unknown area of Manhattan in the midst of major cultural change. Who knows what tales these buildings could tell, or to what use they could be envisioned with the right architect and the right client (maybe the people who OWN them? Or should I say used to own them. What an opportunity to have missed.”

Evan Lepore, Manhattanville

08-29-2008