[NYguy]

I remember when this study came out, a few renderings only, nothing detailed like this...

cs@sf (http://www.flickr.com/photos/isar/sets/72157624014509192/)

IwamotoScott's contribution to the Greenwich South design study commissioned by the Downtown Alliance & led by ARO, Beyer Blinder Belle & OPEN: A visionary 1,300' tower at Greenwich and Edgar Streets sited adjacent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel in Lower Manhattan.

Proposed sustainable building strategies include an environmentally-modulated skin, fiber-optic daylighting and bio-filtration terrarium floors within dual branching atria spanning Edgar Street.


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[NYguy]

Here's the link to that Greenwich South (http://www.downtownny.com/greenwichsouth/) study from the Downtown Alliance.

[scalziand]

That, even though it is just a study, is wicked awesome. I* hope that when the Battery garage is eventually redeveloped, it is done with a similar magnitude of vision.

[NYguy]

I* hope that when the Battery garage is eventually redeveloped, it is done with a similar magnitude of vision.

Well, the city for years has been talking about unleashing the nearly 3 msf of residential development air rights from the garage and tunnel approach, although that's been put on hold until the economy improves. But I've always loved the idea of another supertower downtown other than the WTC to help anchor things, and bring new excitement to those classic canyons. And it doesn't hurt that the design is a good one...:tup:


http://www.evolo.us/architecture/edgar-street-towers-in-new-york-city-by-iwamotoscott-architecture/

IwamotoScott’s description of the project:

The design for Edgar Street Towers responds to its immediate site context while establishing a strong relationship to the larger urban form of Manhattan. The design is inspired by earlier visionary projects for Manhattan that proposed new hybrids of architecture, infrastructure and public space.

The towers’ design seeks to reinstate Edgar Street as an east-west public way, reconnecting Greenwich and Washington streets. The space of this passageway through the building twists upwards, rising through the body of the towers, pinching at the mid level to allow for larger floorplates, and culminating at a rooftop sky lobby and civic space. This space at the towers’ crown is aligned with the primary Manhattan street grid to the north, directly on axis with 5th Avenue.

Edgar Street Towers’ programmatic mixture serves the local neighborhood while enhancing the public realm of lower Manhattan. The scale and mix of uses aims to reflect the grandness of vision and diversity of architectural experiences found for example in the premier civic, cultural and commercial landmarks organized along 5th Avenue to the north. This programmatic mixture is envisioned to include spaces for living, working, art, performance, retail and a branch public library. The program is organized by the towers’ central atrium, enhanced by daylight channeled from above via an integrated light-transmitting fiber-optic array. In addition, the atrium deploys bio-filtration terrariums occupying hollow spaces within the floors, thus acting as the building’s lungs to provide clean air to its occupants. By night, the light-flow is reversed, whereby the fiber-optic array is lit from integrated solar-charged battery packs.

On a macro scale, Edgar Street Towers takes advantage of the visibility and prominence offered by its site, where its dynamic form acts as a civic landmark and beacon for those coming to and leaving the city.

http://www.evolo.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/IwamotoScott_EdgarStreetTowers-5.jpg


Media coverage of the study...
http://www.downtownny.com/greenwichsouth/gsmedia.pdf

with a quote from Metropolis magazine...

Craig Scott, of IwamotoScott Architecture—another of the firms that contributed to the Greenwich South design effort—writes in with a clarification.

Although what is available on the Downtown Alliance Web site is, as George Beane writes above, “mostly a collection of polished images,” Scott assures us that the designs are far more developed than that.

IwamotoScott’s tower design, for instance, incorporates a variety of sustainable strategies, including a gradient-aperture structural skin (for material efficiency and to reduce heat gain), a fiber-optic daylighting system, and an air-filtering terrarium floor in the building’s atrium—while also re-opening Edgar Street (now covered by an MTA garage) and generally taking advantage of the site’s prominence above the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

It's good that people are thinking of Downtown's future beyond the WTC again.



nabil.s (http://www.flickr.com/photos/k4ffy/3436730972/sizes/l/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3583/3436730972_da0beb34c5_b.jpg

[winlinmac001]

I have a strange feeling the future of Downtown is going to resemble a lot like Midtown and the streets are going to appear more congested and cramped. I know plans to reconnect the grid may provide more flexibility, but before 9/11 the spatial density between buildings in downtown was less dense. In a post 9/11 era, there is a population explosion of development all over Downtown and developers think 'more' is better than 'less'. 21st Century?

