Frank Gehry has been replaced as the architect for the arena at Atlantic Yards.

Starchitect Frank Gehry will no longer be the architect for the Barclays Center, the arena at Atlantic Yards, as per an agreement between Gehry Partners and Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner, according to a press release from the two companies. Forest City Ratner has instead hired architectural firm Ellerbe Becket, which has designed basketball arenas in Charlotte and Memphis, to design the arena and cited the economy as the reason for the switch. “The current economic climate is not right for this design, and with Frank’s understanding [of the change], the arena is undergoing a redesign that will make it more limited in scope,” Forest City Chairman and CEO Bruce Ratner said in a statement. Forest City has struggled to finance the Atlantic Yards project as the recession has continued. TRD [more]