that the entire mall complex is not so much a vision of the future as of the past. The ideas here were dead before they left the drawing board, and every design decision, from the space allocations to the overall concept, emerges from an outdated notion of what modern architecture, not to mention modern government, should stand for." In his 1980 book, The Shock of the New, Robert Hughes refers to the buildings as being in "The International Power Style of the Fifties", comparing the buildings to those built by Fascist governments (Fascist architecture). Architecture critic Martin Filler, quoted in The Making Of Empire State Plaza, says "There is no relationship at all between buildings and site, neither at grade nor atop the podium, since all vestiges of the existing site have been so totally obliterated. Thus, as one stands on the Plaza itself, there is an eerie feeling of detachment. The Mall buildings loom menacingly, like aliens from another galaxy set down on this marble landing strip." Gallery See also Albany Convention Center Downtown Albany Historic District, adjacent area Hudson River–Black River Regulating District Port of Albany-Rensselaer Public art Underground city Urban renewal References Further reading External links 98 Acres in Albany: Documenting the Area Demolished to Build the Empire State Plaza The Empire State Plaza at Emporis Buildings Images of the Empire State Plaza The Making of the Empire State Plaza Empire State Plaza at Everything2 Empire State Plaza Art Collection online annotated catalog, including photos "Albany's Empire State Plaza delivers art and history" - Poughkeepsie Journal Endless Empire (Jimmy Vielkind, Politico New York) Web page criticizing the Empire State Plaza the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Operating Corporation website Government buildings completed in 1976 1970s architecture in the United States Modernist architecture in New York (state) Skyscraper office buildings in New York (state) Skyscrapers in Albany, New York Brutalist architecture in New York (state)