Not thrilled with the massing, the base, or the top. Of course, I'm a deco fanatic, and envision that a few tweaks here or there might make it acceptable to me in that style of architecture. The top needs revision, certainly.
Yup, it has that touch of Graves. I like the building, just as I like the one by Graves:Originally Posted by pianoman11686
Michael Graves.
Gwathmey's crown is particularly Gravesian. But cover it with your hand, and you'll find the rest is Gwathmey's usual uneasy blend of orthodox modernism with deco touches grafted on.
Graves is a better designer.
Landmarks HEARING regarding 400 5th Avenue scheduled for Tuesday 10.31.06 ...
***
“Application is to amend MOU 06-0896, which permitted the transfer of development rights from the Tiffany Building to a receiving site across Fifth Avenue, pursuant to Section 74-79 of the Zoning Resolution by modifying the design of the new building on the receiving site.”
So they want to change Gwathmey’s design by leveraging the air rights transfer approval.
What changes do they want? No, don’t tell me…they want to reduce the height. Then they want to tone down the crown.
Oh, they want a Kondylis. Right?
End the end, that's what they all want. I'm convinced there are some people who would have all buildings in Manhattan over 20 stories demolished or banned outright if they could.
When it says "The proposed tower will be 631 feet 10 inches tall including a 40-foot-high mechanical space at the top of the building", Does this mean the building will be 671 feet? Or is this sentence just confusing me and the height is 631 ft?
631 feet includes the space at the top... so 631 total.
^My initial reaction, to a word. It looks like a Kondylis with a rather forced flute at top. I rather like the base- but then it too reminds me of a fussy version of (can't think of the name- E90's on Lex, completed three, four years ago..)From that rendering it looks like it belongs in Trump Place.
From http://cityrealty.com/new_developments:
Landmarks Commission holds hearing on 400 Fifth Avenue 31-OCT-06
The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing this afternoon on the planned mixed-use tower at 400 Fifth Avenue on the northwest corner at 36th Street.
Most of the commissioners were supportive of the application asking the preservation commission to issue a report to the City Planning Commission authorizing the transfer of 173,000 square feet of development rights from the former Tiffany Building at 401 Fifth Avenue, a landmark, in exchange for a preservation plan and continued maintenance plan for it, but were critical of the curved corner of the base of the planned new tower as not being “harmonious.”
The proposed, 57-story skyscraper has been designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates for Bi & Di Real Estate SpA, which acquired the site in May from Tessler Developments LLC and Lehman Brothers. Tessler and Lehman had, in fact, commissioned Gwathmey Siegel to design the project. Bi & Di Real Estate SpA is based in Italy and has developed offices and resorts in Europe and Cuba and this is its first project in the United States.
The site has been cleared for several months and had been acquired by Tessler Developments LLC from The Chetrit Group for about $150 million.
A previous design for the site was prepared The Chetrit Group by Peter Magill of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and that called for a low-rise based topped by a rectilinear tower of about 50 stories with a highly textured façade of undulating faceted elements and slightly angled windows. Community Board 5 passed a resolution October 13 endorsing the transfer by a vote of 27 to 10 with one abstention. Charles Gwathmey, the architect, told the commission near the end of the hearing that he was thinking in the past week of “reworking” the corner.
Chairman Robert B. Tierney closed the hearing and asked the applicant to meet with the commission’s staff and come back in two weeks.
The proposed tower will be 631 feet 10 inches tall including a 40-foot-high mechanical space at the top of the building which will have a ribbed crown that flares outward slightly and will be illuminated at night. The tower will be setback on a limestone-clad, 11-story base.
Michael T. Sillerman, the co-chair of the land-use department at the law firm of Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP, who represented the developer at the meeting, told the commission that the base of the proposed tower will have a luxury hotel that will occupy floors 4 through 16. Mr. Sillerman said that “an additional icing on the cake” is that the developer is giving an easement to the New York Landmarks Conservancy to oversee the maintenance program for 401 Fifth Avenue.
A statement read by the Historic Districts Council at the commission today urged rejection of the proposal, noting that “Its height alone, of course, sets 400 Fifth Avenue apartment from neighboring structures, and nothing in the proposed design attempts to bridge this gap. Instead, the proposal seems to attempt to draw comparisons between 400 Fifth Avenue and its taller neighbor, the Empire State Building.”
Mr. Gwathmey subsequently remarked that “context is larger than across the street,” and other members of his team pointed out that the height of the building’s base and its cornice relate closely not only to the Tiffany Building, but to the landmark building immediately to the north at 404 Fifth Avenue and directly across 36th Street to the south at 396 Fifth Avenue.
Furthermore, Mr. Sillerman noted that the applicant plans to seek a variance to permit it have a lower cornice that projects more than four feet from the building.
Roger Lang, speaking for The New York Landmarks Conservancy, found the base’s curved corner a “distraction,” but said that “a simple, sheer tower on a compatible podium is the most successful in respecting the Empire State Building…[and that] “the vertical striations and prominent mullions in the fenestration enhance this harmony.”
i like the idea of the zig zagged facade
Meanwhile, the site still sits empty as seen in this pic posted by Derek2k3 in the 1BP thread.
From The New York Sun, Land Prices May Land Hard in 2007
From Tessler Developments.
http://www.tesslerdevelopments.com
I recall that the landmarks comission criticized the rounded corner, but I think that it looks quite nice.
Last edited by londonlawyer; January 14th, 2007 at 04:53 PM.
The band of stone at the top of the rounded section seems way heavy ...
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