Developers of Foster + Partners' luxury residential tower in Manhattan have released new images to tempt buyers into purchasing one of the multi-million dollar apartments (+ slideshow).
The 63-storey skyscraper, called One Hundred East Fifty Third Street, is rising in midtown Manhattan next to the famed Seagram Building by Mies van der Rohe, which was completed in 1958.
The Foster tower's white appearance and slender form are meant to serve as a "counterpoint" to the dark bronze, 38-storey building by Mies. The new tower is clad in glass, while the structural frame is made of concrete.
"It's not simply about our new building, but about the composition it creates together with one of the 20th century's greatest," Foster + Partners architect Chris Connell told Dezeen in 2014. "In contrast to Seagram's dark bronze, our tower will have a pure white, undulating skin. Its proportions are almost impossibly slim and the views will be just incredible."
The skyscraper will contain 94 residential units, with prices starting at $3.35 million (£2.1 million). Sales will launch in the next few months.
The project is being backed by RFR Holding and Hines, both based in the US, and the Chinese developer Vanke. New York has become a hot spot for Chinese investors, who have spent more than $3 billion (£1.9 billion) on Manhattan real estate this year, according to reports.
The tower will offer amenities such as site-specific artwork, a swimming pool, wellness facility, spa, library and sitting rooms. The first two floors will contain a "uniquely curated" food hall and three-star restaurant.
Furnishings for the lobby and amenity spaces will be selected by the interior designer William T Georgis.
The tower is scheduled to open in 2017. Plans for the building were first unveiled in 2005, but the project was stalled by the 2008 recession.
The tower is within walking distance to New York landmarks such as the Museum of Modern Art, Grand Central Station and Rockefeller Center. The new Baccarat Tower by SOM is a few blocks away.
New York is experiencing a boom in luxury housing projects, including a series of super-tall residential towers that are now under construction in midtown Manhattan. Architect Steven Holl took issue with the towers in an Opinion piece for Dezeen, stating that "architecture with a sense of social purpose is becoming increasingly rare" in New York.
The city's first micro apartment building, which is nearing completion, is meant to offer a new model for affordable housing. Called My Micro NY, the building will feature units under 400 square feet (37 square metres), with rents starting at $950 (£615).
Other New York projects by Foster + Partners include the Hearst Tower and the Sperone Westwater Gallery, along with the office tower 425 Park Avenue, which is now under construction. Earlier this year, the firm was ousted by BIG as designer of Two World Trade Center.
Images copyright of DBOX for RFR.