SchnabelWatch: Julian Schnabel Has Lost His Mind

1.

Wow. How might it feel to live inside a huge pink middle finger?

2.

Maybe this will give unreasonable preservationists, those who don't care about property owners' rights, reason to pause and consider the possible consequences of their actions. Go Julian!

3.

the color of the building is nothing like your photoshoped hot pink.
the only thing honest about this photo is curb's desire to court controversy.
the west village is full of hideous buildings, and this one is not one of them.

4.

It's definitely not trying to blend in.

5.

Er, Curbed didn't take this photo - it's from The Villager.

6.

As long as people are willing to pay big bucks for broken plates "artists" will be able to live in pink

7.

I LOVE IT

8.

i think it looks great.
"oh no, it's a different color than i'm used to"

at least it's not blue glass

9.

I kind of like it...

10.

i never really liked julian, but now i do.

11.

What architect did he shame into dreaming that monstrosity up for him?

12.

after his tour de force, hotel gramercy bar, i expected more from his westside building. the articulation of the volumes is interesting/quirky enough, (for the most part) but the scale of some of the details is way off, particularly with the balastrades at the balconies. not very masterful at all. what a shame.

13.

It kind of looks like it is made out of red velvet cake! Great, now I'm hungry.

14.

Ugly, but if this causes that rat bastard obstructionist Andrew Berman's head to lethally explode, it's worth it.

15.

I love it! Go Julian! Berman must be going crazy right now...

16.

Someone should beat the crap out of Schnabel.Ooh, let me!

17.

I like it. At least its interesting. Sad day when something hot pink is too risque for the West Village.

18.

Everyone is giving him way too much credit. He's not trying to get back at anyone, he just has really bad taste.

19.

I love it!

20.

New York needs more of this. More absurdity, more audacity. Too much big money seriousness for a (former?) art center. Wall street back the f..k up!

Of course I don't live across the street neither.

21.

Wow - it's amazing the lengths to which the Villager will complain based on a photo that is obviously oversaturated. I live 3 blocks away from the building and it is most certainly NOT pink. Much closer to a reddish-maroon. I, for one, am happy to not see another Meier-esque glass crapbox that pushes the city further and further towards becoming Hong Kong west.

22.

i personally don't care if he has bad taste or not, i'd say one ugly building is worth it just to piss off andrew berman this much. what a loser he is

23.

If you think NYC needs more flamboyant bad taste, maybe you should move to Miami, or perhaps any given McMansion-plagued suburb.

Then you can have all the overcaled, pink stuccoed, psuedo-historical Mary Kay claptrap your eyes can digest before imploding into your head.

24.

This building makes no architectural sense whatsoever. Blech. The proportions are way off, and the massing is just clumsy.

It's like some cheap Mediterranean developer schlock has been imported to New York and been painted some random loud color.

25.

Can someone please post a picture of the building showing its actual colors? Or link to such a photo, if it exists?

26.

http://www.curbed.com/2005_11_schnabel.jpg

That's the BEFORE shot. It doesn't matter what color he paints it, the neighbors aren't going to like the AFTER.

27.

Same as #10. Was never a big fan of his but this is great. I wish it was pink. I'm an architect and I love the mismatch of styles, the windows that look like he bought whatever was on sale. It's great. Especially since it pisses Berman off.

28.

the villager is right. it looks like madonna's old mansion in the hollywood hills. welcome to the new new york...

also, J.S. is an arrogant asshole, all around, so a move like this doesnt surprise me. screw the whole city and everyone who has to walk by this monster (color is the least of its problems) just to piss off some local preservationists. really classy.

29.

A bold strong buiding that make Richard Meier glass towers look pale.

BEAUTIFUL, LOVE IT !!

30.

I gotta agree with Johan (#24). What a botched job. It's what I call "Odessa architecture". But then, come to think of it, Schnabel himself kinda looks like a Russian wise guy. Maybe he can sell his condos to the people priced out of Oceana in Brighton Beach.

31.

ANDREW BERMAN IS GOING TO BE THE NEXT CITY COUNCIL MEMBER FOR THE VILLAGE/CHELSEA WHETHER YOU JERKS LIKE IT OR NOT!

Yesterday he got NYU to re-consider and support his landmarking effort for the South Village.

The people who count - the voters of chelsea/GV - love him.

The rest of you misanthropes can kiss Schanbel's ass!

32.

Has he begun marketing the residences? I couldn't find anything. Will it be a condo? I have questions people.

33.

Sure, #31 (Berman), whatever you say. I don't know anyone in the Village who likes you. You're only in the news all the time because the Villager newsrag owners are the same people who fund your one-man organization (GHVSP).

There is no real landmarking effort in the South Village. It's just you trying to thwart NYU from building anywhere. Go back to Jersey, swampscum.

34.

#31 is delusional. Perhaps it's Berman trying to defend his last vestiges of relevence.

35.

Somebody needs to look up the definition of "misanthrope". Your post actually confirmed that you are a misanthrope.

NYU may not be perfect, but there's no way they negotiate with nobodies like Andrew B. I trust NYU more than some hired gun from Jersey.

Schnabel for President!!!

36.

Ha - ha!!

I figured my post #31 would get all you Andrew Berman-haters irate and exercised. I was right! Thanks for confirming.

You guys are as dumb and ignorant of local sentiment as I figured you were.

