Tall & Urban News

The final piece of the third and highest apex of Jean Nouvel’s first residential skyscraper was anchored and installed over Midtown in late December 2018. Fifty-three West 53rd Street now stands 1,050 feet (320 meters) tall and is currently the seventh-tallest skyscraper under construction in New York City. With its distinct pointed crown and dark diagrid facade, it is certainly a unique building, and has been in the making for over a decade. The tower is being developed by Hines, while SLCE Architects and Adamson Associates are the architects of record. The condominiums are being marketed by Corcoran.

Recent photos on 53 West 53rd’s Instagram show the last triangular segment being lifted above the street and brought to the top of the steel structure that was constructed over the past several months to house the tuned mass damper, mechanical equipment, and rigging machine, for window washing.

Thanks to the tapering shape of the tower on the north and south elevations, the 145 residential units all come with different floor plans and layouts. This makes each residence a one-of-a-kind, complemented with large diagonal columns that become part of the interior design. Thus, the views through the floor-to-ceiling windows and slanted white columns are not repeated, and uniquely framed for each space.

The duplex on the upper floors has a double-height space with a sloped northern wall on the end of the floor plate, with views of Central Park and the rising supertalls of 57th Street.

53 West 53rd’s distance from buildings of equal or taller heights also gives the project better privacy, and more space to enjoy the views over Midtown. Lower Manhattan can also be seen from the upper floors.

The impact on the skyline can be easily seen looking from either Queens, the ramps to the Lincoln Tunnel toll booths, or as far as the New Jersey Turnpike, just north of Newark International Airport. 53 West 53rd stands far enough from the cluster of supertalls along 57th Street and the rise of 42nd Street for its distinct profile to truly distinguish the silhouette from the majority of flat roof parapets that have capped the northern Midtown skyline for decades. It may not be as tall as the supertalls of Billionaire’s Row, but Nouvel’s creation nevertheless stands as a new architectural and sculptural icon atop the skyline.

The expansion of MoMA on the lower floors is also the next big milestone for the project, which will make the site and the museum a bigger and greater experience for tourists, locals, and future residents alike. Residents of 53 West 53rd Street will have Benefactor MoMA memberships, curated benefits, and the chance to hold private events in the sculptural garden.

Completion of the new wing and residential tower is expected sometime in 2019.

For more on this story, go to New York YIMBY.