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

dear God this thing is georgeous! i hope it gets built!

[JustinL]

One of the more amazing designs I've seen. Would certainly be a world architecture landmark, probably beyond anything even NYC has to offer. The ground level design leaves me in awe.

[Aleks]

I don't like the bottom two/thirds but the top is nice looking. I would rather have a different design. it's certainly not gorgeous in my book, or one of the most amazing designs ever, heck Tour Phare (which i really really like btw) looks many times better than this.

[Crush_Buds]

Wow. :tup:

[NYguy]

A little more talk about the tower...

http://inhabitat.com/2010/05/10/spiraling-new-york-skyscraper-features-bio-filtration-lungs/

Spiraling New York Skyscraper Features Bio-Filtration “Lungs”

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/biotowers-ed01.jpg

by Bridgette Meinhold
05/10/10

SF-based IwamotoScott Architecture have designed an incredible spiraling mixed-use high rise as part of an economic study for Greenwich South, the 41-acre site directly south of the World Trade Center. Straddling Edgar Street, the twisting tower features a number of sustainable building strategies, including an environmentally modeled skin, fiber-optic daylighting, and bio-filtration terrarium floors within dual-branching atria, which work much like a set of lungs to provide fresh air to the building.

The tower’s two bases straddle Edgar Street and then spiral up, joining in the middle before splitting off into two atria. This second split is where the bio-filtration terrarium floors are located — these open gardens provide clean air to the occupants inside. A light-transmitting fiber optic array draws daylight down into the building during the day. Then at night, the fiber optics work in reverse, lighting up the towers from the inside and with power provided by integrated solar-charged battery packs. The building skin is also environmentally modulated for optimal solar shading and wind resistance.

The Edgar Street Towers are planned for a prominent location at the south end of Manhattan, where they would serve as a beacon for the area and a civic landmark. Inside, the 1,300 foot towers would feature space for living, working, art, performance, retail, a branch public library as well as a rooftop sky lobby and civic space. The design study was commissioned by the Downtown Alliance and led by ARO, Beyer Blinder Belle & OPEN.

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-7.jpg


http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-8.jpg


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http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-6.jpg


_______________________

http://dvice.com/archives/2010/05/architects-prop.php

Architects propose mind-bending, twisty tower for New York City

Architecture firm IwamotoScott, which secured a special place in our hearts for this future vision of San Fransisco, is now turning its sights on New York City with the Edgar Street Towers. More than just an office spire, the Edgar Street Towers would act as a thoroughfare joining the streets on opposite sides of it — an important feature in a big city, where long avenues can make walking somewhere much longer.

The building's spidery design allows for plenty of natural light to filter in, and would also act as a space for art and a public library, and it would have an observatory toward the top for people to take in the view of southern Manhattan.

____________________________________

http://www.dezeen.com/2010/05/09/edgar-street-towers-by-iwamotoscott/

Edgar Street Towers by IwamotoScott

http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/05/dzn_IwamotoScott_30-ISAR-EST-AtriumUp.jpg

May 9th, 2010

San Francisco architects IwamotoScott have completed a design study for a tower (above, right) straddling a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

The proposal was commissioned by New York’s Downtown Alliance as part of the Greenwich South project, a study into how to transform a 41 acre-site south of the World Trade Center site.

“The Downtown Alliance commissioned the larger project that this tower is part of, Greenwich South, as a design study for the present, as well as the near and distant future, for that part of Lower Manhattan, to drum up interest in the private and public sectors,” says IwamotoScott’s Craig Scott. “The particular brief of our site/project was that it was part of the longer term vision.”

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

if this is proposed why is it maked as vision?

[ThreeHundred]

What a *stunning* building.

[JDRCRASH]

if this is proposed why is it maked as vision?

It probably doesn't have any financing.

[eaalkaline]

Am I the only one who immediately thought "car bomb" when I saw that design? Hate to be the pessimist, but there is no way that design will be approved unless the height is DRASTICALLY reduced to make it less of a target.

