41 W 57th St Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects
24/12/2015.
[VIDEO] from Mark Foster Gage Architects [NYC] USA
metalocus, ALEX DURO
metalocus, ALEX DURO
Manhattan boasts some of the most iconic skyscrapers in history: the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Rockefeller Center, McGraw-Hill building, or One World Trade, to name a few. And it might have another iconic one designed by New York architect Mark Foster Gage, which has proposed a 102-storey skyscraper enveloped in Gothic sculptural elements, in response to the city's supertall skyscrapers that are "virtually free of architectural design".
Elevation from street. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Overview rendering. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Night vision. 41 West 57th St.Night vision. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA. Click above to see larger image.
Detail. Night vision. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Elevation Detail. 41 West 57th St. Skyscraper by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Image Courtesy of MFGA.
Mark Foster Gage designed a highly decorative residential building for West 57th Street as an alternative to the more conventional skyscrapers currently springing up in Midtown.
A 102-story residential building with sweeping views of Central Park and the New York City skyline designed by Mark Foster Gage Architects. Each unit has its own unique figurally carved façade and balconies that frame particular features of the surrounding urban and natural landscapes. The building is draped in a façade of limestone-tinted Taktl© concrete panels -using robotic CNC technology- with hydroformed sheet-bronze details and brass-tinted alloy structural extrusion enclosures. Bronze and brass decorative details extend up the tower, and have been used to create cog-shaped elements at the base and curved sections that echo the forms of the wings further up the building. At the top of the tower, a viewing platform is framed by sculptural metal details, including what appear to be the faces of pig-like creatures at each corner.
Dubbed the Khaleesi, the skyscraper would mainly feature residences, with some space reserved for retail shops. The 64th floor features a sky-lobby with exclusive retail stores, a 2-story high ballroom for events, and a 4-star restaurant all of which have access to four massive cantilevered balconies that offer an awe-inspiring event and dining experience unique to the city of New York.
"I think that many of the supertall buildings being built in New York City are virtually free of architectural design – they are just tall boxes covered in selected glass curtain wall products," said Gage, who serves as assistant dean at the Yale School of Architecture. He added, "That is not design. Design is thinking of a great many things like how a building appears from different distances, or in this case, how to make each floor unique to the owner."
