At one time (over 100 years ago), any building taller than the walk-up height of seven stories might have been called a skyscraper. Since the safety-brake passenger elevator was patented by Otis & VonSiemens in 1853, buildings could be built taller and taller.
Iconic skyscrapers are now part of our urban lore- King Kong grabbing biplanes from atop the Empire State Building; the sun glistening off the stainless steel gargoyles and art deco sunbursts of the Chrysler Building.
New York City sprinted ahead of the skyscraper race for almost a century. Today, Manhattan competes in the world, and even though Asia now produces the tallest buildings (though many of them are by American architects), the new super slender buildings being built in Manhattan rival almost any in the world for the slenderness ratio, up to 1:23 (a ratio of width to height, e.g. a 1” wide ruler 12” tall has a 1:12 slenderness ratio).
Propelled by advanced engineering and the all-important purchase of air-rights from neighboring buildings, the competition to build higher and gain the most wealth and status grows. The growing separation of the wealthy is illustrated by the most slender super-tall buildings in the works: the Steinway at 111 W 57 Street (1:23 ratio; SHoP Architects), 157 W 57 Street (Portzamparc & SLCE Architects), and 432 Park Avenue (1:15 ratio; R. Vinoly & SLCE Architects) soon to be the tallest North America residential building, at least for a little while. 227 W. 57th Street has an even taller building starting construction next year.
These surround the southern end of Central Park and critics claim the shadows cast there will greatly reduce the quality of life for New Yorkers. Studies of shadow patterns show that slender buildings may only darken a spot for 10 minutes or so in the day, whereas bulkier building profiles could shadow a spot for a much longer portion of the day. Current zoning laws already require setbacks to allow more sunlight to penetrate city streets. Slenderness may minimize the shadows cast on streets blocks away, but it does nothing at the base of the structure to form the streetscape, or relate to pedestrians looking at facades.
The Skyscraper Museum at 39 Battery Place currently has an excellent exhibit in place called Sky-high & the Logic of Luxury that explains more details of super slender towers. Museum director Carol Willis said it’s important to understand the forces driving the pursuit of super slender buildings in NYC. Other slender towers are The Skyhouse at 11 E 29 Street (FXFowle Architects), One Madison (1:12 ratio; CetraRuddy Architects), and 30 Park Place (RAM Stern & SLCE Architects).
I visited the top 76th floor penthouse of the current tallest residential building in North America, the New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Street (Gehry Partners). The tall windows and bay-window configurations can produce vertigo, but I enjoyed the exhilaration of the height and view of the city and beyond in all 360 degrees.
Super-wealthy buyers who can afford multiple homes and who may spend only a fraction of the year in any one place, nevertheless are spending 40 to 90 million dollars for an apartment that gives them special status. There are enough of the super-rich looking to buy in Manhattan that developers have successfully built for them, if they can build high enough to capture dizzying views. Slender towers stand apart from their neighbors at great heights, providing fantastic views. Unfortunately, the 46-story Trump SOHO “hotel” glassy tower (Handel Arch.) at 246 Spring Street, is grossly out of scale with its surroundings.
The West Village is pressured too, because the super-rich desire what the West Village offers. Previous zoning had allowed plots for tall slender buildings (especially hotels and dormitories), until a rezoning removed that possibility in 2005. The 150 Charles site allowed a 31-story tower set back from the street, but architect CookFox chose to hold to 15-stories, similar to the Superior Ink Condo, Westbeth Artists Coop, the Meier glass buildings, and 1 Morton Square, among others in the immediate area.
What makes the West Village so interesting to walk around is the variety of active storefronts and residences. Probably the least interesting aspect to see is an empty lot or a blank wall “protecting” some unknown use.
This welcomed variety in the West Village is the diversity of uses and treatments at pedestrian level, not from height and slenderness ratio. There is a place for the super tall, but historic districts need not succumb to mega-development for the city to grow, any more than we would consider developing our parks and green spaces to meet growth demands.
