The under-construction Central Park Tower apparently has taken the lead in the never-ending race to be the tallest building in New York City.
The website New York Yimby reports that Extell Development has tweaked its design plans and now will exclude a 245-foot spire at the top of Central Park Tower. Instead, the tower's roof height will gain 20 feet to 1,550 feet tall.
That would make the skinny, 99-floor, 1.3-million-sf Central Park Tower—located at 217 West 57th Street, whose completion is scheduled for 2019—182 feet taller than One World Trade Center’s roof level (One WTC also has a 408-foot-high beacon sitting atop its parapet.) Currently, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere is the 1,450-foot-tall Willis Tower in Chicago.
Gary Barnett of Extell told the New York Post last Spring that his firm never intended for Central Park Tower to exceed the total height of One WTC. Still, since the Chrysler Building rose to 1,048 feet—a height abetted by a late-inning addition of a 185-foot-spire—on October 16, 1929, to become the world’s tallest building at the time, developers have competed to see how high buildings could reach into the skies.
Right now, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai holds that honor, at 2,722 feet, or 700 feet taller than its nearest rival.
New York developers and their architects have been particularly susceptible to skyscraper envy, especially lately as the city’s residential real estate market has exploded with ever-taller luxury residential towers springing up and targeting ultra-rich buyers and tenants, many of whom seem to be looking for the latest trophy rather than someplace permanent to live.
On its website, the Skyscraper Museum shows how heights of buildings in New York have escalated over the years, and how dramatically taller buildings have risen recently. The graphic and information include the Central Park Tower, with its preliminary design that had included the spire. The base of this building will include a 200,000-sf Nordstrom department store.
Related Stories
| Jul 10, 2014
BioSkin 'vertical sprinkler' named top technical innovation in high-rise design
BioSkin, a system of water-filled ceramic pipes that cools the exterior surface of buildings and their surrounding micro-climates, has won the 2014 Tall Building Innovation Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jul 1, 2014
China's wild circular skyscraper opens in Guangzhou [slideshow]
The 33-story Guanghzou Circle takes the shape of a giant ribbon spool, with the floor space housed in a series of boxes suspended between two massive "wheels."
| Jun 18, 2014
SOM's twisting tower wins design competition for Sweden's tallest skyscraper
The skyscraper, which will reach 230 meters and is named Polstjärnan, or "The Pole Star," is to be built in Gothenburg, Sweden.
| Jun 17, 2014
World's tallest pair of towers to serve as 'environmental catalyst' for China
The Phoenix Towers are expected to reach 1 km, the same height as Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill's Kingdom Tower, but would set a record for multiple towers in one development.
| Jun 6, 2014
KPF, Kevin Roche unveil design for 51-story Hudson Yards tower in NYC [slideshow]
Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group are teaming to develop Fifty Five Hudson Yards, the latest addition to the commercial office tower collection in the 28-acre Hudson Yards development—the largest private real estate development in the history of the U.S.
| Jun 3, 2014
Libeskind's latest skyscraper breaks ground in the Philippines
The Century Spire, Daniel Libeskind's latest project, has just broken ground in Century City, southwest of Manila. It is meant to accommodate apartments and offices.
| May 29, 2014
Wood advocacy groups release 'lessons learned' report on tall wood buildings
The wood-industry advocacy group reThink Wood has released "Summary Report: Survey of International Tall Wood Buildings," with informatino from 10 mid-rise projects in Europe, Australia, and Canada.
| May 29, 2014
Five finalists, including SOM and Zaha Hadid, chosen in competition for Sweden's tallest skyscraper
In Sernecke's competition to design Sweden's tallest skyscraper, five finalists have been selected: Manuelle Gautrand Architects, Ian Simpson Architects, SOM, Wingårdhs Arkitektkontor, and Zaha Hadid Architects.
| May 28, 2014
KPF's dual towers in Turkey will incorporate motifs, symbols of Ottoman Empire
The two-building headquarters for Turkey’s largest and oldest financial institution, Ziraat Bank, is inspired by the country’s cultural heritage.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
