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Vessel, the sculptural staircase at the center of the Hudson Yards megaproject, has been compared to many different objects: a shawarma, a beehive (or honeycomb), a skeleton, and even a bedbug. But the design firm Wolfgang & Hite recently came up with a completely new (and, frankly, rather brilliant) comparison: a butt plug.
In fact, the firm has created an entire series of sex toys inspired by the buildings at Hudson Yards, intended as a critique of both the skyscrapers’ design (which, as Dezeen notes, no less a critic than Ada Louise Huxtable once said looked “alarmingly like sex toys”) and the proliferation of glitzy, high-end developments throughout the city.
“There’s a lot to love in NYC’s recent building boom, but the city and developers have been jerking each other off for decades, so naturally we wanted to join in the fun,” Wolfgang & Hite said in a release about the project. “Masturbation is a great metaphor for the latest wave of development in New York City.”
Dubbed XXX-HY, the set (which is a prototype, and not available for sale, alas) includes a dildo and clitoral stimulator inspired by 15 Hudson Yards and the Shed, both of which were designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro; two “magnum” dildos inspired by KPF’s 10 and 30 Hudson Yards; a “super slender” dildo in the style of SOM’s 35 Hudson Yards; and the aforementioned ribbed butt plug, which mimics Thomas Heatherwick’s design for Vessel.
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(There’s also apparently a Vessel-shaped Diva Cup in the works, for the folks out there who use those.)
The toys were created at 1-100 scale, and “[e]ach power tower fits into a custom opening in the site where it stands proud and tall from 7.78” (55-HY) to a magnum size 12.68” (30-HY),” according to the firm. They were crafted from hot pink silicone, and actually look quite sleek, as far as sex toys go. “One might imagine the dildo city perched on a bedside table or the desk of a high powered urban planner,” the release reads. (The firm says it sent prototypes of the set to both the Department of City Planning and Related CEO Stephen Ross.)
“Architects design dildos all the time,” Wolfgang & Hite said, referring to the phallic comparisons skyscrapers often inspire. “We wanted to put these buildings to the test.”
Oh, and Related still appears to be soliciting permanent names for Vessel. Do with that information what you will.
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