February 2021 | Eyesore

Commentary on architectural blunders in monthly serial.

Behold, a proposal to redevelop the block around St. Lucy’s Church, Jersey City, NJ. Yet another exercise in misunderstanding the future counterposes a human-scaled ensemble of traditional buildings squashed underneath a despotic death Borg of computer-assisted banality designed by the firm MVMK (Minervini Vandermark Melia Kelly). You see, property development projects must follow rather long timelines. It usually takes years from initial inspiration to completed construction, what with applying for permits and approvals, completing design, arranging finance, greasing the politicians and mobsters, and scoping out the contractors. Alas, the last couple of years have put modern life through some unexpected ch-ch-ch-changes. The office building has gone suddenly and strangely obsolete as Covid-19 prompts the new work-from-home paradigm (and even that might not last long in the epic contraction and collapse of our techno-industrial economy). Likewise, the residential mega-structure is but an accessory dormitory for the office mega-structure. So, what do you do with the plan for this 444-unit building conceived under a way-of-life that no longer exists? Kiss goodbye a rather large nut of investment-to-date. Sorry, the cosmic pinball display reads TILT. Or else, make a more modest investment in redeveloping the original buildings on the block. That’s what the future actually requires. What a fine old thing the St. Lucy’s is, its towers and turrets aspiring to the heavens!