By Dana Schulz, Mon, February 8, 2016 It seems safe to say at this point that two of starchitect Bjarke Ingels‘ favorite architectural elements are stepped facades and integrated natural spaces. His latest creation, an office tower appropriately dubbed the Spiral, incorporates both of these features, with a “cascading series of landscaped terraces and hanging gardens as its signature element,” according to a press release sent out today.
The 1,005-foot-tall, 65-story tower will rise at 66 Hudson Boulevard, at the intersection of the High Line and Hudson Yards, occupying the full block bound by West 34th Street, West 35th Street, 10th Avenue, and the four-acre Hudson Boulevard Park (BIG is also designing a pair of towers at the southern end of the High Line). Ingels said his conceptual design “combines the classic ziggurat silhouette of the premodern skyscraper with the slender proportions and efficient layouts of the modern high-rise.”
Check out more views of the Spiral
By Dana Schulz, Tue, February 2, 2016 Taking a break from his glitzy builds like the Via tetrahedron and 2 World Trade Center, starchitect Bjarke Ingels is taking on a project that is much more modest, yet just as laudable–a station house for the NYPD’s 40th Precinct in the South Bronx (h/t Curbed). The $50 million commission, facilitated under the Department of Design and Construction, is located in the Melrose section of the borough and will resemble a “stack of bricks,” according BIG’s website, “referencing the rusticated bases of early NYC police stations.” Spanning three stories, rising 59 feet, and encompassing 43,000 square feet, the precinct will be the first ever to include a green roof, not surprising considering Ingels’ commitment to incorporating nature into his buildings.
More details ahead
By Diane Pham, Fri, January 15, 2016 Big news on the 2 World Trade Center front. After several months of negotiation and hashing out design plans, News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. have decided not to move into the new tower. The Post first broke the news, reporting that the media companies will remain at their Midtown headquarters at 1211 and 1185 Sixth Avenue where they currently have a lease in effect until 2020.
“After much careful consideration we have decided to maintain our New York headquarters and other business operations. We have extension options that could continue our occupancy on Sixth Avenue through 2025,” the companies wrote in a joint statement. Sources added that the move would have been “a huge distraction for the companies’ global operations.”
FInd out more here
By Michelle Cohen, Tue, January 12, 2016 New renderings have appeared via YIMBY for 76 Eleventh Avenue, the Bjarke Ingels-designed High Line-adjacent towers first revealed this past November. The planned project, developed by HFZ Capital with the goal of creating a “self contained kind of city,” was expected to include a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos with prices to start at just below $4 million. The most noticeable changes from the earlier renderings, which showed the towers fitting together at an angle, show more space between the buildings, which now appear as more of a pair than two complementary parts of a “jigsaw-like” whole.
See what else has changed
By Dana Schulz, Mon, December 21, 2015 The latest project to come from starchitect-of-the-moment Bjarke Ingels is a set of towers that will rise along the High line at 76 11th Avenue. The renderings made waves a month ago when the angular, asymmetrical structures were revealed, and at this time it was also announced that the project would encompass a hotel, retail space, and around 300 luxury condos. But new plans filed by developer HFZ Capital Group, first uncovered by The Real Deal, show that the towers’ four-story base will not include a hotel, but rather retail and office space, likely because “[commercial office space] vacancy rates in the [Meatpacking District] are notoriously low–around 2 percent–while prices are high.”
Find out more
By Alyssa Alimurung, Wed, December 9, 2015 A couple of weeks ago, 6sqft asked you which building you thought deserved the title of 2015 Building of the Year. We gave you 12 of the hottest new buildings in NYC, noteworthy for their envelope-pushing design, record-breaking prices, or unprecedented height. And now is the time to reveal the winner!
Drumroll please….
By Dana Schulz, Wed, December 9, 2015 Earlier today, 6sqft announced that Via, aka BIG’s 57th Street tetrahedron, is the winner of the 2015 Building of the Year competition. What likely made the starchitect-designed rental building such a frontrunner is its unusual shape, rising 460 feet from its site. Since progress has been right on track, it’s easy to forget that the unconventional form yields some unique design and construction challenges. In this video from from Ironworkers Local 580, who set a Gopro up on the crane, we can see the skill required to set the shimmering panels on the slope wall. We also get a very vertigo-inducing view of the building from its apex looking down.
Watch the full video
By Diane Pham, Mon, November 23, 2015 Renderings © Bjarke Ingels Group via Yimby
Back in February it was revealed that HFZ Capital Group was in talks to bring a “monumental” new structure to a lot at 76 11th Avenue in the Meatpacking District right along the High Line. And between shortlisted architects Rem Koolhaas and Bjarke Ingels, in April the developer decided to move forward with starchitect-of-the-moment Ingels for the high-profile project. Now Yimby has our first look at the design that may rise atop the coveted site: two very angular, asymmetric towers measuring 402 and 302 feet, with 800,000 square feet for a hotel, retail, amenities and about 300 luxury condos.
see more renderings here
By Diane Pham, Mon, November 16, 2015 Those moving into Bjarke Ingels epic pyramid VIA 57 West next year will have a lot to look forward to. New renderings of the hotly-anticipated construction sited along West 57th Street have just been released (h/t Curbed) alongside a new teaser website inviting visitors “to a special preview” of the building. The new images, which come courtesy of The Durst Organization, reveal bright modern interiors with expansive river views, floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, varying room shapes, individual balconies, and lots of luxe fixtures, finishes and amenities.
Take a tour here
By Ondel Hylton, Sat, October 3, 2015 Construction shot © 6sqft
Applications are now being accepted for the 142 affordable apartments in Bjarke Ingels‘ tetrahedron-shaped rental building dubbed VIA 57 West, aka “the Pyramid Building.” By downloading applications here, you and 141 other lucky families may have the chance to live in a future landmark that is already turning out to be the most audacious rental building ever built in the city.
The massive, half-block-long development will contain a total of 709 units, of which 20 percent will be deemed affordable. Subsidized rents range from $565/month studios for single-person households making between $19,222 – $24,200 annually, to three-bedroom apartments going for $1,067/month for three- to six-person households.
More construction shots and the full pricing breakdown