Chiseled features: Snøhetta unveils new tower in Manhattan

Snøhetta has already made its mark in New York City, with prominent projects, such as the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion and Slack’s offices in Lower Manhattan reaching completion in the past couple of years, and more, such as the reimagining of Philip Johnson’s mixed use 550 Madison Avenue, currently on the drawing boards.
A striking new residential tower at 50 West 66th Street is the latest on their list of high profile work at the Big Apple to be revealed – created, this time, for Extell Development Company. The project, a set of residences sat on a mixed use podium, is situated in Manhattan’s prestigious Upper West Side, with neighbours of the likes of Columbia University and the Lincoln Centre.
The architects opted for a building structure made up from a tower’s traditional elements – a base, a tall main body and a crown at the top – as a reference to the city’s rich legacy in high rises. Yet, there is a modern twist. The volume features cleverly chamfered corners, both at the top and the base of the podium, which soften its overall effect, articulating a refined silhouette, as the bulk of the tower is skilfully carved away.
Aiming to embrace the area’s architectural character, Snøhetta has worked with a material palette that reflects that of the surrounding urban realm. Hand-set and textured limestone, with bronze and glass storefronts feature on the tower’s lower levels. Two different entrances, one on the north side for the residences, and another on the 65th street’s side, which leads to a synagogue at the building’s base, highlight the structure’s mixed use nature.
A large terrace is formed at the top of the podium on the 16th level, as the building becomes slimmer and the residences are set back from the plot line. This stepped, planted outdoor space is part of the tower’s lush shared amenity spaces and offers wide views of the city, the Hudson River and Central Park. The high-rise’s slim form is topped by a chiseled crown, which is sure to make its mark within New York’s iconic skyline.
The residential tower features chamfered corners that help make for a refined silouette.
The project also includes a selection of high end shared amenity spaces in the tower’s podium.
At street level, the tower’s base is clad in textured limestone with bronze and glass storefronts.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Snøhetta website
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Beloved British screenwriter Dennis Potter inspires an exhibition with a difference at Studio Voltaire
Hilary Lloyd's multi-faceted exhibition at Studio Voltaire considers Dennis Potter's life and work, from much-loved TV classics to power inequalities
-
Insert here: London Design Festival gets intimate with insertable design
At London Design Festival, Heirloom Studio showcases 36 objects – some life-saving, some pleasure-giving, all made to go inside the body
-
Postcard from Helsinki Design Week 2025
Helsinki Design Week turns 20 this year. Celebrating two decades of design, core themes of this year revolve around happiness and optimism: here are design critic Hugo Macdonald's ten highlights
-
Meet Studio Zewde, the Harlem practice that's creating landscapes 'rooted in cultural narratives, ecology and memory'
Ahead of a string of prestigious project openings, we check in with firm founder Sara Zewde
-
The best of California desert architecture, from midcentury gems to mirrored dwellings
While architecture has long employed strategies to cool buildings in arid environments, California desert architecture developed its own distinct identity –giving rise, notably, to a wave of iconic midcentury designs
-
A restored Eichler home is a peerless piece of West Coast midcentury modernism
We explore an Eichler home, and Californian developer Joseph Eichler’s legacy of design, as a fine example of his progressive house-building programme hits the market
-
How LA's Terremoto brings 'historic architecture into its next era through revitalising the landscapes around them'
Terremoto, the Los Angeles and San Francisco collective landscape architecture studio, shakes up the industry through openness and design passion
-
Inside a Donald Wexler house so magical, its owner bought it twice
So transfixed was Daniel Patrick Giles, founder of fragrance brand Perfumehead, he's even created a special scent devoted to it
-
The Pagani Residences is the latest ultra-luxe automotive apartment tower to reach Miami
Rising up above Miami, branded apartment buildings are having a renaissance, as everyone from hypercar builders to crystal makers seeks to have a towering structure bearing their name
-
A modern cabin in Minnesota serves as a contemporary creative retreat from the city
Snow Kreilich Architects' modern cabin and studio for an artist on a lakeside plot in Minnesota was designed to spark creativity and provide a refuge from the rat race
-
Touring artist Glenn Ligon's studio in Brooklyn with its architect, Ravi Raj
Glenn Ligon's studio, designed by architect Ravi Raj, is an industrial Brooklyn space reimagined for contemporary art