New York Times Tower - 620 Eighth Avenue @ W. 41st Street - by Renzo Piano

[RandySavage]

Nice panoramic photo. Is that large low-rise building under contruction (below and slightly left of Time Warner on the west side highway) the new Sanitation Dept. parking garage?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Yes. I don't know what's going on there. The framing has been complete for quite a while, but so far no facade.

[Jeffreyny]

Stunningly long skyline shot.
Too bad the NYTB is not going to stick through the plateau that is the NY skyline! All it does is reinforce it.
65,000 buildings all the same height!
Boring!

[RS085]

thats the way its supposed to be. its symmetrical that way. they dont want tall towers around the ESB. i love how the NYT extends the skyline, it still has a little bit to go as well.

[Jeffreyny]

thats the way its supposed to be. its symmetrical that way. they dont want tall towers around the ESB. i love how the NYT extends the skyline, it still has a little bit to go as well.

Who is they?

[MidtownGuy]

thats the way its supposed to be. its symmetrical that way.

It's an exaggerated example, but I'd choose the second:

[Jasonik]

Don't forget:

[RS085]

im not an archive of literature but ive read many articles on how and why there are no tall buildings around the ESB, and to be honest id be surprised if i actually remembered. the ESB should stand by itself, above the rest. no other place in the world has it done better than what the ESB is to Midtown.

i hope they dont put a supertall in Midtown anywhere either, or else theyd have to build alot more just to make it symmetrical.

[MidtownGuy]

symmetrical

What do you mean symmetrical

[kz1000ps]

Don't forget:

And if I remember correctly, that rendering was made before the BOA's height was extended by some 50+ feet (back in '04? I don't feel like digging up the exact date/height change), meaning it will be that much more visible.

And to those who keep speaking of the midtown plateau; at least from the Jersey side, I think the Times tower will do plenty to stand up and out from that mass once completed. It won't be on the scale of the ESB, but we knew that already.

.

[kz1000ps]

Taken from the article posted in the Atlantic Yards thread..

For the Times tower he selected Mr. Piano's design over more predictable proposals by Cesar Pelli and Norman Foster. (Mr. Gehry withdrew from the competition toward the end.) A soaring glass structure clad in a pattern of delicate ceramic rods, the Times project suggests that the old order that dominated development in New York for so long is finally passing, and with it the argument that only big corporate firms — not "dreamers" or "creative types" — could get things done.

But Mr. Piano has lost crucial battles along the way. To cut costs Mr. Ratner had him eliminate an elegant rooftop garden that would have been framed by extensions of the building's glass curtain wall. Also abandoned were some of the cantilevered staircases that would have offered a fluid connection between office floors.

More interesting, Mr. Piano had proposed an open, loftlike floor plan, placing elevators along the length of one side of the building rather than arranging them within a central elevator core. That was also jettisoned. Clearly, in a building whose upper floors are being marketed to law firms, he had violated a vital marketing formula: Don't mess with executive offices.

[RS085]

anyone know when they usually construct the spire?

[Dagrecco82]

As of June 4th
From Hamilton Park in Weehawken...

[lofter1]

Nice ^^

And there is the curved "hat" of 325 5th peeking out to the right of the ESB ...

[Coleridge]

Hong Kong's skyline looks more attractive at night. New York's is so damn boring, bunch of old buildings at almost the same height.