There's not much new in a press release send to the Curbed inbox about Harlem Park, Vornado's forthcoming 21-story office tower slated for 125th Street and Park that we first revealed back in March. Nothing much new, that is, save for the above even more mind-exploding rendering, which does, if we may say so, a sublime job of showing how the structure crafted by the firm of Swanke Hayden Connell Architects blends seamlessly into the Harlem street grid. Or, as the archibabble puts it, "Set on an 85-foot podium, the 18-story main shaft of the tower features a unitized aluminum and glass curtainwall system with integrated vertical terra cotta color fins that create a unique enclosure echoing the predominant masonry construction of surrounding buildings." And how!
More from the press release:
According to Roger Klein, design principal for SHCA, the new tower, while taller than the surrounding neighborhood, is designed to complement the aesthetics and scale of the neighborhood. "The design is intended to enhance the transparency of the building, and harmonize with the surrounding masonry neighborhood," he pointed out. "Typically, the design of a tower would express its verticality. In this case, we countered the verticality with a composition of smaller-scale 'stacked boxes', which grounds the building in the scale of the neighborhood. "There is great visibility from the Metro North Station, as one travels over the Triborough Bridge onto the 125th Street, and from Central Park," he added. "As a result, Harlem Park will be a true icon for Harlem and the city. In particular, the top box in the stack of compositional boxes—designed to be illuminated at night—is defined as a distinct cubic form."
Wow, this guy's good. Mr. Klein, Curbed salutes you. Meantime, for more hard data on the Harlem Park project, check this Curbed post. Hallelujah.
· What's Crawling Into Harlem's Box? [Curbed]
· Vorando's Harlem Park Insanity Revealed! [Curbed]