OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 88

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 88"

Benedict Parsons
6 years ago
Views:

1 OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 88

2 OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 89

One of the world s most iconic skylines is changing Words: Marina Chetner Images: Thomas Mester The Chrysler Building glimmered as the world s tallest building for a mere year in 1928, before plans

Without its antennae (not considered a permanent architectural feature), it claimed the title at a height of 1,454 feet compared with the 1,046-foot spire-topped Chrysler.

3 One of the world s most iconic skylines is changing Words: Marina Chetner Images: Thomas Mester The Chrysler Building glimmered as the world s tallest building for a mere year in 1928, before plans were announced to build one even taller: the Empire State Building. Without its antennae (not considered a permanent architectural feature), it claimed the title at a height of 1,454 feet compared with the 1,046-foot spire-topped Chrysler. To think that these two iconic buildings were competing for the crown of world s tallest during the Great Depression, a time when commercial real estate was at a low, is baffling. Yet their silhouettes are so emblematic of the Manhattan skyline that it would be hard to reckon a New York City without them. Today, developers, relieved of the recession, are riding the trajectory established over the decades and eagerly joining the skyscraper club. With a tradition of verticality, New York s soaring skyline is heralding a new Gilded Age these sky grazers are getting taller, stronger, and more expensive. New York may have ceded the title of the world s tallest building to Chicago s Willis Tower in 1974 Dubai s Burj Kalifa currently holds the top spot at 2,717 feet but it s very recently thrown it s hat back into the ring with the opening of One World Trade Centre (1 WTC) in Deemed the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere by the Council Of Tall Buildings And Urban Habitat, the tapered crystalline skyscraper soars 1,776 feet a height entrenched more in symbolism than ostentatious ambition. 90 OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 90

Gradually, mega-projects are rising from Manhattan, leaving an altogether different view of New York City Standing in lower Manhattan s reimagined World Trade Center, it is New York s bastion of

The height of 1 WTC pays homage to the year of America s independence, 1776; the 408-foot spire that sits atop is a beacon of light that shines across 15 miles.

4 Gradually, mega-projects are rising from Manhattan, leaving an altogether different view of New York City Standing in lower Manhattan s reimagined World Trade Center, it is New York s bastion of power and strength as well the marker of a memorial that identifies its place from almost anywhere in the city. The height of 1 WTC pays homage to the year of America s independence, 1776; the 408-foot spire that sits atop is a beacon of light that shines across 15 miles. Chief architect on the project, David Childs, has said that the building fills a void in the sky that people felt was missing. World Trade Centre has reenergised lower Manhattan and inspired the development of a new downtown. Fifty-five per cent of 1 WTC s office space is anchored by Condé Nast Publications, whose founder, incidentally, was a pioneer in high-rise living back when the cramped top floors of buildings were relegated to maid s quarters. After successfully transforming the top floors of 1040 Park Avenue into a 5,000-square-foot duplex, his conversion sparked a trend. Manhattan s financial centre now bustles with as many baby strollers as Wall Street bankers. New York by Gehry, the 76-storey deconstructivist stainless-steel residential tower built in 2011 by the renowned architect, was the tallest in the West and one-of-a-kind. Today, surrounding construction is rampant: The Beekman, a historic landmark property, is being converted into a Thompson Hotel conjoined with a modern 600-foot-high 51-storey luxury condominium tower called The Beekman Residences; the Four Seasons Private Residences 937-foothigh 30 Park Place is commanding a cool US$29 million for its five-bedroom, 6.5-bathroom penthouse with terrace views; and ten-minutes away, 56 Leonard, a 60-storey building standing 830-feet at the intersection of Church and Leonard Streets, will be Tribeca s tallest building. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron, the cantilevered apartments will offer 145 residences, each with their own unique floor plan and private outdoor space. A renaissance of a different sort is happening on 57th Street. Dubbed Billionaire s Row, the Midtown corridor houses the priciest and loftiest real estate in Manhattan, thanks to non-restrictive zoning laws and its prestigious location by Central Park views that become exponentially more expensive to build once they pass the 50-storey threshold. 91 OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 91

