PanAm Under Glass
John Hill
3. marzo 2016
Image: Courtesy of VOA Architecture
The competition-winning proposal by architects from VOA Architecture and engineers from Werner Sobek New York envisions the Pan Am Building (now the MetLife Building) at 200 Park Avenue in New York City covered in a patterned, double-glazed curtain wall.
More than just taking off the existing exterior (photo below) and replacing it with the energy-efficient glass envelope, the proposal "pierces" the tower, "chisels" away some of its bulk, and adds floors atop the building "to suggest skyward ascension." Further, the hexagonal pattern applied to the outer layer of glass reiterates the tower's footprint, an expression that merges plan and elevation.
VOA and Werner Sobek's proposal is one of six winners in the "Reimagining 200 Park Avenue" design challenge spearheaded by Metals in Construction magazine. More details on the winners and the competition can be found at metalsinconstruction.org.
