Tag Archives: new york city

Beat the Heat with these Splash Spots Turning Urban Sidewalks into Waterparks in New York City

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As the summer heat waves envelop the bustling streets of New York City, a delightful and innovative solution has emerged to offer respite to its residents. Introducing Splash Spots, the vibrant fire hydrant caps that have taken the city’s neighborhoods by storm, turning mundane fire hydrants into whimsical waterpark-style attractions. Splash Spots are redefining how New Yorkers seek relief from scorching temperatures while also contributing to water conservation efforts.

Designers: Street Lab, Group Project, and Zulu Alpha Kilo (Splash Spots)

Traditionally, when the mercury climbs past 90 degrees Fahrenheit, New Yorkers have turned to the age-old practice of opening fire hydrants to cool down. However, this practice, while refreshing, can lead to wastage of a precious resource – water. With this challenge in mind, the ingenious minds behind Splash Spots embarked on a mission to offer a playful and eco-friendly alternative that combines fun with water conservation.

The streets of select neighborhoods in New York City now boast fire hydrants adorned with Splash Spots caps, which come in four vibrant colors, each providing a distinct water-splashing experience. Choose Sunshine for a burst of yellow radiance, scattering water rays in all directions. Opt for Blossom in red if you prefer a gentler cloud of refreshing water droplets.

But the real excitement begins with the green and blue caps – Jump Rope and Pinwheel. Jump Rope, the energetic green cap, releases a spinning cascade of water, inviting everyone to jump in and cool off. On the other hand, Pinwheel, the calming purplish-blue cap, offers three rotating streams of water for a constant and mesmerizing spray.

Splash Spots isn’t just about fun – it’s also committed to water conservation. Each cap features an innovative on-and-off function that significantly reduces water wastage. Compared to regular capped hydrants, Splash Spots release around 50 percent fewer gallons per minute, thanks to cleverly designed valves on the caps. This focus on water efficiency aligns perfectly with NYC’s ongoing efforts to manage and conserve its water resources.

Crafted from durable machine metal, Splash Spots caps ensure longevity and performance even in the demanding urban environment of New York. These caps not only serve as interactive installations but also as symbols of the city’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and community engagement.

The success of Splash Spots is catching on quickly. On September 9th, 2023, Splash Spots will be unveiled in the 2219 Frederick Douglass Blvd. neighborhood, marking another exciting milestone. With a grand vision to adorn firehouses across all five boroughs, Splash Spots is turning its dreams into reality, one neighborhood at a time.

In a city that’s always evolving, Splash Spots stands as a prime example of how collaboration, creativity, and conscious design can come together to create experiences that enrich lives and drive change. Amidst the urban hustle, these Splash Spots create an oasis of joy, community, and responsible resource use – turning the ordinary into moments of play and connection. Don’t miss out on the Splash Spots revolution – dive in and make a splash!

The post Beat the Heat with these Splash Spots Turning Urban Sidewalks into Waterparks in New York City first appeared on Yanko Design.

Foster + Partners reveal JPMorgan Chase office design for new all-electric headquarters in New York City

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JPMorgan Chase reveals plans for its new headquarters located in New York City.

Today, American multinational investment bank JPMorgan Chase reveals plans for the company’s new all-electric headquarters located in New York City. Designed by Foster + Partners, the new skyscraper is slated for construction at 270 Park Avenue, in busy Midtown Manhattan.

Designer: Foster + Partners

 

Rising to 423 meters in height, the new headquarters will mark the city’s “largest all-electric tower with net-zero operational emissions,” describes the architects with Foster + Partners. Obtaining renewable energy from a New York state hydroelectric plant to power the entire building, the architects say that the tower will host “exceptional indoor air quality that exceeds the highest standards in sustainability, health, and wellness.”

Midtown Manhattan is known for some pretty iconic buildings–from the Chrysler Building to the Flatiron Building. Introducing a new skyscraper to weave into the city fabric is always a feat in itself. “270 Park Avenue is set to be a new landmark that responds to its historic location as well as the legacy of JPMorgan Chase in New York,” Founder and Executive Chairman of Foster + Partners, Norman Foster says,

“The unique design rises to the challenge of respecting the rhythm and distinctive streetscape of Park Avenue while accommodating the vital transport infrastructure of the city below. The result is an elegant solution where the architecture is the structure, and the structure is the architecture, embracing a new vision that will serve JPMorgan Chase now and well into the future.”

Replacing an antiquated building from the 1950s, the new skyscraper will house up to 14,000 employees, marking a three-quarters increase in building occupancy. Supported by an innovative fan-column structure, and triangular bracing, allowing the building to remain elevated above the ground by 80 feet.

On the ground floor, the new headquarters will offer 2.5 times more outdoor space, “featuring wider sidewalks and a large public plaza on Madison Avenue with natural green space and other amenities geared toward the residents, workers, and visitors who frequent the neighborhood on a daily basis.”

The post Foster + Partners reveal JPMorgan Chase office design for new all-electric headquarters in New York City first appeared on Yanko Design.

The world’s skinniest skyscraper is at 111 West 57th Street

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I am afraid of heights. Not deathly afraid but enough to not go and see some of the world-famous tourist attractions like the Empire State Building or the Burj Khalifa. Well, if ever I get to visit New York or Dubai. But I do get the appeal of why people would want to get to the top of these buildings and skyscrapers and mountains as getting a view of the entire city or the place where the high place is overlooking.

