Archinect - News

Some of NYC’s biggest high-rollers want a casino in Coney Island, but local residents aren’t buying in

2022-08-04T10:00:00-04:00

If real estate developers get their way, Coney Island may soon be losing its seasonal vibe. The New York Post is reporting that several of the city's leading corporate entities, including Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross' Related Companies, Vornado, and S.L. Green, have expressed interest in two of the state's three new available casino licenses as part of an expansion endorsed by Governor Kathy Hochul.

Looking to Atlantic City as a model, Thor Equities owner Joe Sitt is pitching a gaming destination in his native Coney Island as a potential commercial booster. Hudson Yards, Times Square, and Queens’ Willets Point neighborhood have also been floated. In total, the projects could bring in at least $1.5 billion in license revenue for the state. The year-round operation of the casinos could engender even greater profits dependent on an agreed-upon tax rate between the state and potential developers.

Other than money, the subway system seems to be the main determining factor in the m...

Two giant digital art installations open in Times Square

2021-07-19T13:15:00-04:00

Two immersive, site-specific media art installations evoking natural water landscapes, produced by a'strict, will be displayed at Times Square during New York's hottest summer months. From July 16 to Aug. 2, the group's gigantic whale and waterfall will appear before the eyes of millions in the U.S. for the first time.

The Korean media artist group a'strict has previously made a splash with its recent WAVE project outside of a mall in Seoul's Gangnam District. The aquatic digital 3D sculpture bears more than a passing resemblance to a piece by Olafur Eliasson that was installed in 2008.

A group called Silvercast is hosting the installation on its 30,000-square-foot Big Kahuna digital billboard. The whale will appear in 60-second intervals every half hour from 12pm until midnight.

The Korea Times has more on the summery new artworks here.

A in #TimesSquare. Check out this digital art work taking over a 30,000 sq. ft. @SILVERCASTMedia screen in the heart of Times Square. Launched today and runs through July 26 every half hour. Enjoy! pic.twitter.com/aKnpd7TTxt
— Times Square (@TimesSquareNYC) July 16, 2021

Two historic NYC theaters in Times Square to be redeveloped

2018-09-20T14:59:00-04:00

Two historic New York City theaters are getting ready to shine brightly under the Times Square spotlight once again. This week, developers behind the Times Square Theater and the Palace Theater, unveiled ambitious renovation and expansion plans for their establishments.

The Palace Theater redevelopment includes raising the structure about 30 feet to accommodate retail space below and an 18,000 square foot wraparound sign. The existing DoubleTree hotel above the theater will be demolished to be replaced by a 46-story tower including retail, dining, and a hotel.

TSX Broadway rendering. Image: TSX Broadway.

The new complex, called TSX Broadway, also includes a 4,000-square-foot performance venue to be suspended 30 feet above Times Square. The new outdoor stage will be the only of its kind located in Times Square.

TSX Broadway retail section rendering. Image: TSX Broadway.

Nearby the Times Square Theater, which has been vacant for 30 years, will be redeveloped as a large retail venue. Architecture and planning firm Beyer Blinder Belle will restore most of the existing building while adding in two glass stories.

Times Square Theater redevelopment rendering. Image: Stillman Development International.

New additions also include a glass box overhang on th...

“We Were Strangers Once Too”, the 2017 Times Square Valentine Heart winner, shows love to NYC's immigrants

2017-02-10T17:42:00-05:00

“We Were Strangers Once Too” by hybrid research group The Office for Creative Research reminds us yet again that immigrants make America great, and that upholding the values of showing love and respect for all is as important as ever...The [public data sculpture serves] as a small yet impactful reminder of the diverse communities that make NYC what it is.

The enduring legacy of New York's "hellhole"

2016-03-04T15:48:00-05:00

The only context in which [Times Square] is routinely praised is a historical one, and then usually in a misguided glorification of its former grittiness. Nostalgia clouds the ugliness of the past and conceals the vibrancy of the present, but perhaps worst of all, it offers a pass for looking at Times Square as it really is and as it should be. [...] if you’re trying to fight your way through the crowds of Times Square, you’re missing the point—the point is the crowd.