Everyone on the street in Chelsea/GV- and not underemployed real estate schills - know Berman is our guy.

See you losers on election day as Berman coasts to victory.

37.

You tell 'em, #36! Don't forget that Big Bird will be City Council President and the Easter Bunny will be Mayor. These haters don't have the love that NIMBYs like us will always have.

38.

#36, the only people in the Village who support Berman are the same half-dozen grannies who show up to every CB2 meeting. Granted, there aren't tons of Villagers who loathe him either. People have more important things in their lives then whether or not Berman can preserve a parking lot or a vacant warehouse.

90% of Village residents have no idea who he is and 5% know him and don't care one way or the other. There are a few people for and aginst, but not many in either camp. Most people have lives.

39.

The building is not so bad at all. Bravo to Schnabel for using brick.

40.

I just walked by the Schnabel building. It is not as pink as in this image but it is a horrendously inappropriate color, almost a sliver building and with those Mediterranean windows is completely out of character with the Village. It would look great in Miami Beach however.

Why anyone would think this is attractive is beyond me.

Finally, Berman is better known in Greenwich Village than he is in this blog, and lots of people are familiar with him here, so you do the extrapolation.

MJ, if he is so unknown, how well known are his opponents? Can you name one other person seeking that office?

Come on, tell me, Weisenheimer. Otherwise, stop with the disinformation.

41.

All you haters just wait. In 50 years, this thing will be adding "character" to the village and the next Andrew Berman will be trying to landmark it.

42.

This is odd, but I'd rather have this than another all-glass tower.

One-off exceptions are more interesting than the same thing done over and over -- if Lever House were the only glass building in Manhattan we would all think it's fantastic, but now there are literally a few hundred others, and more every day. Many blocks of Madison are all glass, and they're boring.

I haven't seen the base, but perhaps because it's semi-traditional it makes the street wall in an acceptable way? I don't know. I do know color can change over time -- in two years Schnabel might decide to paint or stain it ochre.

2) except for the c

43.

I live in the neighborhood and the issue, at least for me, isn't the style - I'm all for something different and original - it's that the building looks rather poorly put together. It's like if you took some pseudo italianate/spanish mcmansion from a cul de sac'd housing development and made it 10 or 12 or however many stories tall. It just looks cheapo and overly referential. Also, has anyone noticed that aren't windows or terraces facing the water? Seems kinda ridiculous. This isn't 1926. And finally, the idea of this place, that Schnabel will handpick the residents to create some sort of millionaires' bohemia is well, mockable.

44.

The editors of this site & The Villager are trafficking in the names of others.
Mr Schnabel has obviously designed & built something that he wanted to build for himself.
I think the color is quite beautiful - in fact the whole thing is pretty great - not Miami Beach but Venetian or Spanish. It has bits of an older NY -the 20's era Candela buildings - very European. I like the cast stone railings & things.
It is not the "hot pink" his critics imagine. The color they imagine (or photoshop) so that they can attack him for mocking them. If people are personalizing the color of this guy's building perhaps it is them who have lost touch.
The manipulation of the photo says it all. The people being given the finger are the readers of this site & the local paper. It's hard to tell who's more opportunistic: Andrew Berman or these editors.

45.

Looks like Berman's been busy learning Photoshop.

46.

There is always a way to reek revenge on a neighbor like Schnabel. He must have a vehicle somewhere. In my old 'hood we'd just sugar his gas tank or pop his headlights or rear lights with a pipe. Other harrassment can involve putting his address on a bunch of gay porn mailing lists. We had a drunk driver who'd come home faced (it was in L.A.) and sideswipe our cars. He was obviously a hazzard, so we disabled his car, so he was no longer a danger to anyone. Vigilante justice is sweet.

47.

His new movie is really great.

48.

Looks like a medieval prison.

49.

It looks great! Much better than all the glass going up! Good for Schnabel!
Love it!

50.

It looks great! Different!
Much better than the cheap glass buildings going up all over NYC.
Love it!

51.

Bravo #44! You "get it". Diversity and creativity is why we live in the West Village. Go Julian. Build a Purple Elephant or a Tangerine Tower of Babylon on Leroy and West! We love it. Shake it up before NYC turns into Singapore or HK!

52.

Horrifyingly ugly.

Has nothing to do with the neighborhood.

Vulgar beyond belief.

Clearly the architects have no ethics.

Everyone at D.O.B. should be fired for letting this nightmare slip through the system.

53.

Julian is a talented artist and an EXTRAORDINARY writer/director. If any of you
saw his film Basquiat I feel sure that you would not want to criticize him
or his building. Hopefully
the negative publicity over the building will pull a wider audience in to see his
films. He is a multi-talented brilliant artist. Some people can't handle that.
I hope to see him receiving many best director awards in the future, and I
hope people will be kinder to him too. Bravo Julian!

54.

Typically, I'm opposed to new construction modeling itself as though it were built in a different era however, Schnabel pulled it off very well due to his attention to detail. I have toured the interior and I was impressed! Wait till interior photo's are made public! I find the building to be quite fun, it breaks up the otherwise safe/ sleek & modern urbanscape. If everyone wants to go on bashing buildings in the west village, check out the residence by Lot-ek on west 4th between Bank & 11th- truck bodies make up the facade! They attempted to shake up the west village a bit as well!