Designer: SHoP Architects

If you’re a fan of tall skyscrapers, New York City is one of the places to be. Just last week, a new landmark building has been officially opened and is now ready for people who can afford to move into it. The 111 West 57th Street is not just the second tallest in the Western Hemisphere (1,428 feet), it is also the world’s “skinniest” building with its 24:1 height-to-width ratio. So for people like me who are scared of heights, this being the skinniest will not help in allaying that fear.

But of course, this tower, which is a residential skyscraper, is built with the “highest strength concrete” according to the designers, SHoP Architects. Just by looking at images of the building, you know that it’s a pretty expensive structure as the top tapers to a flat edge and it is highlighted by terracotta tiles with bronze accents on its facade facing the east and west directions. For the parts that are facing Central Park (north) and Lower Manhattan (south), you get glass curtain walls so you get a better view of the city’s skyline.

This building was actually announced back in 2013 but construction halted by 2017 due to financial difficulties from the developer. But now they’re ready for residents to move in. Since it’s a tall and narrow skyscraper, each floor will only have one residence for each floor. The adjacent landmarked Steinway building is also part of it so if you add the 14 there, there will only be a total of 60 residences for the entire 111 West 57th Street building.

It is aptly located in what is now considered Billionaire’s Row in Midtown Manhattan since probably only billionaires can afford to live in such a building. Even if I had a billion dollars, I probably would not actually live in the world’s second tallest skyscraper. But it would still be interesting to visit and see what the interiors actually look like since I really can’t imagine what it would be like to live there.

The post The world’s skinniest skyscraper is at 111 West 57th Street first appeared on Yanko Design.

This floating mobile campus is 100% self-sufficient & facilitates programs for our sustainable future!

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Manhattan is an island but also one of the world’s most popular cities. The land area is not large enough to support all the people who move there or have facilities for multiple recreational activities. Keeping in mind that the population and our needs continue to increase but the land doesn’t, 3deluxe designed We The Planet Campus (WTP) – a mobile, floating green platform off the Manhattan shoreline for convening international summits, workshops, and educational programs which focus on transforming our world for a better future!

The fluid, organic form of the island was inspired by the natural elements surrounding it -water, sun, and wind, meanwhile, the biotope is also designed to give back as much as it takes from nature by generating its own energy and drinking water. The floating campus was commissioned by the New York-based organization ‘We The Planet’ (WTP). The campus is meant to be a communicative platform that facilitates the work for protecting all life on land and under the sea. It will host international conventions, global summits, workshops, and educational programs that focus on co-existing sustainably and preserving our planet. WTP’s vision for the campus is to make it 100% self-sufficient in generating energy and drinking water while floating marshland biotopes make up 50% of the overall surface areas.

WTP’s campus is an inspiring architectural creation that nurtures and encourages those working towards building more people-friendly structures that live in harmony with their surroundings instead of the current parasitic nature of the situation. There will be a new generation of corporate buildings that offer more than the functional shell of a building by taking a stance on relevant social issues such as climate protection and nature conservation by actually providing space for those who are working towards solving these problems. “After the shock of the pandemic and the social polarization of recent years, there is a longing for positive change. It is time for architecture and urbanism to take a more ambitious approach to humanize our living environment,” says Dieter Brell, Creative Director of 3deluxe.

The campus sits on a floating platform that is scalable, mobile, and protected from rising sea levels. Its floating natural biotope provides greenery and organically extends the tightly packed land area of the city. The partly public platform not only represents an additional destination for New Yorkers for sports, leisure, and communication but also an attractive new honeypot for western Manhattan. The campus also includes a meadow, a sand biotope, and the thatched green roofs which create living environments for a diversified, urban animal and plant world apart from the marshland biotape. The construction materials include wood, clay, reeds, and recycled materials such as bioplastics.

WTP’s ambitious campus also plans to use latest surface technologies for air cleansing along with algae bioreactors, wind farms, photovoltaics, and marine power plants that will be located under the floating platform for energy extraction. We The Planet Campus wants to be a symbol of change in future architecture as it stands on the belief that buildings should give back as much as they take – this means compensation for soil sealing, CO2 production, the use of energy and materials, while creating fair living environments for the animals and plants who were there long before us.

Designer: 3deluxe

Google will turn some of its offices into COVID-19 vaccination sites

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Google will convert some of its facilities into COVID-19 vaccination sites starting in New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Kirkland, Washington. Partnering with One Medical and public health authorities, it will open “buildings...

Airbnb agrees to hand over hosts’ data to settle its NYC lawsuit

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For two years, Airbnb has been battling a New York City bill that would force short-term rental services to hand over data about hosts. Friday, Airbnb agreed to share that data. The two sides reached a settlement with compromises that Airbnb says pro...

T-Mobile expands access to 5G now that it owns Sprint

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Now that the T-Mobile-Sprint merger is complete, T-Mobile is ready to make some network changes. It’s expanding access to 5G frequencies, and it will allow Sprint customers to use T-Mobile’s 5G if they have a Galaxy S20.T-Mobile is using the 2.5 GHz...