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I visited Hudson Yards and the Vessel on the opening day. I don't find the Vessel itself to be as architecturally offensive as others, I think it's a fine idea.

I visited Hudson Yards and the Vessel on the opening day. I don't find the Vessel itself to be as architecturally offensive as others, I think it's a fine idea. A seven story mall, however, is a preposterous idea. In a day and age when malls are dying. Especially in a city! Malls were made to emulate city centers, and Manhattan already is great to wander around. The whole experience is just so very clearly synthetic. There's no unifying theme or feel, other than that of "we spent a whole lot of money making this place, it can't fail". I imagine I'll continue to see lots of marketing about it over the next 10 years, desperately trying to make it a tourist attraction. Maybe they'll succeed.

whistlerbrk 8y ago
I work at WTC and this is exactly how I feel about the area under the Oculus connecting the Brookfield Mall. It's like a scene out of Gattaca, a massive dizzyling underground mall/complex with no natural light filled with luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at. Everyone walks through in a daze, seemingly impressed by the magnitude of the cavern but at the same I can't help to think they feel as equally empty and drained by it as me. Developments like Hudson Yards seem to be cargo culturing culture. If we build a public arts space, offices, restaurants, shops, and a playground then surely people will arrive, right?! Feels very weird.
- walterbell 8y ago
  > luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at 3D walk-in billboards.
  - caprese 8y ago
    Exactly, I think of them as exhibits. I've looked at brick and mortar as museums for a long time and I'm not the only one. My wonderment and praise for the gallery curator shattered by the clerk trying to upsell me on a store credit card or data mining loyalty program. "Why are you talking?" Must be the quizzical expression my face makes as I take slightly too long to reply. For actually purchasing something going into a retail store is basically a game of "how is the sales person going to lie to me today". It should come with a laugh track streamed live on twitch.
- crazygringo 8y ago
  > with no natural light I mean, I agree with you a lot, but the Oculus itself is tons of natural light, it's all soaring windows: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZQvDMR-aOZc/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZQvDMR-aOZc/maxresdefault.jpg The above-ground Oculus structure is beautiful and inspiring in a way little architecture in that part of the city is.
- atombender 8y ago
  > filled with luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at This [1] Reddit thread from the other day was interesting reading. Those empty luxury shops are definitely to a large extent ads for high-end companies who just want to have a New York presence. Same thing on 5th avenue and in airports. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/b2n7y6/people_that_work_retail_at_the_oculus/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/b2n7y6/people_that_...

whistlerbrk 8y ago

I work at WTC and this is exactly how I feel about the area under the Oculus connecting the Brookfield Mall. It's like a scene out of Gattaca, a massive dizzyling underground mall/complex with no natural light filled with luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at. Everyone walks through in a daze, seemingly impressed by the magnitude of the cavern but at the same I can't help to think they feel as equally empty and drained by it as me. Developments like Hudson Yards seem to be cargo culturing culture. If we build a public arts space, offices, restaurants, shops, and a playground then surely people will arrive, right?! Feels very weird.

walterbell 8y ago
> luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at 3D walk-in billboards.
- caprese 8y ago
  Exactly, I think of them as exhibits. I've looked at brick and mortar as museums for a long time and I'm not the only one. My wonderment and praise for the gallery curator shattered by the clerk trying to upsell me on a store credit card or data mining loyalty program. "Why are you talking?" Must be the quizzical expression my face makes as I take slightly too long to reply. For actually purchasing something going into a retail store is basically a game of "how is the sales person going to lie to me today". It should come with a laugh track streamed live on twitch.
crazygringo 8y ago
> with no natural light I mean, I agree with you a lot, but the Oculus itself is tons of natural light, it's all soaring windows: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZQvDMR-aOZc/maxresdefault.jpg https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZQvDMR-aOZc/maxresdefault.jpg The above-ground Oculus structure is beautiful and inspiring in a way little architecture in that part of the city is.
atombender 8y ago
> filled with luxury shops that no one appears to actually shop at This [1] Reddit thread from the other day was interesting reading. Those empty luxury shops are definitely to a large extent ads for high-end companies who just want to have a New York presence. Same thing on 5th avenue and in airports. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/b2n7y6/people_that_work_retail_at_the_oculus/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/b2n7y6/people_that_...