New York Times columnist Michael Kimmelman praised Samsung's new U.S. headquarters Wednesday but held no punches from LG's.
Samsung is building a 1.1 million-square-foot research and development headquarters in downtown San Jose, Calif. that will include a 10-story tower, amenity pavilion and parking garage. It is also going to be have a landscaped green space that brings the campus together similar to many academic institutions and be the site of the Samsung Expo.
The headquarters designed by NBBJ is expected to be finished some time next year and got Kimmelman's stamp of approval in a recent column he authored.
"The building links to the city's light-rail system and fits into San Jose's street grid. It's eco-friendly, with de rigueur green roof and green walls, and urban-minded, by Silicon Valley standards, with public gardens, plazas and a cafe near a parking garage that is partly camouflaged behind solar panels," he wrote.
He had some choice works for Samsung's competitor.
LG's new $300 million, 490,000-square-foot headquarters would rise well above the Palisades, the steep cliffs on the west bank of the Hudson River.
They designated the Palisades a National Natural Landmark and the 143-foot-high building LG plans to build would tower over the area with zoning that limits everything else to 35 feet. The provision "protects the view, but the company, a hefty local taxpayer, won a variance," according to Kimmelman, who isn't the only person in New York that has taken notice.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, voiced his opinion against the headquarters Tuesday.
"After more than a century of both New York and New Jersey working to preserve the unparalleled natural beauty of the Palisades," the senator said in a news release, "one company should not be permitted to sweep in and taint that iconic landscape, particularly when an alternative building plan exists."
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York asked an appeals court in New Jersey to stop construction and a number of other officials and former governors of New Jersey asked plans for the headquarters to be halted as well.
Kimmelman acknowledge that "views are hard to protect" because they cross jurisdictions, but was less cordial about voicing his distaste for the project.
He criticized LG for its responses to the concerns and for pushing the project with statements on its website such as, "New Jersey needs jobs now."
"Americans might wish to think harder about views and how to keep them. Maybe the marketplace can help in this case. The LG project will turn off countless customers by despoiling a cherished landmark. It will be a constant reminder on the skyline to shop Samsung. You'd think the company's bosses wouldn't want to look bad compared to their rival," Kimmelman wrote.
"The project in San Jose is thoughtful. LG's is a public shame."