[StarScraperCity]

Am I the only one who immediately thought "car bomb" when I saw that design? Hate to be the pessimist, but there is no way that design will be approved unless the height is DRASTICALLY reduced to make it less of a target.

I mean no offense to you by saying this, but I despise that mentality. As long as we remain in a state of perpetual fear, the terrorists have won.

[NYguy]

Am I the only one who immediately thought "car bomb" when I saw that design? Hate to be the pessimist, but there is no way that design will be approved unless the height is DRASTICALLY reduced to make it less of a target.

A car bomb isn't gonna do anything against a skyscraper this size. People need to forget about skyscrapers as primary targets for terrorism. Open spaces, where large crowds gather, like stadiums, squares, subways, etc. are more likely targets. But we're not shutting down any of those, so we shouldn't stop building either.

However, I do believe if such a tower were built in that location, the tunnel approach should be covered over for a paza.

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-8.jpg


if this is proposed why is it maked as vision?

Plans were drawn up by the architect as part of a study on the future of that secion of lower Manhattan. For it to become an actual proposal, someone who can build it needs to take it from there. Because it's not restricted as an office tower, a building like this can afford to be more exuberant in its design. It's also likely to cost more to build.

[mwadswor]

I mean no offense to you by saying this, but I despise that mentality. As long as we remain in a state of perpetual fear, the terrorists have won.

+1

Plans were drawn up by the architect as part of a study on the future of that secion of lower Manhattan. For it to become an actual proposal, someone who can build it needs to take it from there. Because it's not restricted as an office tower, a building like this can afford to be more exuberant in its design. It's also likely to cost more to build.

Probably a dumb question, but why would an office tower have to have a more conservative design?

[NYguy]

Probably a dumb question, but why would an office tower have to have a more conservative design?

Typically, at least in New York, office towers require more blanced floorplates, with enough space to accomodate various amounts of office workers. Just as an example, you wouldn't see something like Calatrava's Chicago Spire, or 80 South Street being built as office space.

Clearly a tower such as this one wouldn't have the large floorplates necessary in New York's office market.

Beyond that, developers aren't going to spend lavishly on designs for extra-extravagant office towers, which are basically warehouses for clerks.

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-8.jpg

[The-T]

looks ugly! I think this is a very tall building!! But design not bad))

[pyropius]

Driving on Edgar street will feel like diving between the legs of a supermodel who is striding down a catwalk, except here you'll be able to see the tiny creatures that do business in the crotch!

[Rail>Auto]

That is one cool tower. This should have been the design for wtc 4.

[TANGELD_SLC]

This would be a stunning and instantly iconic addition to Manhattan if ever built, IMO :cheers:

[OneWorldTradeCenter]

Please please build this one! It looks interesting!

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

one day m sure that Greenwich south will be the site of some type of mega develpment

[NYguy]

That is one cool tower. This should have been the design for wtc 4.

Change it to Tower 5, and maybe someone can put a rendering together of that. We can at least dream about it.

Here's a view of the site...

newhannibal112 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanbudhu/4705788306/sizes/l/in/set-72157624163601361/)

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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/4587468127_80b47772f8_o.jpg

[NYC4Life]

The most ideal location for a new supertall or other large scale development. For now at least, only a vision.

[urbanlife]

I would much rather see this get built that what is being proposed for the WTC. Just in photographing alone, this building would be amazing and dynamic.

[texcolo]

I like it.

It makes it's big splash at street level instead of having a spire or iconic roof line, which is unusual.

[inno4321]

What a beautiful USA!!! Edge building!!! I like that design!!

[brian.odonnell20]

This is among the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. This and 56 Leonard. I don't care how "architecturally interesting" this is. That doesn't automatically mean it is good looking or has to be built, as some people think. The building has no harmony with anything, and should therefore be built in Dubai. Not New York. I can't even believe this is a viable proposal.

[Lecom]

Awesome design. Shame that it's just a vision and is almost certain to never happen. The city's current supertalls are having plenty of trouble rising, with constant delays and court battles, even when backed by powerful developers, while this one has no backing whatsoever. The chances of it being built are none to slim.

[thelanetrain17]

i agree this is an amazing design and I think with the WTC buildings going up in a futuristic design, that plus this building and the Beekman will give Downtown manhattan skyline a good mix of old and new buildings because Downtown is primarily older yet beautiful buildings. I really really hope this gets built. And this has probably been asked, but have they started financing this building or is it still a vision/unlikely proposal?

