Times Square Tower
A New Building Type in New York City
A Proposal for a New Urban Structure. Times Square is, for many, the symbol of what is exiting, terrible, and vital in America, a place of drama on and off the streets. At its center, the existing Times Tower is scheduled for demolition. How and whether a building will replace it was the subject for speculation in a recent competition. This scheme proposes a new building type, unprecedented in its configuration and designed for contemporary urban conditions, of which Times Square is an extreme example.
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Client: New York City
Location: New York, NY
Year: 1984
Status: Unbuilt
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Machado, Rodolfo. "Public Places for American Cities." Assemblage, no. 6, June 1988: pp. 98-113
Structural Connection
The building includes a pair of towers connected by a bridge over 42nd Street. It has a triangular, colonnaded public space of such grand scale it could function as a city plaza. The space extends to a loggia across the street providing access to the subway and an arcade with shops and elevator lobbies.
Program
The towers are designed for office and commercial use and rise 20 stories. The bridge, which allows access to elevators in both towers, is designed as a three-story-high galleria. Conceptually, the bridge makes it possible to build over colonnaded, public spaces without interrupting them structurally or functionally.
On top of the triangular tower is a 30-foot-tall commercial space suitable for restaurant, club, or exhibition purposes. Above, the building makes its most remarkable gesture to the site and city with a winged, detached roof over the city streets—an illuminated marquee for the human drama below.
This scheme proposes a new building type, unprecedented in its configuration and designed for contemporary urban conditions, of which Times Square is an extreme example.
Related Media
Reflections on The Times Square Competition
Project Story