The 52-storey skyscraper has caused a controversial reaction from critics: some rank it as one of the best high-rise buildings in Manhattan, others are unhappy with its modest appearance, the third one seems too monumental and even looks like a fortress.
But everyone agrees on one thing: "The Gray Lady", as the newspaper has long been called, has created a new standard for office space, smoothly turning into the space of the city.
Piano made the tower's glass curtain walls completely transparent using low iron glass. He also took as many structural elements as possible from the surface of the building, so from everywhere from the inside there are breathtaking views of New York, which has already begun to influence the work of journalists: the editors admit that the newspaper now appears more materials on the city than before. To prevent this openness from affecting the building's energy consumption, the architect “clothed” his building from the outside with sun screens made of 186,000 light-colored ceramic tubes. They do not block the views from the windows, but they block up to 50% of the sun's rays that heat the skyscraper surfaces. Inside, they are complemented by an automatic shutter system, which also saves on air conditioning (the shafts of which are laid in the floor of each floor). The screens extend six stories above the roof of the tower, which should create a “melting in air” effect.
At street level, the building is as open as possible and attractive to pedestrians. The walls of the first floor are also transparent, and through its lobby you can see the street from the other side of the skyscraper. Despite the fact that after the events of September 11, 2001, requirements for the safety of high-rise buildings increased, Piano refused to transform his building into a concrete bunker.
Visitors to the editorial office located on the lower 28 floors, and financial and legal firms renting offices above, will still have to pass through a kind of "checkpoint" consisting of red turnstiles and orange-yellow partitions. Further, there is a small atrium, where slender silvery birches grow among the moss behind the glass. Behind them there is a 378-seat Times Center conference hall, decorated in traditional “theatrical” red tones.
Above - on three floors - the news department is located, striking in its silence, despite the fact that it is there that the new issue is being typeset in an atmosphere of constant haste. The journalists sit in separate compartments, from where, thanks to the high ceilings, views of the city and the trees in the atrium below, soft lighting complement the picture. For confidential telephone and personal conversations, soundproof glass cubicle rooms are arranged on most floors of the building.
Individual floors are linked to adjacent tiers by internal staircases, and spaces for informal meetings are also provided throughout, which should encourage interaction between individual divisions and newspaper staff.
Renzo Piano wanted to arrange a rooftop garden with a swimming pool and an observation platform open to all comers, but this element of the plan was not implemented for security reasons.
On a sunny day, the 320-meter tower looks light gray, and its almost ghostly, light volume in the Manhattan landscape seems to be a metaphor for the existence of a traditional large newspaper in the era of rapid development of information technology. Despite the successful and solid presence of The New York Times on the Internet, it is not known what it will become, or even whether it will exist in twenty years. However, its leadership is optimistic that the Piano skyscraper should become a "home" for the newspaper at least until 2107.
