Skyscrapers in New York have a new member, 432 Park Avenue. City’s tallest building is set to open for residents till this year is up. It is 100th skyscraper around the world.

The design belongs to New York based Uruguayan architect Rafael Vinoly, developers are “CIM Group” and “Macklowe Properties” and structural engineer is “WSP Cantor Seinuk”. Process began in September, 2011; 21-storey “The Drake Hotel” dating to 1926, was demolished to make way for the tower. It was in possession of developer Harry Macklowe since 2006. In January 2015 construction was temporarily halted because of building material, 2.5 pipe dropped from 81st floor; luckily no one was injured and construction resumed soon after. First apartment was sold in 23 December 2015 for $18 million.

Including the roof the building is 426 meters in height and is the tallest residential building in western hemisphere, it’s also the tallest building in New York. There are 88 floors in skyscraper + 3 below the ground. Floor area for each one of them is 803 sq. m, for whole tower – 38335 sq. m. 6 elevators are in service of building and there are 104 residential units; apartments range from 32,6 sq.m. studios to six-bedroom, seven-bath penthouses with a library. Starting price for penthouse is $95 million. In residents’ disposal there is screening room, a billiards room, an indoor pool, a spa and a restaurant. Several studios are working on interior design.

Skyscraper is located near Central Park, on Manhattan, between 56th and 57th streets. The tower honors itself with the striking view from the top floor windows. Building design is simple and minimalist, till the top there are square footprints on the façade. Vinoly says that his inspiration was metal trash bin designed by the Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann.

The structure of the building is composed of a reinforced main core and thick walls, which looks like a backbone. This core houses the elevator shafts and building mechanical services. There are columns around the core which creates a shell. The façade is poured from white cement. Higher the floor is, thicker is its slab; this way more mass is added, which lessens the swaying due to the wind. To reduce this discomfort 2 floors between every 12 occupied floors are left open to allow the wind to pass through freely; these floors also contain mechanical services for the six floors above and below.

432 Park Avenue isn’t the first skyscraper built in New York. Their increasing number sparks protests, because it casts shadow over Central Park and because of them “sun never sits in the city”, but the constructions don’t stop. New York more and more actively demonstrates its engineering and architectural achievements and is never is satisfied with it. World’s famous architects compete with each other to create magnificent structures in the city, it inspires many people around the world and attracts more visitors in New York. This town and more specifically Manhattan transforms into a Capitalist holy land, where there is no place for poor.

 

 

Author: Meri Khamkhadze

 

 

 

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