Finalists

432 Park Avenue
New York NY, USA

The high-rise rises above its surroundings very clearly and therefore stands out distinctly from the other architecture, despite its modest design. The highest purely residential building in the world costing around 1.25 million dollars boasts a unique standard of comfort. The lower thirty-five floors comprise guest rooms, offices for the owners, a spa, a swimming pool, a library, a lounge, a fitness centre, a cinema, and a private restaurant with a terrace facing the neighbouring building. Below the building there are a retail passage and two parking decks. The windows of around nine square metres in the exclusive apartments afford breathtaking views over the whole city.

There is a chronic shortage of building land in dense agglomerations such as New York, especially in prominent locations, and land prices are horrendous. There is increasing pressure to build ever higher buildings on ever smaller plots. With the completion of 432 Park Avenue, New York now boasts its seventh tower over 300 metres high.

New engineering techniques for diffusing wind loads enable the unusually slim proportions with a ratio of 1:15 of width to height. The very slender New York buildings One Madison Park and One57 were already among those nominated for the International High-rise Prize in 2012 and 2014. However, it is the systematic rapport of the facade coupled with the enormous height that makes 432 Park Avenue a prototype and representative of this typology.

432 Park Avenue
New York NY, USA
Architecture
Rafael Viñoly Architects,
New York NY, USA
Client
CIM Group, Macklowe Properties
Function
Residential
Height
426 m
Completion
April 2016
Best High-Rises 2016/17