New York’s skyline is probably one of the best known in the world. Visitors and natives alike would undoubtedly be able to trace the silhouettes of its buildings with their eyes closed.
Less familiar, but no less striking, are the new constructions shaping up in the city. From Bjarke Ingels Group’s Via 57 West to SHoP Architects’ Barclays Center, the 21st century has brought some exciting new developments.
The best of these are compiled in a recently published book by Prestel, “New Architecture New York,” a collection of fresh architectural gems show the way forward for the city’s urban planning.
In this printed homage to the new buildings in the city, architecture fans will find a list of soon-to-be architectural symbols of New York accompanied with beautiful photography of more than 50 projects that have been popping up in the streets.
A grand rebuilding
More than 15 years ago, New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp wrote: “After the catastrophe of 9/11, who wanted to think about the aesthetics of architecture? Many people, it turned out. Buildings were the targets of the terrorist attacks. Fantasies of new buildings became a form of recovery: signs of the city’s resilience in the face of unprecedented enemy assault.”
Today, New York is experimenting with scale, form and texture, and is no longer just a city of tall, shiny buildings that reflect a desire to push engineering abilities, but a playground for architects who wish to innovate.
The High Line is one of the most successful and well-known spaces of this new urban makeup. Teeming with visitors, the project takes advantage of an abandoned railroad to build a public space at human scale.
Another addition to the city’s revamp is Renzo Piano’s sculptural new home for the Whitney Museum of American Art, a display of severe and exciting lines in his signature style.
“The best New York architecture of the last 15 years gives people places to get together and go together, not more reflective walls in which to check yourself out,” architecture critic Alexandra Lange wrote in the book’s introduction. “The city’s rebirth, post 9/11, is best judged by accumulations of people on the streets, in parks, and even in some of those behemoth museums.”
“New Architecture New York ”, published by Prestel and is available now.