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

i agree this is an amazing design and I think with the WTC buildings going up in a futuristic design, that plus this building and the Beekman will give Downtown manhattan skyline a good mix of old and new buildings because Downtown is primarily older yet beautiful buildings. I really really hope this gets built. And this has probably been asked, but have they started financing this building or is it still a vision/unlikely proposal?

its a vision

[Flamesrule]

Yeah, too bad right now it's only a proposal.Not sure about the bottom part though.

[Troubadour]

Totally deserves to be built. Get on it, NY!

[bbeliko]

I don't like the bottom two/thirds but the top is nice looking. I would rather have a different design. it's certainly not gorgeous in my book, or one of the most amazing designs ever, heck Tour Phare (which i really really like btw) looks many times better than this.
Yeah, the top is nice, but overall the thing has a very Dubai-ish look to it

[Flamesrule]

I don't like how the bottom part is curved and what-not. Like other people said, it looks very dubai-ish.

[scalziand]

CTBUH says it has 70 floors.
http://buildingdb.ctbuh.org/building.php?building_id=9220

[jd3189]

This building is good,but the design needs to be simplified. Like what people above me are saying,this screams out Dubai. New York is not Dubai.

[THE BIG APPLE]

One of the worst or even bad things that can happen to this tower is if Greenwich South is ever taken into consideration and comes to life.

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-6.jpg

[reencharles]

One of the worst or even bad things that can happen to this tower is if Greenwich South is ever taken into consideration and comes to life.

http://inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2010/05/Edgar-Street-Towers-6.jpg

Yeah, I remember that. Freak!

[scalziand]

That was just a vision.

[THE BIG APPLE]

^ We know. But if it's ever taken into serious CONSIDERATION and built.....

[jd3189]

^ We know. But if it's ever taken into serious CONSIDERATION and built.....

What's wrong with it? Downtown wouldn't be ruined with another supertall. The height does need to be shortened to not take too much dominance from the WTC,but in all,it's a good idea.

[THE BIG APPLE]

^ No I posted that in the 50 West St thread, but it got moved here. I meant the worst thing that could happen to 50 West is if this building is built. But it would look good in Downtown. Almost like a Tower Verre on steroids.

[Eidolon]

The base as it is right now is hideous as far as shape and proporsions are concerned, but I really like everything else about it. Alot.

[marvelfannumber1]

I like the idea and the spot it is located on.
However i think it is a little too tall, the facade and the base is hideous aswell in my opinion.

[NYguy]

http://www.earthtechling.com/2012/08/this-iconic-new-york-high-rise-breathes-easy/

This Iconic New York High-Rise Breathes Easy


http://c276521.r21.cf1.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Edgar-St-Towers.jpg


by Susan DeFreitas
August 9, 2012


We’ve seen some interesting riffs on the New York skyscraper lately. But while HWKN Architects have imagined how high-rise architecture might become more responsive and resilient in the face of high water, IwamotoScott has turned its attention toward the question of how to preserve indoor air quality in skyscrapers. This issue is an important one, as high-rise buildings tend to lack operable windows, and may not be designed with access to natural ventilation. The Edgar Street Tower design (which comes to us via eVolo) tackles the problem in a unique way: by using bio-filtration terrariums that work much like a pair lungs. Housed within the structure’s dual-branching atria, these terrariums occupy hollow spaces within the floors, providing clean air for those who work within the tower.

The 1,300-foot building was actually designed to straddle Edgar Street in Lower Manhattan, and then spiral up, joining in the middle before splitting off into two atria. The bio-filtration terrarium floors are located at this second split, where open gardens work to remove C02 and pollutants from the air while replenishing the amount of oxygen available in the building. These atria also house a light-transmitting fiber optic array that draws daylight down into the building during the day, in the spirit of a giant skylight (and not unlike the proposal for New York’s LowLine Park.) The building’s fiber optics system works in reverse at night, lighting up the towers from the inside via the power stored in its integrated solar battery packs.