Related on Archinect:

Have a moment at the "Heart of Hearts", now at Times Square for Valentine's Day

2016-02-10T18:58:00-05:00

Romance is in the air at Times Square. If you were to walk through there right now, you'll find the "Heart of Hearts", a ring of mirrored golden hearts in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. Designed by Collective-LOK, the installation was the 2016 winner of the Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition.

Get a closer look of the installation on Bustler.

Previously:

What if: Perkins Eastman's "Green Line" proposal turns Broadway into a 40-block park in the heart of Manhattan

2015-12-15T14:39:00-05:00

Perkins Eastman is taking two of the best-loved urban land-use stories of the Bloomberg era—the High Line and Times Square—and combining them into one. The Green Line extends the logic of changes that have already taken root along the limited stretch of Broadway running through Times Square. [...] proposal builds on the work of Jan Gehl and Snøhetta, the architects who pedestrianized Times Square. Yet it also echoes the High Line by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Collective-LOK's golden "Heart of Hearts" wins the 2016 Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition

2015-11-11T17:40:00-05:00

The holiday season is barely about to start, and at least in NYC's Times Square, that already includes Valentine's Day. Over the last eight years, Times Square has invited architects, designers, and artists to propose an interactive Valentine-themed heart installation for their annual Valentine Heart Design competition. The winning entry would then be constructed at Father Duffy Square in time for Valentine's Day.

Collective-LOK was announced today as the 2016 competition winner with their design, "Heart of Hearts". Towering above 10 feet tall, Heart of Hearts is a ring of nine faceted mirrored hearts clad in sparkling gold, thus creating a kaleidoscopic interior space that "dissolves the boundaries between viewing and performing". This "alternative pavilion" would also reflect and multiply the bustling surroundings of Times Square.

Each golden heart has a diamond-shaped "kissing booth" interior space where anyone inside will see themselves — and whatever they might doing — mirrored. ...

Can a massive makeover turn Montparnasse into the Times Square of Paris?

2015-09-09T15:00:00-04:00

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has suggested the area around the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper could become the Times Square of the French capital. Now its owners plan to try and make that dream come true. [...] The owners of the 59-storey building are due to launch an international architecture competition next year to revamp the brown tower block and the shopping mall at its base with a major makeover that could cost up to €700 million.

Related on Archinect:

NY Mayor de Blasio's Times Square overhaul runs into massive opposition

2015-08-24T11:27:00-04:00

It’s hard to grasp his calculus. One of Mr. de Blasio’s big initiatives, Vision Zero, aims to improve pedestrian safety. Ripping up the pedestrian plazas in Times Square, restoring cars and forcing millions of people to dodge traffic again, runs headlong into his own policy. As an exasperated Tim Tompkins, the president of the Times Square Alliance, put it on Thursday: “Sure, let’s tear up Broadway — we can’t govern, manage or police our public spaces.”

More about Times Square on Archinect:

Times Square throughout the ages

2015-04-14T13:42:00-04:00

Times Square has always been about reinvention — in order for the New York Times' headquarters to be built (and give the spot its name), the Pabst Brewing Company's Pabst Hotel had to be demolished. But in the late 1970s, after decades of grandeur followed by decades of decay, imagining the future of Times Square became a particularly pressing project. [...] Here are some plans for the future of Times Square, some of which never caught on and some of which still have a chance.

Times Square and the routine of chaos

2015-02-19T19:38:00-05:00

Times Square runs on spectacle. Bigger and brighter is always better. And though plenty of New Yorkers wear their criticism of Times Square as a badge of local honor [...] one of the most iconic public spaces in the world. In recent years, as stretches of Broadway formerly open to vehicular traffic have been repurposed as pedestrian plazas, opportunities to activate the “crossroads of the world” with events, performances, and public art installations have ballooned.

Jam to your heart's desire with Stereotank's "Heartbeat" installation in Times Square

2015-02-12T16:29:00-05:00

The 2015 Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition winner, "Heartbeat", by Brooklyn-based practice Stereotank was unveiled in Times Square New York City just in time for Valentine's weekend. Organized by the Times Square Alliance in partnership with The Architectural League of New York, the annual competition invites architects and designers to send proposals for a Valentine's Day-themed public art installation in NYC's Times Square.

