Monday, April 17, 2017

What’s “Up” in Midtown Manhattan?

It’s possible that soon enough a 4,000-foot length skyscraper will appear in midtown Manhttan. The proposed “silly straw supertall structure” designed by Ioannis Oikonomou believes his design features New York’s “hidden layers,” and thus tells the tale of how we perceive the city. It would connect the two towers over Calvary Baptist Church. As Oikonomou pointed out:
“[New York] architecture no longer operates as formation of buildings and streets. It is a cluster of catalysts to memories and emotions which inhabit our minds.”
Right now the area is quite crowded. It is filled with a seven-story prewar building and a 77-floor condo. Should the building go ahead, it would take up 2,000 feet (in height). Of course there is some opposition to the plan. Most notably from Chair of Community Board 5’s Sunshine Task Force, Layla Law-Gisiko who referred to the design as “silly and out of touch.”