Designed for optimal solar orientation and wind resistance, the study for this “big green skyscraper” was commissioned by the Downtown Alliance and led by ARO, Beyer Blinder Belle & OPEN. The Edgar Street Towers are planned for the south end of Manhattan, where they would create a civic landmark for the area while offering residents a place to live, work, take in art and performances, and shop, as well as check out books from a proposed public library.

http://www.archello.com/en/project/edgar-street-towers

[photoLith]

My God its beautiful! Build it now!

[NYguy]

Here's a link to the study...
https://www.ida-downtown.org/eweb/docs/2009%20Award%20Project%20Submissions%20-%20PDFs/Planning/Greenwich%20South_AllianceNY%20PPt.pdf



http://www.downtownny.com/node/3375

The Alliance for Downtown New York’s Greenwich South Study has received an American Architecture Award for 2010 from the Chicago Athenaeum and European Center for Architecture and Design. The honor is one of the most prestigious and distinguished building awards in the United States to honor new and cutting-edge design.

The Greenwich South study suggests ways to turn the 23 blocks between Battery Park and the World Trade Center near Greenwich Street into the lynchpin for a thriving, round-the-clock “Lower West Side,” and presents a vision for revitalizing and reconnecting the community with nearby creative hubs.

Since its release in September 2009, the Greenwich South Study also has won recognition from:

 The American Society of Landscape Architects, Minnesota Chapter. The Minnesota ASLA honored Coen + Partners for its landscape architecture work on the study. The New York and Minneapolis-based firm submitted its concept of “A Living Street: A Landscape Illustrating Five Principles for Greenwich South.” The goal of the Greenwich South vision, Coen + Partners said, is to “shape future neighborhood development around the concept of a ‘Living Street.’ The resulting landscape concept successfully knits the World Trade Center site to Battery Park, creating a sustainable and animated neighborhood armature, both visually distinct and timeless, to guide long-term renewal.”

 The American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. The New York AIA has awarded the study with a 2010 New York Chapter Urban Design Merit Award. The awards jury “picked projects that highlighted that good architecture is more than luxury – it’s what works best for the end user, be it a government agency, a nonprofit organization, or a private business,” said the symposium’s moderator, Architect’s Newspaper editor-in-chief William Menking.

 The American Institute of Architects, National Chapter. The national AIA has given the project a 2010 National Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design. “The potential of the extraordinary large parcel, essentially forgotten for decades, could result in a reconnection that opens up millions of square feet of developable air rights,” the awards jury said.

 The Rockefeller Foundation. Based on the Greenwich South study, the Foundation has granted the Downtown Alliance a $150,000 award from its New York City Cultural Innovation Fund for development of a creative arts-district prototype that supports permanent workspaces for artists and commercial growth.

[-Filipe-]

aw i actually like this one lol any chance of it ever getting built? :P

[Crawford]

aw i actually like this one lol any chance of it ever getting built? :P

It's under study by the NYC Department of City Planning (not this exact design, but a rezoning of the area to allow towers and special air rights transfers).

So, yeah, something will happen eventually, but who knows when.

[-Filipe-]

It's under study by the NYC Department of City Planning.

So, yeah, something will happen eventually, but who knows when.

oh so does that mean this will actually get built? im not very good with all the skyscraper talk lol i dont know what under study by the nyc... actually means lol

and why isn't this in proposals?

[jd3189]

:previous: It once was. It would be cool if they build this design. Would be one of the most innovative skyscrapers in the city and the country.

[NYguy]

A different sort of tower now rises on site...the tallest in town.


Dan Nguyen @ New York City (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zokuga/7979364230/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7979364230_836d7e3433_b.jpg



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http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8035/7979387346_2958c1f291_b.jpg



jrdaumer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7926886@N06/7979268981/sizes/h/in/photostream/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7979268981_6bc6f9d031_h.jpg

[THE BIG APPLE]

I saw the tribute lights all the way in the Bensonhurst, Midwood, and Park Slope neighborhoods. Really glad to see they weren't canned like initially suspected. It would even look better, and realistic if the lights were put around the original footprints, BUT it's not feasible. Only posting my POV here because the location of the lights is on the proposed site for SkyVoid.

[jd3189]

A different sort of tower now rises on site...the tallest in town.

jrdaumer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7926886@N06/7979268981/sizes/h/in/photostream/)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7979268981_6bc6f9d031_h.jpg

Tallest in the world I'd say.