The Vessel, a 150-foot-tall climbable sculpture made of bronzed steel and concrete, topped out Wednesday, serving as the public centerpiece of Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the $150 million interactive landmark includes 154 interconnecting flights of stairs, nearly 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings. The idea for the project stems from Related Companies’ chairman, Stephen Ross, who called it “New York’s Eiffel Tower.” According to YIMBY, the final piece of the 600-ton structure will be installed today, nearly eight months after construction began.
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This is such a great project, but I always wonder how they got around or incorporated ADA.
Was discussing the same with a colleague recently. We surmised that (as the article confirms) it is not technically a building but a 'climbable sculpture'. Since there is no occupiable space nor program and certainly no occupancy classification, one may argue it is out of ADA's domain. Further, the sculpture is viewable from the street and from standing in the center, the stairs lead to nothing, except perhaps a view. It's possible that in the latter case there is some (probably poorly marked) accessible space in an adjacent building with a very similar 'view', the 'view' being the only 'program'.
"Luckily, for those unable to make the full trek, there will also be an elevator offering access to the top."
it's a phenomenal sculpture!
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