Time Warner Center and Columbus Monument.
Columbus Circle, as viewed from Time Warner Center's 150-foot-tall glass curtain wall.
Time Warner Center taken from Central Park during The Gates exhibit in 2005.
Time Warner Center viewed from Columbus Circle.

The Time Warner Center is a mixed-use skyscraper developed by The Related Companies in New York City. Its design, by David Childs and Mustafa Kemal Abadan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, consists of two 750 ft (229 m) towers bridged by a multi-story atrium containing upscale retail shops. Construction began in November 2000, following the demolition of the New York Coliseum, and a topping-out ceremony was held on February 27, 2003. It is the property with the highest-listed market value in New York City, $1.1 billion in 2006.[1]

Originally constructed as the "AOL Time Warner Center," the building surrounds half of Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan. The total floor area of 260,000 m² (2.8 million ft²) is divided between offices (notably the offices of Time Warner Inc.), residential condominiums, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The Shops at Columbus Circle is an upscale shopping mall located in a curving arcade at the base of the building, with a large Whole Foods Market grocery store in the basement. The complex is also home to a 1,200 seat theater for Jazz at Lincoln Center as well as CNN studios, from where Anderson Cooper 360° and Lou Dobbs Tonight, among other shows, are broadcast live. CNN's Jeanne Moos, known for her offbeat "man on the street" reporting, frequently accosts her interview subjects just outside the building. In 2005, Jazz at Lincoln Center announced a partnership with XM Satellite Radio which gave XM studio space at Frederick P. Rose Hall to broadcast both daily jazz programming and special events such as an Artist Confidential show featuring Carlos Santana.[2][3]

Contents

Design and construction

Construction was delayed for nearly 15 years after Mortimer Zuckerman's Boston Properties initially won a bidding contest to buy the property for the Coliseum's owners the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). Boston proposed to build a two 63-story buildings to be designed by Moshe Safdie on the 4.5 acre Coliseum site in 1985. Unsuccessful competitors for the site included Donald Trump who proposed building a 137-story, 488 m high building which would be the world's tallest.[4]

Boston's winning bid was $455 Million for the site. It was to be the headquarters of Salomon Brothers. The building ran into intense opposition (including most prominently Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis) who were concerned it would cast a shadow on Central Park. In 1988 a court ruled that the building violated the city's own zoning ordinances. At about the same Salomon Brothers backed out.[5]

A renegotiated deal called for the building to be 52-stories with Boston paying a lower $357 million for the site. David Childs was tapped to redesign the building.

The building still languished until 2000 when the Coliseum was finally demolished. The Center which now has 55 floors markets it as a 77-story building.[6]

The Time Warner Center was the first major building to be completed in Manhattan after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, although it was already under construction in 2001. While some New Yorkers noted the uncanny resemblance of the Time Warner Center to the fallen Twin Towers, the building's developer disclaimed to the press any intentional similarity.[7]

The building drew publicity in 2003 when Mexican financier David Martinez paid $54.7 million dollars for a penthouse condo, then a record for New York residential sales.

The building’s street address is officially 10 Columbus Circle, but the developers use the name “One Central Park” to promote the residential units. The address One Central Park West, meanwhile, belongs to a tower across the street owned by Donald Trump. Upon the completion of the Time Warner Center, Trump made a “little joke” at the Time Warner Center’s expense by hanging a large sign on his building gloating, “Your views aren’t so great, are they?”[8]

The design of Time Warner Center pays homage to the streets of New York: The curvature of the base helps frame Columbus Circle, the angle of the two towers aligns with Broadway, and the space between the towers gives the illusion that 59th Street passes through. In addition, the rectangular patterns on the glass curtain wall overlooking Columbus Circle suggest the Manhattan street grid.

In popular culture

  • TWC was seen in Matt Reeves 2008 movie, Cloverfield; one of the building was damaged by monster and collapsed onto another, staying in highly unstable position.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Property Values in New York Show Vibrancy." New York Times. Jan. 13, 2007.
  2. ^ "XM Satellite Radio to Open New Studios at World-Renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City." Jazz at Lincoln Center press release. May 19, 2005.
  3. ^ "Santana - XM & Jazz at Lincoln Center." All About Jazz Nov. 10, 2005.
  4. ^ 10 Columbus Circle - Emporis.com
  5. ^ New Yorkers & Co.; Developer vs. Himself Over Coliseum Project - New York Times - January 4, 1988
  6. ^ Time Warner Center Condominium Apartments - wirednewyork.com - Retrieved July 13, 2008
  7. ^ Inside the Time Warner Center, Newsday, Feb. 19, 2004
  8. ^ Caroline Overington. "Gotham agog as plutocrats stage battle of the towers." The Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 29, 2003

360° virtual tour - onlinexplore.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

External links


Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner_Center"


Comments

No comments have been added.



Your name:

City:

Country:

Your comments:

Security check *
(Please enter the number into adjoining box)