By Daniel Geiger 10/10/12 11:32am

Big Data

Dave Sabey

Enter the Matrix: High-Tech, High-Rise Data Farm Puts Down Roots in Lower Manhattan

Perhaps in the future, silver-legged secretaries will answer the phones, stainless-steel fingers will clack away at keyboards, and Manhattan’s workforce will have been completely supplanted by robotic counterparts who work faster, smarter, longer and cheaper than their human predecessors.

For now, though, most buildings are still stocked with actual flesh-and-blood employees who take long breaks, complain and sometimes confuse their assigned tasks with internet shopping.

The property at 375 Pearl Street, a towering skyscraper in Lower Manhattan at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, won’t be one of them. After buying the building out of foreclosure last year, its developer is taking a brave leap into the future. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/29/12 11:38am

Fugly

verizonbuildingmakeover2

What to Do With New York’s Ugliest Building, 375 Pearl Street

William Weber is quickly becoming The Observer’s favorite architectural dreamer. The former Curbed intern most recently gave us his vision for a much bigger Midtown (courtesy the coming rezoning), and now he has tackled the city’s ugliest building, 375 Pearl Street.

Even though the concrete monolith is now a data center and not offices or apartments—which would actually necessitate something attractive—Mr. Weber has come up with a simple solution, adding a swooping façade to the building that might just be affordable and practical. Call it a gift to the city and a beacon of tech’s can-do spirit. Read More

By Matt Chaban 12/01/10 4:34pm

Fugly

The Ugliest Building in Town Is for Sale

Many people consider 375 Pearl Street the ugliest building in New York. It is not only its blank concrete facade that people so detest but also its ruinous effect on the downtown skyline. Just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, the 32-story tower has no tall neighbors to hide it, sticking out like a sore thumb, Read More