The central point of architecture and design is that the constructed environment influences how we feel and act. And the Vessel – surrounded on all sides by concrete, glass skyscrapers and crass commercialism – has a more fundamental issue, according to Jacob Alspector, a distinguished lecturer at the Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York.
“The Vessel is like some MC Escher nightmare,” he said, referring to the famed graphic artist known for his staircases to nowhere. “It’s kind of relentless. It’s very gaudy, it’s very cold. It’s thrilling … It’s not the most friendly and life-affirming and inclusive kind of space or structure. It’s kind of empty. What’s the point of it? Just to walk up and walk down?”
He added: “People who feel alienated with the world may not be supported very well by an experience like that.”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/07/us/vessel-hudson-yards-suicide-wellness/index.html