New York always deserves (and gets) the best of all, and here is another one! The new 52-story building between 40th and 41st Streets, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, is a new icon in New York. Piano says his goal was to create a skyscraper that embodies sustainability and craftsmanship. You can watch videos of the building to get more Architecture information from Architectural Record’s website. On my next trip to New York, I am looking forward to seeing the building and sharing my views about it.

In a statement about the project, Renzo Piano declared that his inspiration for it was the simplicity and clarity of the city’s street grid and that he, therefore, wanted it to be simple and transparent: “Towers, as we know, are often symbols of arrogance and power, but this will not be our case… The building’s basic shape is simple and primary, similar to the Manhattan grid. It is slender and does not use mirrored or tinted glass which renders towers mysterious and hermetic subjects. On the contrary, the use of clear glass combined with a pattern of ceramic will allow the building to adapt to the colors of the atmosphere. Blueish after a shower, shimmering red after sunset.”

The office tower of that project was designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who designed the mammoth new Bear Stearns & Co., Inc., tower at 383 Madison Avenue that was completed in 2001.

“The architect’s goal is to blur the boundary between inside and out, between the life of the newspaper and the life of the street. The lobby is encased entirely in glass, and its transparency plays delightfully against the muscular steel beams and spandrels that support the soaring tower.

“By the time you reach the 14th-floor cafeteria, the entire city begins to come into focus, with dazzling views to the north, south, east, and west. A long, narrow balcony is suspended within the cafeteria’s double-height space, reinforcing the impression that you’re floating in the Midtown skyline.