111 West 57th Street’s Crown Begins to Take Shape Atop Midtown Manhattan

The position of the tower makes for a symmetrical vantage point of Central Park. Rendering by SHoP Architects

SHoP Architects‘ 111 West 57th Street has begun the next phase of construction. Work on the steel crown is now underway, and the soaring metallic component has begun to rise atop the recently completed reinforced concrete superstructure. The 1,428-foot-tall, super-slender skyscraper sits almost perfectly in the middle of Billionaire’s Row, and is being developed by  JDS DevelopmentProperty Markets Group, and Spruce Capital PartnersDouglas Elliman is handling sales and marketing for the 46 condominiums. The building will eventually become the second-tallest tower in New York City by roof height, and the skinniest in the world. It will encompass a width to height ratio of 1:24, indicating a very narrow width that measures just under 60 feet.

111 West 57th Street seen from 5th Avenue. Photo by Michael Young

The bottom section of the crown is shaping up to become an intricate structural framing system. Close-up photos show steel connections for diagonal trusses on the eastern and western elevations.

The top of the western side with the first steel parts of the crown in place. Photo by Michael Young

The terracotta panels on the western elevation are quickly rising. Photo by Michael Young

The glass southern elevation with the setbacks. Photo by Michael Young

These two sides will hang the remaining terracotta and copper panels. Meanwhile the very top of the northern and southern elevations will have a mix of slightly opaque glass and bronze panels. This part of 111 West 57th Street is also where the damper is going to be located, preventing the entire building from swaying too much in high winds.

Work on the crown should result in topping-out before the end of the year, and the tower’s height should also soon surpass the 1,396-foot-tall 432 Park Avenue. 111 West 57th Street has an especially impressive profile when viewed from the southern end of Central Park.

Looking southwest at 111 West 57th Street. Photo by Michael Young

Work is expected to be fully completed sometime next year.

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16 Comments on "111 West 57th Street’s Crown Begins to Take Shape Atop Midtown Manhattan"

  1. David in Bushwick | May 28, 2019 at 9:40 am | Reply

    Billionaire skypricks giving their finger to all the providers of their wealth.

  2. This and the other Manhattan middle fingers look like a refinery complex when viewed from New Jersey as I noticed when returning home to NYC. Seems appropriate for the greedy rich to have no taste.

  3. Ralph Petrillo | May 28, 2019 at 11:29 am | Reply

    Kind of strange architectural look. What was the goal? Besides money laundering why was this design chosen?

  4. The smattering of super tall buildings for the rich are a classist affront to all new yorkers who actually work for
    a living. As a NYC native and metal sculptor I have derived some negative inspiration from these eyesores by welding
    together various scrap metal into 7 to 13 foot high” totemic tower” sculptures which utilize the proportions of the
    skyscrapers but look way more interesting.
    These architecturally based artworks will be on view at Howl Gallery,6 East 1st street, from 9/12/19 to 10/16/19 for
    those interested in seeing one New Yorkers artistic response to runaway capitalism and rampant out of control
    gentrification. Linus Coraggio NYC

  5. As per the WSP structural presentation at the Skyscraper Museum in March of 2014, the dampers will not only limit the degree of sway but will also limit the rates of sway acceleration and deceleration to below the threshold of human perception.

  6. This building did NOT run smoothly or did it quickly “take shape”. It has taken much more time as other buildings around it (larger and more dense) have surpassed it. JDS is a terrable outfit and workers on this jobsite have been underpaid and misstreated. Accidents etc. Price you pay for unskilled labor. Wouldnt want to buy muli million dollar condos that will soon have major issues.

  7. desertmodern | May 29, 2019 at 7:15 am | Reply

    Stunning.

  8. Horrendous. The NYC skyline has always presented majestically. Tall buildings complemented each other. These just look out of place, weird, like the people that would chose to live there.

  9. This piece of crap ain’t worth the $2 is printed on.all smoke and a whole lot of windows. Cheap Rock and steel don’t forget about the fake wood Plank Floors. I can’t believe people would pay top dollar for that crap. I got fooled I live in the Via the pyramid building on 57th Street and I’m moving out. Nice on the outside small and cheap on the inside

  10. Stunningly beautiful.

  11. Ugly finger defacing Central Park view. Mayor DeBlasio is to blame…did not insist on enough building for moderate income.

  12. Modern engineering marvel. Love it!

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