The gargantuan structure sits just beyond several neighborhoods of quaint brownstone rowhouses characteristic of this New York City borough. But Barclays Center, the 18,000-seat multipurpose arena in Brooklyn, occupies its own space on a wedge-shaped piece of land defined by the intersection of two traffic-clogged commercial arteries. The 675,000-square-foot building's facade is made up of 12,000 pre-weathered (intentionally rusted) steel panels that wind around the building like scales on a giant, but intriguing, reptile. The panels, no two of which are the same, swoop up and down and surround a canopy that hovers 30 feet above an entry plaza. At the center of this 80-foot-long cantilevered awning is an irregularly shaped oculus incorporating 3,000 square feet of digital signage and serving as the arena's marquee.
Barclays, with its brawny-yet-elegant skin designed by SHoP Architects, serves as home court for the NBA's Nets and opened with a concert in late September by rapper Jay-Z (who is part owner of the basketball team). The building is the first piece of the controversial $4.9 billion plan by Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) to redevelop Atlantic Yards—22 acres that straddle 11 subway lines and a commuter railroad. The development, which has been long delayed by community opposition and the recession, calls for a 16-tower, mixed-use complex, including 6 million square feet of residential space. Three of these towers will share Barclays' trapezoidal site, and in renderings appear almost grafted onto the arena's base. The first one, which SHoP designed, is slated to start construction later this month.
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