In this fourth and final installment of his New York chronicles, Kosme de Barañano from the ARKRIT Collective poses a two-part question: on one hand, a new architectural “type” has emerged in an extraordinarily limited “ecological” niche—the super-slender skyscraper designed for luxury residences around Central Park—and, on the other, the construction of “installations” where some architects experiment in a new field where architecture shares territory with sculpture.
I noted in the first of these New York chronicles that Hudson Yards, with its buildings, is shifting the centrality that the Empire State Building once gave to the New York City skyline. Yet this shift is driven not only by developments in the Far West Side, but also by other urban elements that, beyond mere height, respond to formal extravagances—architects and engineers in search of a sculptural touch. This revives the ongoing question of Art and Architecture. Last year (October 2017), the Frieze Art Fair in London opened with lectures by architects (Elizabeth Diller, David Chipperfield, David Adjaye) and designers like Thomas Heatherwick, who seamlessly transition from building museums and skyscrapers to creating new sculptures.
