An Iconic Skyline | New York

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Sky’s the Limit

New additions to the city’s defining skyline blend design with utility to create breathtaking landscapes.

By Lori Fredrickson

 

In the decades following David Burnham’s landmark construction of the 1902 Flatiron Building in Manhattan, the New York City skyline rapidly grew to become the most iconic representation of the city’s identity. By the latter part of the 20th century, as new developments were erected alongside hallmarks of prior eras, skyscrapers came to present a mixed style timeline— the 1930s Art Deco giants of midtown now stand alongside more recent sustainable glass towers, and the early neo-Gothic classics of downtown Manhattan provide a backdrop for the ongoing World Trade Center complex construction.

In the 21st century, architects and developers face new sets of challenges—seeking out site availability within a tightly packed urban landscape, integrating sustainable design practice and creating projects that reflect trends in urban growth while also developing a new aesthetic vision for the adapting New York City skyline. In response, architects and developers are reaching new levels of innovation, both in commercial and residential development.

New York by Gehry

Of constructions added to the New York skyline in 2011, the most dramatic is Frank Gehry’s expressionist downtown masterpiece, New York by Gehry. Located at 8 Spruce St. in lower Manhattan, this 76-story glass and stainless steel tower’s rippling curtain wall creates a mirage-like beacon on the cityscape from virtually any perspective. Up close, the drapery effect of its exterior facade adds a soft touch to a neighborhood known more for its historic Gothic architecture.

As the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, it brings new energy to a neighborhood known for commerce. “Much of lower Manhattan is office buildings, which tend to be more anonymous glass boxes,” explains Susi Yu, senior vice president at Forest City Ratner Companies, the project’s developer. “When you work with someone as expressive as Frank Gehry, you’re never going to get that glass box—this site gave us the opportunity to truly enhance the skyline from its location.”

Positioned within a trifecta of iconic landmarks—New York City Hall, the Brooklyn Bridge and Cass Gilbert’s 1913 Woolworth Building—New York by Gehry is in the position to contribute aesthetically to its surrounding area and take advantage of the views available to residential tenants.

The articulation of its exterior wall, while characteristic of the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s often playful expressionist style, is designed to take advantage of the many panoramic viewing angles from within the building; among the 903 rental apartments, there are 350 different residential layouts. “The view from the 30th floor is a completely different one from the view on the 20th floor,” Yu says. “It allows tenants to experience the city in a three-dimensional way.”

Equally significant to the architect and developers, however, was contextualizing the building both within its built environment and within the community. “Frank Gehry’s main concern was how his building would dialogue with the Woolworth, and he was very conscious of characteristics of its setbacks and massing when creating his own design,” Yu says, adding that more than 200 site models were created in planning the building. “Gehry’s goal was to take an idea from the Woolworth’s exterior and articulate that using his own creative vision.”Creating context within the community was a project taken on by both the architect and developers. In addition to rental units, the building houses a new public school on its first five floors, as well as an ambulatory care center for New York Downtown Hospital, and below ground medical parking.

Opening this summer are two public plazas designed by Field Operations, the designers of New York City’s High Line, and landscaped by horticulturalist Piet Oudolf, who previously collaborated with Gehry on Chicago’s acclaimed Millennium Park.

Forest City has also sought to foster community within the building itself through the creation of social areas, such as children’s playrooms, recreation centers, a screening room, a drawing room and library. In upcoming months, the developers are planning a program of lectures by professors from nearby Pace University.

As Yu points out, the sense of community within the city landscape is something that tenants increasingly gravitate toward; it’s also one of the most attractive elements of high-rise residential development, particularly with a building such as 8 Spruce St. “More and more, you see people wanting to live somewhere they can feel connected to, with like-minded people,” she explains. “For New York by Gehry, that connection is the building itself; it brings together tenants who want good design to permeate every aspect of their lives.”

Mercedes House

The demand for high design in residential high-rise buildings has also begun to make a notable impact further up in Manhattan. On the west side of midtown Manhattan, one of the most striking additions over the past year is the zigzag-styled footprint of futurist Mercedes House, a residential tower designed by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos and developed by Two Trees Management.

