A Nets Arena on the Cheap

There's a guilty pleasure in an artistic review that is wholly unrestrained in its negativity. Unfortunately for the New Jersey Nets, their latest Brooklyn arena design is feeling that very sting. Remember when the Nets were telling everyone they were going to play in a Frank Gehry building that may be the most beautiful arena in the world? Difficult times call for difficult measures, and The New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff has the drawings of a new cheaper stadium design, from the firm Ellerbe Becket. To my eyes, the drawings make it look more or less like a regular stadium. Ouroussoff is not wishy-washy about what he sees: A colossal, spiritless box, it would fit more comfortably in a cornfield than at one of the busiest intersections of a vibrant metropolis. Its low-budget, no-frills design embodies the crass, bottom-line mentality that puts personal profit above the public good. If it is ever built, it will create a black hole in the heart of a vital n...