From The Architect's Chair

At 75, German architect Helmut Jahn still has projects rising around the world, but in New York City his main focus is the long-awaited luxury condo building that's in progress at 50 West Street. He explains how he revised the design to make the apartments more high-end, and waxes poetic about the facade: "And I think people will see when the building goes up the facade is exquisite. The facade is stainless steel. It has a very transparent glass so it lets a lot of light in, and the corners of the building are huge sheets of curved glass. ... As the building rises, it becomes more reflective. The idea is always that a building like this in a particular light merges with the sky." [NYT; previously]