NEW YORK | Central Park Tower (Nordstrom)| 1,550 FT | 131 FLOORS

[UTEPman]

Wow. That is pretty awful. Shame it will be a centerpiece of Manhattan's skyline.

Seriously though, if you are going make a building with that much impact on one of the worlds iconic skylines you should put a little thought into aesthetics.

[easy as pie]

totally wrong for that part of midtown, man, that's a bummer. with any luck, there's some serious revision after a full-on public campaign against the design.

[JayPro]

@Onn;
Yeah, but remember One57's architects had the task of making the structure conform to an odd-shaped lot. This one, obviously, doesn't.
I can only hope that the facade shows at least *some* intiative towards aspiring to the "iconic" status that already has been conferred upon this monolith...and perhaps too hastily.

[patriotizzy]

After all this hype, this is what we get? I expected something close to the sexiness of the Hudson Yards. That lot is full of architectural porn. This however, is something like trying to get off on a mutilated cow carcass

[mistermetAJ]

Originally Posted by Onn

Trump Tower is awesome (best US skyscraper of the last decade), and is so Burj Khalifa. There might be more creative designs out there (and certainly safer, they could have gone with Peli AGAIN), but not many as instant classics.

Trump Tower is awful. No texture, all glass, and no creativity. Pretty bland with the exception of the set backs.

However, Trump Tower is miles and miles better than this mess proposed by Adrian Smith. This thing is beyond offensive to the skyline. Its an atrocity. It is completely out of context with its surroundings in form. Yet its break away from conformity doesnt even have a hint of creativity, but is merely a box stacked awkwardly on a box.

New York would be better off if this thing wasnt built. How incredibly disappointing. Is there anything that can stop this monstrosity?

New York needs to implement design review boards. Based on its size and prominence in the skyline, this is wosre than any street wall killing budget hotel designed by Kaufman.

Why Adrian Smith did you have to ruin New York?

[King DenCity]

^So true we need a new supertall tower to hope for.

[mistermetAJ]

Originally Posted by Onn

One57 wasn't a stunner at first either (with poor renderings) but the finished product turned out way better than expected. I think they will pull it off successfully. If people are disappointed with the design from a creative standpoint that's fair to say, yet that doesn't mean they won't like the finished product. Yeah it's a mixed bag right now.

One 57 had acceptable massing. We were all worried about the skin.

This "mixed bag" of garbage doesnt even have that, and you can look at any Adrian Smith design to know its going to be flat, probably blue glass devoid of detail.

He is a horrible architect. Such a disappointment for the city.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Guys calm down you havnt seen the entire structure yet it's not perfect but not terrible either

[babybackribs2314]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

Guys calm down you havnt seen the entire structure yet it's not perfect but not terrible either

Strongly disagree!

Were you standing behind the LPC table/the one that gave the pro-skyscraper statement, btw? I liked what you said - and am I incorrect in thinking the chair totally cut me off?!!

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Originally Posted by babybackribs2314

Strongly disagree!

Were you standing behind the LPC table/the one that gave the pro-skyscraper statement, btw? I liked what you said - and am I incorrect in thinking the chair totally cut me off?!!

what was your statement and yup that was me... The chair was rude I might add and I couldn't handle all those dead beats who were afraid of Shadows.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Onn

Hard to get a read when we can't see the whole building, but it doesn't look bad. I kind of like the cantilevering actually.

I look at this as the kid who didn't get exactly what he wanted for Christmas, but still got a really great gift, one that a lot of kids would love to have. That being said, I feel they had a chance to do somthing special here, and didn't. Also, I don't like the cantilever on a building this tall. The tower should soar, from the,bottom to the top, and the cantilever cuts in to that. Lose it, and the tower is better.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

Where ever the tower falls short I blame nordstrom they specifically requested that the buildings core not be in the middle of the lot to maximize Sq. Footage in the store. Place the core in the middle. Get more bulk for the tower and you get more space to build a more dynamic design... Nordstrom cheated us here let's not blame the architects.

[babybackribs2314]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

what was your statement and yup that was me... The chair was rude I might add and I couldn't handle all those dead beats who were afraid of Shadows.

I mentioned Vornado's 220 CPS & he shut me down completely after less than 30 seconds. I think I went one or two people after you.

[babybackribs2314]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

Where ever the tower falls short I blame nordstrom they specifically requested that the buildings core not be in the middle of the lot to maximize Sq. Footage in the store. Place the core in the middle. Get more bulk for the tower and you get more space to build a more dynamic design... Nordstrom cheated us here let's not blame the architects.

The core could have easily gone where 1780 Broadway used to be; they're only keeping the facade.

The argument that it was bc of Nordstrom is totally BS, and people came up to me afterwards in agreement - they located the core there because of 220 CPS's potential to block 217 W 57th's views.

[hunser]

Yep, quite the disappointment.

Height

1300ft? 1400ft? Meh, that ain't special anymore, not even in New York City. Barnett had a unique chance to make a bold statement. So 57th Street will be a wall of 1300 footers, great. The skyline needs a real peak and only a 1600 / 1700 footer (to the roof) can achieve that. I realize developers built only on demand and maximum profit, but this city needs to move forward, heightwise.

Design

So far, pretty lame. AS+GG surely can do better. What were they thinking? Are they in love with 432 PA and decided to mess around a bit? Pathetic. Now I'd rather have a green tower which is curvy and more interesting.

And btw thanks Nikolai for attending the meeting. Your info is very much appreciated.

[antinimby]

Wow, this could really hurt if later on we find out how Adrian Smith's original design or the scrapped H de M design might have looked like.

This design is just too blockish. Reminds me of some of those awkward WTC proposals that didn't get selected.

With all those people involved in this project, you'd think some of them could see how unflattering this tower looks.

[hunser]

This is what New York needs as a signature tower!

Something like this:

Guangzhou Chow Tai Fook Center: 1739ft/530m






or this:

Shenzhen Ping An Finance Center: 2165ft/660m





Maybe someone needs to book a plane ticket for AS & GG to China so they can get some inspiration from there ... argh, I'm so angry now.

[hunser]

For the first time ever I find myself in the position of actually preventing a NYC project to see the light of day. Never thought this would happen!

[De Minimis NY]

This article on curbed seems to suggest that the landmarks committee could have some say in the design. To be fair, the artlicle also misstates the new height of the building, but is there any possibility that the cantilever over the American Fine Arts society building would allow the committee to influence what will be built?

Look At Extell's Next Midtown Tower, A 1,550-Foot-Tall Doozy

1/10/2013 By Hana R. Alberts

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/1...tall_doozy.php

"The glassy design cantilevers over the uber-historic American Fine Arts Society building next door, and neighbors are worried about its height and general appropriateness. They're used to Extell's 57th Stret megaprojects, of course, but this time a landmark is involved."

[yankeesfan1000]

All courtesy of Funkyskunk2 on SSC: