Is Bjarke Ingels Ready for the Big Leagues?
Many architects that have made a big mark in NYC, like Philip Johnson and IM Pei, worked into their 80s and 90s. That could be part of why Bjarke Ingels, 40, sometimes gets written about as if he’s a young kid. The architect of Silverstein Properties’ 2 WTC was given the commission for the Durst Organization’s massive pyramidal residential building being built at 625 West 57th St when he was just in his mid-30s.
His design won out over one from Norman Foster, who's 80, which could add to the sense that among some that his youth, if not his bold design sense, puts him outside the norm. What else isn’t exactly the norm? The top-heavy-looking design of the tower, which’ll be anchored by Fox and NewsCorp, rise to over 80 stories, and have 2.8M SF of total space, including 100 SF of retail.
Ingels has debunked the notion that it could fall over—raised by Rupert Murdoch himself. As downtown starts to look more and more like the new media hub of the city, will Ingels’ design fit in? It’ll have to be built first. [TRD]
