Reflection; This Week’s Design Update

Posted on June 1, 2013

This week has been an extremely interesting and full of new and exciting projects all over the world, with the New York City’s Penn Stations, the world’s first algae-powered building, solar-powered mosque in Pristina and of course, the new tallest building of the world is to start making it’s way up this next week. There has also been speculation as to whether the tallest residential building in the hemisphere will be approved in New York, which has been designed by Rafael Vinoly – this is something that has gripped me all week.

I am sure you have all seen a glimpse at all of these articles, one way or the other, but I would like to review them as a whole, and how maybe this week could have been the world’s break-through for new architecture and design.

So let’s take a closer look at some of my favourites from this week …

1. Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square, New York City. [http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/30/four-architects-reimagine-new-yorks-penn-station/]. A number of architects and designers alike have “reimagined” and designed an alternative to the Penn station and surrounding gardens. SHoP and SOM are among them in which SHoP plan to open up the main hall, and create a much brighter and airy space for travelers to reach new parks and the surrounding amenities. However, SOM want to change the whole space all together by creating a dome-ticket-hall which is under a large stretch of appartments and offices which would be staggered up. I think all of the architects whom have put forward their designs (which you can read about in the Dezeen article above) plan to expand the whole station and create a much larger area in which will be open, airy and bright.
2. The soon to-be “World’s Tallest Building”, China [http://www.designboom.com/architecture/worlds-tallest-building-sky-city-will-break-ground-next-month-in-china/]. Broad Group, the developers of “Sky City”, as it’s called, will commence building the world’s tallest building which is said to only take 7 MONTHS. This is absolutely outstanding, and mesmerizing for anyone who has seen the photographs or read the article which outlines the speedy construction. The current tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa) currently stands at 828m, and Sky City will be just 10m taller. Many people are asking “why?” if it isn’t making more of an impact than 10m, but I suppose when you’re talking about the tallest skyscrapers, every metre matters. Also, why would they want to build such a boring “lego-like” building? In my opinion, the tallest building in the world should have more of an impact, the height and design should shock everyone, rather than just building more of the same styles and height as all of the others.
3. 432 Park Avenue, New York City – to be the tallest residential building in the hemisphere [http://www.designboom.com/architecture/rafael-vinolys-432-park-avenue-to-become-the-tallest-building-in-the-hemisphere/]. Rafael Vinoly has designed a landmark to break through the Manhattan skyline; a 425.5 metre (1396 foot) tower of residences to be the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere, and also the tallest standing building in New York City itself. The 96 storey build will undoubtedly be one of the most beautiful skyscrapers of the New York skyline, and the interiors are timeless, iconic spaces (these can be found through the link above).

Although this post has been centred around the newly designed skyscrapers and stations of New York City, I think the three astonishing projects I have spoken about really show how the world is progressing further, pushing forward new and exciting designs. I am happy to say that the timeless architecture and design throughout the city that never sleeps, is growing enormously and I will be following these projects with great pleasure.