![]() Ferris wrote “The Metropolis of Tomorrow” and his drawings and ideas contributed to the establishment of New York zoning codes and the characteristic stepped and pointed tower profiles that are designed to maintain natural light at street level. Getman repeatedly references Hugh Ferris’s drawings as a touchstone. We wanted to celebrate the skyline again.” “Early generation towers had those gorgeous tops,” Getman tells me, “but when air conditioning came along, architects chopped off the tops to accommodate the plant. “We were asking what’s the next generation of skyscraper, what’s the next iteration?” This is a project with huge ambition, drawing on the heyday of New York high-rise architecture. The challenge that SHoP set itself right from the start was how to design a building that could sit alongside New York’s most historic skyscrapers. This is what has become the base of the new tower and dictates that it’s set back from both streets on an incredibly tight footprint – just 17.5m wide. The lot reaches all the way from 57 th Street across the block to 58 th Street and was already almost completely built out, apart from a narrow lightwell within the middle of the site. This required a tower, and a very tall one. Having established the conservation and retrofit approach to Steinway Hall, the design team needed to deliver some serious return on investment for the developer. This is a project with huge ambition, drawing on the heyday of New York high-rise architecture Floor layouts of Steinway Hall have been comprehensively reconfigured internally, although almost all the original structure of the Warren and Wetmore building has been retained. Initially, only the exterior was protected, although the ground floor showroom has now also been added to the list of landmark interiors and is intended for retail or restaurant use. Steinway Hall was primarily built as commercial space, but with relatively low floor to floor heights it had become unattractive as an office building. The LPC was set up following the 1963 destruction of McKimm, Mead and White’s Penn Station and is responsible for protecting the city’s architectural and cultural heritage. Because of the location, and protected status of the building, SHoP were required to work closely with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). “We had a historic building, so one of our first challenges was how to protect the legacy,” Getman tells me. The original Steinway showroom - now a registered landmark interior Not only this, but the site was also already home to the protected 1925 Steinway Hall, by Warren and Wetmore, the architects of Grand Central. It is hard to conceive of a more prominent location for a high rise in the whole of Manhattan. The plot is two blocks south of 59 th Street and sits just east of Central Park’s central axis. ![]() It is clear from speaking to her that, while she has relished the opportunity presented by the project, she has also approached it with seriousness and a meticulous attention to context and detail.īefore even telling them where the site was, Stern’s first question to Getman and her colleagues at SHoP was, “what’s your favourite New York building?” She cited Grand Central Station and the incredible body of work of Ralph Thomas Walker, once named “architect of the century” by the New York Times, whose highly stylised art-deco buildings have been so influential in architecture and film. ![]() She is low-key and gives off an air of focused professionalism. I meet Getman in the lobby of her recently completed building at 111 West 57 th Street. “When they asked me if I was interested, it was ‘Of course I am!’”. “It was beyond what you could plan for in architecture school” she tells me. Stern’s first question to Getman and her colleagues at SHoP was, “what’s your favourite New York building?” So, what do you do when a developer comes knocking and you’re asked to make your own addition to the world’s most recognisable cityscape? This was the challenge that faced Dana Getman when developer Michael Stern approached SHoP Architects in 2013, with a commission for a super thin Midtown skyscraper. It is, as much as a huge chunk of towering real estate ever can be, public property. People around the world who have never even visited have an attachment to it that is akin to a sense of ownership. Our familiarity with the Chrysler, the Empire State, and the city’s soaring peaks and echoing canyons has made the Manhattan skyline more than iconic. But getting the chance to design a brand-new skyscraper in New York must be one of the biggest challenges any architect can face. The southern fully glazed elevation of 111 West 57th Streetĭesigning a tall building is a big responsibility in any context.
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