Hawthorne on Libeskind: "Not His Finest"

"Libeskind's scheme, which is not among his finest, tries hard to do this, although the effort is undermined by the slashing forms that cross its podium section. These gashes are his formal trademark, but in this case they bring the massive scale of the tower down to the sidewalk level instead of helping to break it up." In addition to considering the architecture of that Daniel Libeskind-designed building, LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne looks at the larger question of why this building, as well as the Wishire Grand proposal, seemingly appeared out of nowhere this week. But the Libeskind didn't just appear--the project was first proposed last fall. [LA Times]