Q: Buildings

We asked a group of architects about their favorite builidings that are no more.

-- Interior Design, 6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Feeling a bit of nostalgia for something architectural? We asked a group of architects, “What’s your favorite building that’s no longer with us?”

“New York’s original Penn Station. Though I never saw it in person, its impact on the city then—and our psyche now—is profound. My apartment overlooks its crude replacement, and I can’t help but wonder every morning about what was and what soon might be.” —Matthew Bremer of Architecture in Formation.

“Kurt Schwitters’s Merzbau in Hannover, Germany. I love Schwitters’s collage work and would’ve loved to see it in spatial form. It blurred the edges of assemblage, sculpture, interior design, and architecture, a mix I strive for in my own work.” —David Ling of David Ling Architect

“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Wright designed it during one of his transitional phases, and the result was a tour de force of spatial paradigms. Rejecting standardization in favor of creating an overall architectural experience, it was one of the first examples of what we call a boutique hotel today.” —Karen Stonely of SPaN

“Chicago’s Garrick Theater. While the theater itself demonstrated Louis Sullivan’s dexterity with organic ornamentation, the form of the office tower [above] provided a powerful prototype for the high-rise as a monumental carved shaft.” —Paul Florian of Florian Architects

“Phoenix Iron Works, a foundry in Oakland, California. It was a pure steel-and-glass basilica—the St. Peter’s of Bay Area industrial architecture. It expressed both the might and the plight of the area’s industrial heritage.” —Owen Kennerly of Kennerly Architecture & Planning

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