![]() ![]() That’s why the building is stepped and staggered in every direction - north, south, east, and west - walking all the way up to 1,550 feet. When we moved the tower off-center to get better retail spaces, we discovered an opportunity to capture incredible direct and oblique views. It’s like being at the theater if everyone’s in rows trying to see the stage, nobody can see anything at all. G.G.: Everyone wants a view of Central Park, but we had a big building right in front of us. J.D.: How do you design such a huge building to slot into such a dense area? They have a beautiful skylight in north-facing studios for the natural light, and we didn’t want to compromise that.Īdrian Smith: Yes, but the exterior wall above the Art Students League roof is solid, with no glass, just a soft zinc surface, so you get a very subdued reflection. But a lot of detail and study went into that. A lot of people questioned whether we had respect for that building. J.D.: So that’s how you get the section that sticks out above the Art Students League? So the first move was to slip the core to the side. If we had done that, we’d have wound up with piecemeal retail. When you’re designing a super-tall building, most of the time you’ll plant the concrete core in the dead center of the site. G.G.: The site goes from 57th through to 58th Street and all the way to Broadway. J.D.: From the street, this looks like several buildings in one: a seven-floor Nordstrom at the base, a wing to the west, a cantilevered section to the east, and the tower. G.G.: One of the perils of living in an urban context. At first, I thought it was just the construction hoist that was blocking my view of the Empire State Building, but I guess not. Justin Davidson: I can see it from all over the city, including from my living room. Gordon Gill: How well do you know the building? Moving from sidewalk to a gajillionaire’s aerie - a 15,898-square-foot three-floor penthouse - we talked about how a 131-story tower can possibly fit into our city. Smith designed the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, as well as the future tallest, the kilometer-high (3,280-foot) Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia. I recently toured the construction site with the building’s two Chicago architects, Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill. It has already transformed the skyline, paired with the 1,428-foot residential needle on the next block at 111 West 57th. When Central Park Tower at 217 West 57th Street officially tops out at 1,550 feet on September 17, it will (if you don’t count the 400-foot spire atop One World Trade Center) become New York’s tallest building. ![]()
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