Located on 11th Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets, Norten’s Mercedes House climbs in a 29-story staircase design on a northeast diagonal, with each rising crowned by a 1,000-foot luxury roof terrace for the tenant above. Amongst its western-facing neighbors, it presents a metallic exterior facade that fits almost seamlessly within the area’s surrounding car dealerships and other retail; facing the residential side streets is a more fluid, harmonious glass curtain wall.

“The ziggurat design was a question of distributing space in the most efficient and architecturally beautiful way,” Asher Abehsera, managing director of Two Trees Management, explains. With windows facing east and west, residents are allowed maximum lighting at an angled viewpoint on either the Hudson River or the New York City skyline, as opposed to the flat window view of a square building.

Using an unusual design such as the ziggurat shape has also allowed for increased amenities for tenants. Within the core of the building, Two Trees is creating a 60,000-foot recreation center on the third floor that features equal parts indoor and outdoor space—a glassed-in gym and wellness center surrounded by 30,000 square feet of outdoor space, including an amphitheater and outdoor swimming pool.

But the main feature it offers is the high- design element, which has become increasingly popular with clients. “In the past, developers of most condo and rental buildings would go for a less daring, prefab approach to buildings, and you were less likely to see game-changing architecture in a residential capacity—it was always the larger, classier office buildings,” Abehsera says. “But more recently, clients have been flocking to buildings specifically for their high design—it’s becoming a trend to create residential buildings that aren’t simply a habitat, but a breathtaking environment that clients will not want to leave.”

Most significant to Mercedes House, he adds, are the roof terraces climbing each floor along the glass curtain wall—creating private outdoor extensions in a way that was convenient to the overall design. “It creates a feeling of floating, which gives you a sense of space that is otherwise difficult to find in Manhattan,” Abehsera says. “It’s more like living in the sky than being boxed within a concrete jungle.”

For other developers in New York, the solution to offering Manhattanites a high-rise experience has been incorporating it as mixed-work development, building residential on top of retail and public works. In east midtown, one of the most notable examples currently under construction is 250 E. 57th St., a massive 1 million-square-foot project developed by the World-Wide Group and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Created as a joint effort with the Education Construction Fund, World-Wide Group has developed the building in two phases: a new High School of Art & Design, Public School 59 and Whole Foods retail store at ground level, followed by an additional 59 stories of residential. The final building, a glass-clad, steeply angled hourglass high-rise, is scheduled for completion in 2014.

International Gem Tower

Recent high-rise commercial development has also reflected contextual city changes, and perhaps none more notably as the International Gem Tower, located at 46th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in the Diamond District of Manhattan. This 20-floor commercial condominium building, developed by Extell and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, has the unique quality of being tailored in design and amenities for a specific group of clients: industry professionals within the diamond, gem and jewelry business.

“Creating a dynamic new high-rise within that area of midtown is a rare opportunity because there are few sites available,” Kim Vanholsbeke, associate director of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, explains. “We wanted to reflect the context of its surrounding area; particularly the richness and vibrancy of the diamond industry. And so we decided to incorporate aspects of that into the design.”

One example of this is in the angular façade: With elements such as embossed diamond- shaped medallions embedded into the folds of the stainless steel structure, light will reflect differently throughout various times of the day. Within the interior of the lobby, a folded, reflecting glass mirror will create the added appearance of vibrancy.

When the building is completed later in 2012, commercial tenants will enjoy amenities particularly tailored to their industry: an UL- rated, Class III vault on the premises, a fully integrated security management system and modern infrastructure to support jewelry manufacturing.

But perhaps what tenants will have to look forward to most, Vanholsbeke says, are the comforts of modernity within an area that, in many ways, is cluttered from the past.

“The modern aspects of a 21st century building might include sustainability and green design, more efficient enclosures and a more comfortable environment with more daylight,” Vanholsbeke explains. “These are changes now widely present in the financial and consultancy world, but are lacking in the gem industry’s current midtown environment. The International Gem Tower is a gateway symbol of the diamond industry’s 21st century growth.”

This may be one of the most inspiring ways to think about the potential of the New York City skyline: shaped around growth within the city that we haven’t yet learned to anticipate, while pushing design onward to new creative levels.