BIG in the Big Appleby Eva Herrmann | 12.11.2011

West 57th Street

Alright, we have to admit that this phrase has been used far too often. And skyscrapers in Manhattan are a dime a dozen. Higher, faster, further, from functional to playful from a technical point of view, in fractured glass areas or as floral decorations – marketing keeps calling for always new superlatives. A LEED certificate is mandatory for every product portfolio, of course.

Now, the Danish architects from BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group have received a direct assignment to venture into constructing a skyscraper. 600 apartments are supposed to make a new statement in 57th street between 11th and 12th Avenue. And the Danes are smart enough for a symbolism with a relevance in terms of urban planning that may even become an icon: a pyramid.

Steps to Heaven

This has certainly impressed American real estate investor Durst Fetner Residential during the presentation of the design. Since this building's shape – considered a “stairway to the divine” in ancient Egypt – is an impressive gesture. Great for marketing.

However, the explanation Bjarke Ingels give for this shape reads much more relaxed, and you realize immediately that the city's megalomania leaves the wunderkind, a recent title on the front page of New York Times magazine, quite cold. Very likeable.
The pyramid shape results from something in between a typical American skyscraper and European perimeter block development, across which 80,000 square meters of residential areas have to be spread.

Out in the green

Instead of a selective skyscraper, the massive volume is distributed in an ascending manner, resulting in that the highest edge towers at 140 meters. Through the terracing all apartments have similar lighting situations, and the inner courtyard has its spatial relations. The advantages of both construction shapes are combined here: compactness, dense and efficient perimeter block development with green areas inside, and the lightness and view into the distance of a skyscraper. The shape is also an homage to the change of the city with a new awareness of urban space worth living in, and considers itself a continuation of milestones such as High Line Park or the green access to  Hudson River. At the same time a transmitter between the flatter buildings to the South and the residential towers at the edge of Central Park. Manhattan's skyline starts getting in motion. More, please.