R i s e o f t h e M e g a t r o p o l i s One World Trade Centre has re-energised lower Manhattan and inspired the development of a new downtown One of Midtown s most domineering skyscrapers, One 57,

Anchored by the Park Hyatt from the ground floor to level 25, the residences located directly above the hotel boast front-and-centre park views: In 2015, the 1,000-foot-high duplex sold for a

5 R i s e o f t h e M e g a t r o p o l i s One World Trade Centre has re-energised lower Manhattan and inspired the development of a new downtown One of Midtown s most domineering skyscrapers, One 57, is a blue, 1,040- foot undulating glass-panelled tower whose property and air rights took about ten years to assemble. Anchored by the Park Hyatt from the ground floor to level 25, the residences located directly above the hotel boast front-and-centre park views: In 2015, the 1,000-foot-high duplex sold for a record-breaking US$100 million. Next door, intertwined with the landmarked Steinway Hall, 111 West 57th Street has broken ground on what is said to become the slenderest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. In contrast to the stockier post-war architecture that gave rise to the United Nations Secretariat and MetLife buildings, its feather-shaped design with an ornamental terracotta and bronze filigree exterior echoes the gilded era. While Extell Development Company s yet-to-be constructed mixed-use commercial and residential 225 West 57th Street is anticipated to pierce the sky at 1,775 feet, at the time of press, the highest residence in the western world sits atop Rafael Vinoly s skinny condo tower 432 Park Ave: Its 1,396-foot-high 8,255-square-foot penthouse sold for US$95 million. Flanking the billionaire s belt are the yet-to-be-realised triangular VIA West 57 by the Hudson River and the 65-storey 252 East 57 at Second Avenue, although it would be remiss not to mention Jean Nouvel s 53W53 a few blocks away. Construction for the supertall tower designed with a black skeletal exterior is taking shape next to the Museum of Modern Art. Referred to as MoMA Tower, it will rise 1,050 feet and give residents privileged access into one of New York s finest art spaces. One World Observatory opened in May, Located on the uppermost floors of 1 WTC, guests ascend in elevators encased in floor-to-ceiling LED technology to experience a virtual time-lapse of New York s skyline, from the 1500s to present day. On the 100th floor, windows open up to the sky, and New York, laid out in front, reads like a map. First, the eyes scan for the Empire State Building, then the Chrysler, and upwards to Central Park, largely blocked by a band of Midtown towers at its southern end. To the right is City Hall and Gehry s crinkled silver tower; on Manhattan s new West side, the under-construction Hudson Yards project America s largest-ever private real estate development and NYC s biggest development since Rockefeller Center. Ah, New York, she may be the mother of reinvention but in 50 years time, the top of One World Trade Center will still be the best place to view her evolution. Fight the tower New skyscrapers have always attracted controversy in NYC In New York, local anger surrounds razing historic buildings in favour of new investment. The 1926-built Drake Hotel, a one-time host to Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Led Zeppelin, was overhauled in a multimillion-dollar renovation by Swissotel in 1999 before being demolished in To the anger of preservationists, the New York Biltmore Hotel, part of Grand Central Terminal, was also rebuilt as the 28-storey Bank of America Plaza. However, the Empire State Building shows that redevelopment isn t always a bad idea, and although it stands on the site once occupied by the original Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The reincarnated Waldorf is now located in a historic building on 50th Street, and both continue to live on as National Historic Landmarks and under the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Emirates operates 84 passenger flights per week between Dubai and the US including four times daily to New York, with three direct services and one via Milan. 92 OS54_ Rise of the Megatropolis.indd 92

A malnourished baby on the world stage, the building s height is less than a third of the world s tallest building and will contain a paltry 83

A malnourished baby on the world stage, the building s height is less than a third of the world s tallest building and will contain a paltry 83 45 East 22nd Street Tops Out, Officially Tallest Skyscraper Between Midtown and Downtown POSTED TODAY, JUNE 3, 2016 BY ONDEL HYLTON IN ARCHITECTURE, CONDOS, CONSTRUCTION UPDATE, FLATIRON, NEW DEVELOPMENTS