[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1108710

Columbia’s $70M medical education building sets stage for advancement
14-story transparent tower has look of a sculpture in the sky





By Douglas Feiden
July 5, 2012

Columbia University recently unveiled plans to build one of the most eye-catching, attention-grabbing towers in the city for its medical center early next year on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River in Washington Heights. Renderings show a sun-drenched, 14-story sculptural space with see-through glass floors and dramatic cutaways that will literally open a window on the next generation of world-class doctors plying their craft.

The 100,000-square-foot — and $70 million — Medical and Graduate Education Building, on Haven Ave. at 171st St., will boast oversized landings, “floating terraces in the sky” and a stack of exposed glass boxes that architects call the “study cascade.”

With plans to create a new green park space on the building’s south side, the project will also be a boon to the surrounding community.

Boasting spectacular views of the George Washington Bridge, the tower is expected to break ground in early 2013 and open in late 2016, officials at Columbia University Medical Center say.