Starchitects

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Rem Koolhaas

Unveiling Competing Designs for 425 Park, David Levinson Says He Will Not Wait for Midtown Rezoning

With the choice of four of the world’s greatest architects, how could David Levinson ever settle on just one to build a new tower at 425 Park Avenue?

“That’s my next job, to find three more sites so I can build all these buildings,” Mr. Levinson joked, seated at a conference table inside his sleek white offices on 57th Street on Monday. He was surrounded by renderings and models by Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Rem Koolhaas and the winning architect Norman Foster.

“For us, it was really a blend of what’s the right concept for Park Avenue, a place that has not had a new building for almost 50 years, an avenue that is quite possibly the most important commercial boulevard in New York City, quite possibly the United State, and what is the place of a new build down the street from Seagrams and Lever House, two of the greatest buildings ever built,” Mr. Levinson explained. “We had to determine for that setting what’s the right firm. So really, it’s a blend of the concept and the firm we can work with.” Read More

Viagra Champion Plans Ahead

 

Kaye Scholer, the international law firm that has successfully defended Viagra against claims that it causes stroke and priapism, and which is housed in a kind of dumpy office building with a byzantine ownership structure that’s set to expire in 2015, will soon have to start thinking about its office space Read More

David Levinson’s Home Runs

The Commercial Observer:

Tell me how Eataly, Mario Batali’s new food emporium, came to lease space at the former Toy Building at 200 Fifth Avenue? From what I understand, they were originally looking for a significantly smaller space.

Mr. Levinson: They were in the market for a while, looking to develop something Read More