After years in which one architect--Costas Kondylis--has dominated the 13-block-long Riverside South development, the new kid in town, Gary Barnett (Extell Development), has commissioned the Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Christian de Portzamparc to design the next three buildings, according to George Arzt, a spokesman for the developer.

Monsieur de Portzamparc's Web site says the program consists of three buildings with 3.2 million square feet of office, hotel and residential space between 59th Street and 61st Street. Well, that's the proposal. Mr. Arzt says a rezoning proposal will go to the Department of City Planning in a few weeks--and it doesn't sound like it will be the easiest rezoning.

According to figures from the Coalition for a Livable West Side, that amount would represent about 35 percent more built space than that envisioned under the original Riverside South master plan.

- Matthew Schuerman