Town Green of the Global Village: Times Square reborn

Times square has been many things to many people: the Crossroads of the World; the soul of New York life; a garish, neon-lit playground; a blessing and blight on the cityscape.

Those in the public and private sectors who envisioned and financed a master plan for the New Times square had an extraordinary mission: create a world-class business and entertainment center, retain Times square's eclectic character, continue its tradition of vibrant, unfettered commercialism, and once again make it a mecca for residents, tourists, retailers and corporate business alike.

Now, after 15 years of planning and aborted attempts at development, Times square is being reborn as an Information-Age incarnation of its past self. The tourists and residents who will flock to the new restaurants, modern-day movie palaces and entertainment/retail venues will rub shoulders with the information, financial and media workers who occupy the adjacent office towers. Stretched over it all is an ever-changing assemblage of vibrant, super-scaled signs, which advertise the goods, services and institutions of the global marketplace.

As an architectural firm that has been responsible for the design of office towers, signage, entertainment, retail and public facilities in the New Times square, Fox & Fowle Architects has, more than most, confronted the extraordinary challenges entailed in capturing the contemporary essence and historic resonance of Times square, while meeting the modern needs and expectations of city residents, tourists and world-class corporate tenants.

The Conde Nast Building at Four Times square, designed by Fox & Fowle and developed by The Durst Organization, occupies a pivotal site, straddling the commercialism of Times square, the verdant urbanity of Bryant Park and the stolidity of the surrounding Midtown business district.

As the first office building to be developed under the auspices of the 42nd Street Development Corporation, the Conde Nast Building vividly represents a melange of pop culture, media-age savvy and corporate dignity, while setting the tone for both historic and futuristic architectural expressions in the area.

This 48-story office tower has two distinct facades. The west and north exposures, clad in metal and glass, reflect the character of Times square. To the east and south, more refined masonry is in harmony with Bryant Park and Midtown. The building's crown sports four 70-foot square illuminated super-signs radiating outward, creating a dynamic, high-tech icon marking Times square on New York's famous skyline.

While the building's set-back forms and facade treatments respond to the existing character of nearby buildings, the building also makes a major statement about high performance building, setting new standards for energy conservation, indoor environmental quality, recycling systems and use of sustainable materials.

Across the street is the main entrance to the Times square subway station, where 11 subway lines and pedestrian tunnels crisscross at multiple levels in all directions. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority/NY City Transit Authority charged Fox & Fowle Architects to bring a sense of identity and vibrancy to the City's busiest subway entrance.

While the subway system adheres to a traditional graphics program and mosaic art motifs, this station needed more than that; it needed a new identity to express the razzle-dazzle spirit of Times square.

That new identity created by Fox & Fowle included an undulating corrugated metal ceiling plane that spans the ground-level interior space and projects beyond the glass enclosure out over the sidewalk, and new signage and identification, including a dynamic logo for the station, illuminated and animated, with a dancing rhythm reinforced by red neon tubing.

A different challenge was presented to Fox & Fowle by the site of The Reuters Building at Three Times square on Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. Developed jointly by Jack, Lewis and William Rudin and Reuters America Holdings, the building will serve as a crucial link between the famous Times square bow-tie area to the north and the newly revitalized 42nd Street theater and entertainment district to the west. The resultant architectural design will create both a corporate icon and a dramatic centerpiece that links these two high-energy urban venues.

On the north side of 42nd Street, highly articulated architectural expressions in stone and terra-cotta reinterpret the nostalgic motifs of the old Times square. At the corner of Seventh Avenue, a seven-story, drum-shaped structure gracefully pulls the street wall around the corner and, ultimately, forms a three-story mid-block lobby as the curvilinear facade returns into the building.

On the northeast corner, a 20-story, stone-clad mass rises from the street, its scale in context to nearby buildings. Starting within the lobby behind a 50-foot-high, all-glass wall, and extending to the exterior to the building's fin-like pinnacle, will be a series of video walls that display Reuters programming.

At the Crossroads of the World, design and construction of a dizzying number of world-class projects are moving ahead at a rapid pace. Due to the character of these projects, the "Duce" is not just being rebuilt - it is being reborn as a vibrant reflection of the information age.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Hagedorn Publication
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group