A Museum of Building Enclosures

New York City is one vast museum exhibiting a history of innovations in facade systems. As we discussed in class, facade systems is the area of architecture that has seen the most experimentation and research over the past decade or so. This is quite apparent after viewing the architecture of New York City. 111 West 57th Street, otherwise known as the Steinway Tower (SHoP), does a brilliant job at drawing on the city's architectural heritage, particularly facades. (See image below.) This 82 floor supertall residential project has a unique facade system incorporating terra-cotta, bronze, and glass. It strays away from New York's fascination with glass (obviously it needs some for fenestration) and picks up on inspiration from one of it's local ancestors, the Woolworth Building from 1912. The exterior of this building, designed by Cass Gilbert, is clad in glazed terra-cotta panels. (See image below)

This movement away from the all-glass facade systems of recent years and experimentation with richer materials hopefully continues as more and more high-rises are planned and constructed in New York City and around the world.

111 West 57th Street (SHoP, under construction currently)

The Woolworth Building (Cass Gilbert, 1912)