Catching up on food for thought

As usual, when you go away for a while, there's a feeling that there's a lot to catch up on. I paged through Metropolis for a while early this morning, read the Paul Goldberger commentary on Jane Jacob's legacy, the very interesting observation on how modernist, iconic architecture did not result in a sustainable transformation of Columbus, Indiana, (via subscription only, darn, worth trying to track down), then came in this morning and saw the critique of Shake Shack.

BTW, I don't agree that the Shake Shack is so egregious - after all, Madison Square Park is just as deserving of vibrancy in its somewhat tony and yuppie location, but I thought the points made about how it could have been better were well said. The main thing here is that Madison Square Park Conservancy should not rest on its laurels with the success of Shake Shack, but continue to build on its success to add more activities to the park so that there is better triangulation. Right now, the park continues to feel a bit spotty in terms of uses and what's memorable are its uses by corporations for marketing gambits, i.e. the recent event with Fabio and I can't believe it's not butter.


Shake Shack: a vibrant place and destination, but not much to do once you leave the movable seating area