Even if Valentine's Day isn't everyone's kind of thing, the Heartbeat installation spreads the universal love for music. The installation is a heart-shaped beating drum that glows to the rhythm of a strong, deep, and low-frequency heartbeat sound that changes its rate as passersby approach, move around, or play its various percussion instruments and join the base rhythm of the installation's "pulse". In a location like Times Square, Heartbeat continuously orchestrates the sounds of its active environment into an "urban concert" of its own kind.

Hear...

Stereotank’s HEARTBEAT wins 2015 Times Square Valentine Heart Design

2014-12-15T19:38:00-05:00

Here's one for you lovers out there: in the annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design contest, Brooklyn-based, Venezuelan-born firm Stereotank just came out as the winner with their entry "HEARTBEAT." The interactive installation is scheduled to open for an entire month to couples and singles alike on February 9.

More information on Bustler.

Midtown Manhattan Wouldn't Be the Same

2014-08-22T13:04:00-04:00

The hardworking Skyscraper Museum, in the belly of a condo complex on Battery Place, doesn’t have much space or much of a budget, but with admirable frequency its director, Carol Willis, stages smart shows that uncover telling moments of New York skyscraper lore and architecture history. The museum has just opened “Times Square, 1984: The Postmodern Moment,” about the battle 30 years ago for the soul of Times Square and the profession.

A Lost Cause? Alfredo Jaar’s “A Logo for America” Coming to Times Square Again

2014-07-29T14:07:00-04:00

When Alfredo Jaar’s glittering “A Logo for America” video first played on a Times Square billboard in 1987, it riled up New Yorkers. [...] shows the words “This is not America” inside the outline of the United States. “A Logo for America” will receive a second life this week; beginning on August 1, the video will pop up on Times Square signs and screens between 11:57 pm and 12:00 am. But this 2.0 version loses some of the video’s original intent to reach a broad—and hopefully attentive—audience.

Getting up close and personal with the Times Square Heart Design winning sculpture

2014-02-14T15:55:00-05:00

To show you all some Valentine's Day love, we have more photos to share of Young Projects' recently unveiled "Match Maker" sculpture from the 2014 Times Square Heart Design competition. Currently on display at New York's Times Square until March 11, 2014, the interactive heart-shaped sculpture pairs up individuals based on their zodiac sign compatibility.

From left to right: Bryan Young of Young Projects; Sherry Dobbin, Director of Public Art for the Times Square Alliance; and David van der Leer, Executive Director of Van Alen Institute

Find more photos on Bustler.

Winning sculpture of 2014 Times Square Heart Design unveiled

2014-02-10T17:39:00-05:00

How about we start the week with a heart-warming project right on time for Valentine's Day! "Match Maker," the winning sculpture of the 2014 Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition, was unveiled in New York's Times Square today. Designed by Brooklyn-based Young Projects in collaboration with Kammetal, "Match Maker" is an interactive heart-shaped sculpture that matches individuals based on their zodiac sign.

Have a glimpse of the winning and finalist installations:

Winner: Young Projects - Match Maker

Haiko Cornelissen Architecten - TWEET HEART NY

Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio - O Heart

Schaum/Shieh Architects - My Fuzzy Valentine

SOFTlab - Sweet Heart

The Living - Vapor Valentine

Learn more about each project at Bustler.

Is that a luge in Times Square?

2014-02-06T16:34:00-05:00

Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s vision of new sporting venues across the boroughs fizzled, and New York lost its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. But what if the city had tried to get the Winter Olympics instead? It would probably take more hubris than even this city can muster, but the exercise provides some telling measures of scale.

Situ Studio Wins Contest for 2013 Times Square Valentine Heart Design

2013-01-10T15:41:00-05:00

Brooklyn-based design firm Situ Studio is the winner of this year's annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design. Over the last five years, the Times Square Alliance has invited architecture and design firms to submit proposals for a romantic public art installation celebrating Valentine's Day in Times Square. This year's winning design, Situ Studio's Heartwalk, will be unveiled on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, and remain on view until March 8, 2013.

BIG Love for Times Square

2012-02-08T16:22:00-05:00

“The transparent tubes refract the lights of Times Square, creating a cluster of lights around the heart. The hovering heart will appear to pulsate as its tubes sway in the wind. When people touch a heart-shaped sensor, the heart will glow brighter as the energy from their hands is converted into more light.”

Bjarkes Ingles, recent New York transplant, gives a giant glowing valentine to his new home as designer of the fourth annual Valentine's Day installation for Times Square.