Archinect - News

Central Park Tower breaks Willis Tower's record 45-year claim to highest roof in the Western Hemisphere

2019-08-05T07:00:00-04:00

Central Park Tower, aka 217 West 57th Street, has surpassed the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower (née Sears Tower) to claim the title of highest roof in the Western Hemisphere. The Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed supertall is being developed by Extell and will soon top-out at 1,550 feet tall over Billionaires’ Row.

Once the world's tallest building from 1974 to 1996, the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower in Chicago is, little by little, kicked out from top placements in various height-record categories by the new kids on blocks all over the world.

After losing the overall height crown to the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in the mid-90s (when it was still the Sears Tower), the 110-story Modernist structure was ejected from the elusive Top 10 Tallest Buildings club when the 2,073-foot-tall Shanghai Tower was completed, and now, Willis Tower had to pass on also the title of highest roof in the Western Hemisphere to a young, skinny New Yorker on Billionaires' Row, the soon-to-be-completed (and tallest residential building on the planet) Central Park Tower.

View this post on Instagram @CentralParkTower and @One57–– two NYC landmarks gracing the skyline and providing residents with unparalleled views of #billionairesrow
A post shared by Central Park Tower (@centralparktower) o...

New renderings of Central Park Tower aka Nordstrom Tower aka 217 West 57th Street

2018-10-16T13:36:00-04:00

It’s looking to be a big year for Billionaires’ Row: Just one month after sales launched at 111 West 57th Street, Extell has followed suit at Central Park Tower, its behemoth located at 217 West 57th Street. [...] The development has been somewhat shrouded in mystery since plans were announced more than five years ago. Construction got underway not long after, but details about the tower have been few and far between.

With a target floor count of 101 and designed to stand 1,550 feet tall once completed, the Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture-designed tower on Billionaires’ Row brands itself as the "tallest residential building in the world". At this height, the upper floors don't have much else standing in their way to interrupt their million-dollar views of New York City's Central Park.

Image via @centralparktower on Instagram

60 Minutes profiles Bjarke Ingels, the "Starchitect"

2016-03-14T18:16:00-04:00

The culture at BIG is intense but in off-hours, blowing off steam dressed as your favorite comic book hero isn't uncommon. That's the boss armed with a gun full of tequila. Bjarke Ingels: The way we work is maybe unlike certain architects that have a very particular style where it is the auteur. It has to be the design principal who makes the strokes of genius. I don't have to come up with the best idea. It is my job to make sure that it is always the best idea that wins.

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A closer look at BIG's West 57th Street "courtscraper"

2016-03-04T13:01:00-05:00

It’s tempting to see this as celebrity’s flourish, but consider all that the shape achieves: It maximizes river views and covered balconies, obstructs its neighbors as little as possible, fills a deep narrow block without resorting to an ungainly slab, protects even low apartments from the noise of the West Side Highway, pierces the skyline with a jaunty top, and leaves room for a courtyard that even in winter basks in sunlight most of the day.

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Nordstrom Tower aiming to snatch 'tallest building' title from One World Trade Center

2015-05-11T13:52:00-04:00

The current race to the top of the skyline is the most impressive in New York City’s history, with ever-taller skyscrapers sprouting from the Financial District all the way to 57th Street. And YIMBY has now learned that 217 West 57th Street, aka the Nordstrom Tower, received a height boost between April and June of last year, pushing the tower’s pinnacle to 1,795 feet. That will make it the tallest building in New York City, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere.

Previously

New Renderings Revealed for 217 West 57th Street, the Will-Be Tallest Residential Building in the World

2015-04-20T16:37:00-04:00

With its spire the Nordstrom Tower will be just one foot shorter than One World Trade Center, but its elevation will make it the tallest point in New York, as its site is 100 feet above sea level, compared to One World Trade’s 12- foot elevation.

New renderings have been released for Extell Development's Nordstrom Tower at 217 West 57th Street. When completed, the 92-story, 1,775-foot supertall that will take the title of tallest residential building in the world, surpassing Mumbai’s World One Tower by 29 feet. The images show how the tower, designed by architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill, will dominate the skyline, as well as close-up views of the façade and a peek into one of the penthouses.