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A new 75-story tower designed by the architect Jean Nouvel for a site next to the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown New York, promises to be the most exhilarating addition to the skyline in a generation. The skyscraper initially was proposed to stand at the same height as the Empire State Building below its mast (381 m) and contain 73 floors. Each floor has 1,600 m2 starting with 3,700 m2 of space at the base.

The skyscraper would host: a 50,000-square-foot expansion of MoMA’s galleries (levels two to five); a 100-room, five-star hotel and 120 and 8 star residential apartments on the upper floors. Nouvel’s skyscraper, delayed by the financial crisis, was first introduced in 2007 to much critical acclaim. It was slated to be as high as 1,250 feet on land traded by the Musuem of Modern Art to Hines, for $125 million and three floors of galleries in the base of the new building. The building will use wind power and rain water for everyday needs. By varying the mix of the floor plan units, the Axis Mundi design leaves space for vertical fissures that move irregularly up the tower. These bring light and breezes into the open centers of the double-ring units and frame spectacular, theatrical vistas to the city through the building’s own structure.

Building Information
Height: approx. 600 ft
Floors: 70 above (2 below)
Building Footprint: 17,000 sqft
MoMA Expansion Galleries: 32,500 sqft
Design Team: John Beckmann, CarloMaria Ciampoli, James Coleman (LAN), Nick Messerlian, Pauline Marie d’Avigneau, and Taina Pichon