cover image NEW NEW YORK: Architecture of a City

NEW NEW YORK: Architecture of a City

, . . Rizzoli, $65 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-8478-2574-5

Building in New York City is a particular challenge for architects, who face stringent zoning laws and building codes, a fierce preservationist ethos, NIMBY residents, Gallic-like city bureaucracy and, perhaps most dauntingly of all, a population density that rivals that of a particularly large anthill. This exhilarating 9" x 11" catalogue, chockablock with 360 color and black-and-white illustrations (more than the number of pages), crackles with that special energy generated by the tensions of constructing in a city already bursting at the seams. None of the projects, ranging from completed to still-on-the-drawing board, is older than 1992 (with the bulk dating from the last five years) and will either strike horror into the hearts of those who actually have to live and work next to light-blocking monstrosities or bliss in those eager to keep New York City from turning into a lifeless museum of inert architecture. There is no question for whom the book is written, as community activists, city regulations and environmental impact reports are generally treated as irritating flies in the architectural ointment. But it's hard to resist the book's enthusiasm; photographed for the most part without people to muddy their sculptural lines, the projects, which range from Rem Koolhaas's flagship Prada store to MoMA QNS, from the "42nd Street Now!" to, of course, the "New World Trade Center," shimmer irresistibly in cool, professional light. (Apr.)