Morning View - New York Times Tower

The just finished new headquarters for the New York Times, a 52-story tower on 8th Avenue across from the Port Authority, touts itself as one of the most energy-efficient skyscrapers ever built. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFOWLE Architects, the tower is covered with ceramic tubing meant to "screen the double glazed, spectrally selective, low-emissivity, full-height glass wall around the building, thus reducing the building's cooling loads." Did everybody get all that?

At 1046 feet, the Times Tower is tied with the 77-story Chrysler Building for 2nd tallest in NYC, although both will soon be displaced by the nearby Bank of America Tower which will rise to 1200 feet. (When comparing building height, only the structural height is used, according to rules and regulations of the World Council on Tall Buildings.)

While the engineering innovations of the Times Tower are impressive, it seems that most Gothamites give its aesthetics a resounding "meh". I concur. Another chance to create something iconic has been botched. I'm much more hopeful for the BOA Tower.