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New York City
Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
Photography © Nicolas Borel
LVMH Tower offers a new slant
on New York City zoning rules
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"True,
the building cost more than simple offices, but
the creative gesture is also a major investment."
—LVMH Möet Hennessey
Louis Vuitton
"This
tower has done more than was intended—that is,
to improve the culture of building in New York.
It has raised the expectations about what architecture
can do."
—Terence Riley
Architect
Atelier Christian de Portzamparc
Client
Louis Vuitton Möet Hennessey (LVMH)
Key
Players
Click here to find a complete listing of
the people and products
involved in the completion of this project and
an additional photograph.
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For its new American headquarters, the
international luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Möet Hennessey
Louis Vuitton wanted a design that would stand out from the
throng of tall corporate towers and glossy shops of midtown
Manhattan. The company got its wishes by going to the French
architect, Christian de Portzamparc. The Pritzker-Prize winner
came up with a slim, 60-foot-wide, 24-story tower with a multifaceted
glazed facade of folded and chiseled wedgelike planes that
inventively responds to New York City's zoning regulations.
De Portzamparc followed the rules calling for setbacks according
to a sky-exposure plane, yet literally gave them a new slant.
Working with the Hillier Group and curtain
wall consultant Robert Heintges, de Portzamparc devised an
architectonic facade that features three types of glass—clear
glass; green glass with ceramic frit; and a white, low-iron
glass with a sandblasted geometric pattern. Most of the office
floors of the 112,167 square-foot, steel-framed structure
are a perfunctory 3,000 to 5,000 square feet in size, with
12-foot, floor-to-floor heights. Topping the building, however,
is a spectacular glass cube, where a 30-foot-high penthouse
has been fitted out for receptions.
LVMH believes the volumetric skin is
a refined, dynamic image for the company. The response from
the public and press has made the investment— estimated
at about $40 million—worth it. [see Architectural
Record March 2000, page 99].
For more on this project please see the
October 2001 issue of Architectural Record.
The Winners: Chesapeake
Bay | Corning
Museum | Dulwich
Galllery | Kuhonji
Temple Gate | LVMH
Tower | Pedestrian
Bridge | Phillips
Plastics | Saitama
Arena | SAP Headquarters
| Chiller Plant
| Wieden + Kennedy
Headquarters
The Finalists:
Allegheny
Jail | Hansen
Construction | Helmut
Lang Perfumerie | Herman
Miller Showroom | Lincoln
St. Garage | TBWA/Chiat/Day
| U.S. Courthouse
| Westpac Stadium
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