When Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel dropped in on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to explain in detail his proposed 75-story mixed-use tower at 53 West 53rd Street?called the Tower Verre?his ulterior motive was obvious: blind the commissioners with so much starchitect power that they wouldn't even notice the ornery locals gathered to argue against the skyscraper. It worked! Yesterday, the LPC approved the transfer of air rights from the nearby University Club and St. Thomas Church to the Tower Verre site, clearing at least one major hurdle for the apartment building/Museum of Modern Art gallery. The proposal still has to wind its way through the City Planning Commission and the City Council, which gives the opponents who condemn the building's lack of "harmony" time to regroup. Still, that's one down.
· Nouvel Tower Gets the Nod Of City’s Landmarks Panel [Sun]
· MoMA Mia! Starring Jean Nouvel, David Childs & the Peanut Gallery [Curbed]
· Nouvel's 53 West 53rd Street in Gorgeous Detail [Curbed]
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