TOWER VERRE , NEW YORK CITY - MOMA TOWER - 53 WEST 53RD STREET - 1050 ft / 320 m - 83 fl - by Jean Nouvel
MOMA TOWER
53 West 53rd Street
Approved Proposal 1050 ft / 320 meters
ARCHITECT: Jean Nouvel
Along with the Freedom Tower, surely this is the building project in Manhattan of the next decade.
Such an impressive looking structure and it will sure change West Midtown once constructed, making the South of the Park area even more busy and vibrant than it is.
In September 2009, the City approved the project, but demanded 200 feet be taken off the top!
There's a thread here in the Midtown Gossip Forum about local opposition to the project.
Spectacular!
Very nice. I am glad that the height was restricted too. It's looking very good in Midtown now with this project - we can't let downtown get the better of us!
The MOMA Tower by Jean Nouvel was approved by the NYC Council 44-3 back in October 2009, with a 200 foot haircut, but there is still a process of objection due to environmental impacts on surrounding buildings and residents.
My initial impressions are that the Tower Verre will be as iconic as the Chrysler or ESB one day because it definitely represents something new in terms of shape and feel in the city, and elsewhere, albeit in a "Tales of Riddick" or 70s Heinlein science fiction inspired kind of fashion.
The MOMA Tower design will ostensibly allow for a more interesting addition than a plain pyramid "Shard" like structure that London has gone for, and has a more organic and natural feel to it suited to its location near the Park. It will sit well with it's behemoth neighbors south and north, such as the Time Warner Center and other towers in its mid-vicinity (if you can call 5+ blocks "the vicinity" - I happen to).
A faceted construction with glass similar in nature to that of the Hearst Magazine Building will fit nicely with that structure in the north west Midtown/SW Central Park area, but there will be no mistake as to which building is which due to the Hearst Tower's flat blocky appearance and the Tower Verre's twin cuspidate appearance.
This contrast intentional or otherwise, was very clever and will work nicely.
...
My initial impressions are that the Tower Verre will be as iconic as the Chrysler or ESB one day because it definitely represents something new in terms of shape and feel in the city, and elsewhere, albeit in a "Tales of Riddick" or 70s Heinlein science fiction inspired kind of fashion.
The MOMA Tower design will ostensibly allow for a more interesting addition than a plain pyramid "Shard" like structure that London has gone for, and has a more organic and natural feel to it suited to its location near the Park. It will sit well with it's behemoth neighbors south and north, such as the Time Warner Center and other towers in its mid-vicinity (if you can call 5+ blocks "the vicinity" - I happen to).
A faceted construction with glass similar in nature to that of the Hearst Magazine Building will fit nicely with that structure in the north west Midtown/SW Central Park area, but there will be no mistake as to which building is which due to the Hearst Tower's flat blocky appearance and the Tower Verre's twin cuspidate appearance.
This contrast intentional or otherwise, was very clever and will work nicely.
-archnyer
Well written Archnyer. A very good analysis and I agree it seems to be a very impressive design much more novel than some of the others as you say, like the Shard or the Cheesegrater in London, another angular design that comes to mind.
