The latest visionary proposal to come out of Manhattan is for Chinatown, where retiree Wong San Yan has devised plans for New York’s tallest building. Standing at 2,173 feet, the Zongshan Center would take up several blocks of Chinatown while providing over 15 million square feet of space.
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| Zongshan Center: Image from Wongbook |
Clearly, Mr. Yan’s vision is just that–aka, never going to happen. The project would cover an enormous area and contain more space than the original World Trade Center, meaning it’s never going to happen (in case that wasn’t obvious enough).
Despite the project’s terrible bulk and proportions, the proposal does have some relatively Utopian aspects that other projects could emulate. The tower’s entire base would be open to the public, and the rest of the building would have a variety of uses, including retail, office, hotel, residential, and restaurant space.
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| The project’s enormous area |
Thankfully New York has progressed beyond the era of Robert Moses when such a monstrous project could have actually come to fruition. Indeed, New York City is pockmarked with heinous projects that were ultimately built as part of ‘urban renewal’. Though the concept is a bad one, at least it’s something new–and innovation is something architecture in New York could definitely use.
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