I think this article hits it on the head, especially for those who don't like dramatic change to Manhattan's skyline:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...cle3166413.ece
Nouvel to add 'exhilarating' building to Manhattan skyline
By David Usborne in New York
16 November 2007
Manhattan is set to get an exciting new addition to its skyline after the unveiling yesterday of plans for an ambitious skyscraper by the French architect Jean Nouvel that will rise on a slim empty lot next to the Museum of Modern Art.
Rising 75 storeys like a many-pointed shark's tooth in the midst of the busy Midtown office and hotel district,
the new tower will be taller than the Chrysler Building a few blocks away and will compete with anything already standing in New York for its architectural panache and daring.
Twisting and tapering to multiple peaks high above the pavement, the building will bare its skeletal superstructure of steel on the exterior of multiple facades of glass. Also visible from the outside will be the lattice-like ventilation system.
Manhattan, which for perhaps far too long has relied on long-ago conceived skyscrapers to retain its reputation for skyline grandeur, has burst into life recently with a series of new and daring projects. Construction is at last under way on the mighty Freedom Tower at Ground Zero where several other trophy buildings by architects Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Fuhimiko Maki of Japan are also in the works .
Now the regeneration of Midtown is taking off as well. Competing with Nouvel for attention will be Lord Foster's planned new Shangri-La hotel set to rise just three blocks to the east on Lexington Avenue and the already standing Hearst headquarters with its soaring atrium and striking diagonal grid system of construction also by Foster.