
first image
'425 park avenue' by OMA, manhattan, new york
all images courtesy of OMA
OMA's proposal for mega project 425 park avenue posited an a brancusi-like form whose facets twist amid the manhattan grid. in keeping with the city's
zoning laws, the design occupies the liminal space between orthogonality and serpentine curves by rotating the setback planes. to escape the pragmatic manhattan
aesthetic of stretched pyramid, the building is composed of three stacked cubes rotated 45 degrees to reflect the cityscape and the sky. the result is a
structure that escapes the the geometry of the city, while keeping 25% of the existing building.

concept diagram shows the facets from below

the tower from the ground level

the alternating flat and 3-d planes allow for unique city views

(left): a rendering of the street view
(right): a view of the structure from the pepsi cola building

models show the interplay of light on the surface of the form


a model of the urban context



a diagram comparing the proposal to famous niegbors- the seagram building and the lever house

section

usage diagram in section

floor plan level 0

floor plan of basic office

floor plan of mezzanine office

plan of amenities floor

floor plan of mid office

floor plan of torqued office

floor plan of top office
Kind of stocky and clunky, welcome nonetheless. Would have preferred ground-level setbacks to reduce the structure’s imposing mass and provide public space, but then it wouldn’t be an OMA design. The Seagram Building reigns supreme.
Just out of curiosity, how does building owner clean the windows? Otherwise an interesting concept of form.
Is there some reason why a boring facade with nothing to hold your eye has to be dragged down to the street level,
just to satisfy some desire to create minimal form that only looks interesting from 5 blocks away?
I actually like how the glass facade opens on the ground floor. It’s nice to see how OMA create a contribution rather than a repetition of what’s around or an egocentric context-less building (Gehry? Foster? Zaha?)