1. Conde Nast Building
4 Times Square, Manhattan, by Fox & Fowle Architects, 1996-1999. This 866-foot-tall skyscraper in the heart of Times Square is what Bell calls “environmentally correct,” with state-of-the-art air quality and energy conservation systems.
2. Brooklyn Museum
Entry pavilion and plaza, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, by James Stewart Polshek, 2004. The glass and steel circular structure modernized the museum’s imposing 19th century Beaux Arts facade while making it inviting and accessible, a suitable centerpiece for Brooklyn’s burgeoning hipster art scene.
3. Prada New York
575 Broadway, near Prince Street, Manhattan, by Rem Koolhaas, 2001. A wave of zebrawood is the centerpiece of Prada’s flagship store, in Soho. “It displays the merchandise, it doesn’t sell it.”
4. Rose Center for Earth and Space
At the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan, by James Stewart Polshek, 2000. This illuminated 87-foot-diameter sphere, which appears to be floating in a huge glass cube, houses the Hayden Planetarium and Space Theater.
5. Apple Store SoHo
103 Prince St., Manhattan, by Ronnette Riley and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, 2002, with Apple’s creative team, including CEO Steve Jobs and others. If you’re looking for the Apple Store on Prince Street, you’ll be forgiven for doing a double take or maybe even walking right past it. The exterior is a 1920s stone and brick post office, with the original “STATION A” signage above the entrance. The inside is distinguished by clean, white space and an inviting glass staircase to a glass bridge upstairs.
6. Grand Central Terminal
42nd Street and Park Avenue, Manhattan, by Reed & Stern and Warren & Wetmore, 1903-1913, restored by Beyer, Blinder & Belle, 1998. The famed train station’s Beaux Arts Classical design is known for its arches, clock, constellation ceiling and cathedral windows. The building’s beauty was restored in a project completed in 1998, and the corridors were enlivened with exhibition space and interesting places to eat and shop. Free tours ($10 suggested donation) sponsored by the Municipal Arts Society, Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m.; meet at the information booth on the main concourse.
7. Morgan Library Expansion
(Click to see images)
33 E. 36th St., at Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, Renzo Piano, 2006. Piano’s expansion of the Morgan Library, a 1906 Beaux Arts building designed by McKim, Mead & White, is considered one of his masterpieces, with glass walls linking the old and new.
8. Chrysler Building
405 Lexington Ave., at 42nd Street, Manhattan, by William Van Alen, 1930. This building is not as well-known as the Empire State Building, but Bell thinks it should be (even though it doesn’t have a public observation deck). It’s a phenomenal example of Art Deco architecture that is both elegant and fun, from the distinctive tiered crown, easily picked out from the city skyline, to the enormous gargoyles shaped like radiator caps.
9. Hearst Tower
951-969 Eighth Ave., near 56th Street, Manhattan, by Sir Norman Foster, 2004. This 42-story tower was built atop the original six-story home of the Hearst media empire. The diagonal gridwork and see-through glass panels, with no vertical supporting columns, make this sleek design unique in the world.
10. Seagram Building
375 Park Ave., near 53rd Street, by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson (design architects) and Kahn & Jacobs (associate architects), 1958. “It was this building that transformed our skyline.” The building is a perfect glass box, elegantly proportioned and set back 90 feet from the street.
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