Frank Gehry cuts back New York tower amid financial downturn

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Frank Gehry has been forced to scale back his designs for the centrepiece to the controversial Atlantic Yards scheme in Brooklyn, New York City.

• Author: Richard Vaughan.

The signature building of the 800,000m2 development, called Miss Brooklyn, has been downsized by Gehry from 62m to 51m in height due to the tough economic climate, but campaigners still believe the development is too big for the area. It is pictured here in its latest iteration.

According to the Architectural Record in New York, the building's use has been changed from residential and office space to 65,00m2 of commercial space and even the name has altered. It will now be referred to as Building One.

Planning approval for the $4.3 billion (£2.1 billion) scheme was granted in December 2006, but Building One will not start on site until November – two years later than originally hoped.

The development will provide 16 high-rise buildings to the site, as well as a new basketball arena for NBA team the New Jersey Nets.