MAD has envisioned a slender, dark skyscraper twisting up beside New York's Empire State Building as a contrast to the harshness of the city's supertall structures.
MAD Architects' conceptual design, which rises among a cluster of existing skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan, was developed in response to a brief issued by New York City developer Caerus Group, which owns the plot along East 34th Street.
MAD has envisioned the skyscraper rising on a plot near the Empire State Building
Aiming to offer an "alternative vision" for the city, the East 34th Street proposal comprises a dark glass skyscraper rising 232 metres tall on a plot next to the Empire State Building, which reaches 381 metres. It features curves, tapers and bends that draw a distinct contrast to the stepped form of its Art Deco neighbour, as well as the other towers rising beside. "Unlike the pinnacles of conventional towers that typically express very distinct, imposing outlines," said MAD in a project description, "East 34th expresses a deep-coloured glass curtain-wall facade that slowly fades into a slender and fluid transparent cap, quietly dissolving into the atmosphere."
The slender, sinuous high-rise is presented as distinctly different to the block forms of surrounding designs
"East 34th is planted like a seed, sprouting within the grid, rising with a soft, undulating surface that suggests a more organic, living architecture," it continued.
MAD, which was founde...