[NYguy]

This building will be more about design, and less about height. It will be an office tower, so that also takes a lot of height speculation off the table. It will be taller than the existing tower, but I don't expect it to challenge 432 Park in height.


http://artinfo.com/news/story/801187...ion-skyscraper

Zaha Hadid for Park Avenue? She and 10 Starchitects Compete to Design a $750-Million Skyscraper



by Kelly Chan
April 23, 2012

The current building is already occupied by a pristine office tower, and L&L have bold plans to knock down the bulk of it to construct a bigger, badder "crown jewel." Moreover, the plan to leave part of the existing building in place is to dodge finicky city zoning codes, which would have forced L&L to build a smaller tower had the existing building been completely razed.

It is clear that L&L have placed incredible faith in the appeal of the site as well as the appeal of name brand design, enough to expect that tenants will happily shell out $100 or more per square foot. The plans exhibit architecture at its most aggressive, aiming to find a form that will turn dollar signs into even more dollar signs, or in more relevant terms, architecture of the 1%. Judging by the shortlist of architects, the aesthetic of Park Avenue's new skyscraper will make a similarly forceful statement, breaking through the uniformity of an avenue fossilized in the 1960's.

d.guija