![]() THAT WAS, UNTIL A LUXURY REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT FIRM TOOK A MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR GAMBLE AND BOUGHT IT. THAT'S THE REASON THIS PLOT LAID EMPTY FOR DECADES. BECAUSE TALL BUILDINGS NEED WIDE SUPPORTING FOUNDATIONS. THE PROBLEM IS, NO ONE HAS EVER BUILT A SKYSCRAPER IN SUCH A SMALL SPACE. NARRATOR: THE PLOT SITS TWO STREETS BACK FROM THE PARK. IT'S SUCH A PRIVILEGE TO HAVE THAT VIEW OF THE PARK AND IT'S SO DIFFICULT TO GET, AND THERE ARE SO FEW PLACES TO CONTINUE TO BUILD IN NEW YORK CITY THAT IT'S REALLY QUITE A RARE AND SPECIAL QUALITY FOR ANY APARTMENT. PASQUARELLI: A VIEW OF CENTRAL PARK IS ABSOLUTELY THE MAIN DRIVER OF THE BUILDING AND OF ALL OF THESE SUPER-TALLS THAT YOU SEE GOING UP. THIS IS SOME OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE LAND ON THE PLANET, AND THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE A PROFIT HERE IS TO BUILD TALL. KNOWN AS BILLIONAIRES' ROW, SKY-HIGH APARTMENTS HERE BOAST UNOBSTRUCTED VIEWS OVER CENTRAL PARK AND COMMAND ASTRONOMICAL PRICE TAGS. NARRATOR: THE PLOT FOR THE SKYSCRAPER IS LOCATED IN MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, ON WEST 57TH STREET. IT'S ALL ABOUT TAKING THE SQUARE FEET THAT ARE ALLOWED TO BE BUILT AND PUTTING IT TALL AND HIGH WITH GREAT VIEWS IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE DENSEST PARTS OF OUR COUNTRY. PASQUARELLI: THIS SKYSCRAPER IS ALL ABOUT DENSITY. THIS SUPER-TALL MUST FIT ONTO A PLOT THAT'S JUST 80 FEET BY 60 FEET, LITTLE BIGGER THAN A BASKETBALL COURT. NARRATOR: BUT REALIZING NEW YORK'S NEWEST SKYSCRAPER WILL NOT BE EASY.ĮARLY HIGH-RISES WERE BUILT ON PLOTS THAT CONSUMED ENTIRE CITY BLOCKS. YOU HAVE TO TRUST THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GO INTO UNKNOWN TERRITORY.īUT THAT'S ALSO ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING THINGS YOU CAN DO AS AN ARCHITECT. NARRATOR: GREGG HAS SPENT 20 YEARS DESIGNING INNOVATIVE BUILDINGS, BUT NOTHING QUITE LIKE 111 WEST 57TH STREET. SO, TO BE A BORN AND RAISED NEW YORKER AND GET TO WORK ON AN EXTRAORDINARY BUILDING IS AN ABSOLUTE DREAM COME TRUE. WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY GROWING UP IN QUEENS, FROM MY BEDROOM I COULD WATCH THE ORIGINAL WORLD TRADE CENTER BEING CONSTRUCTED.ĪND I KEPT A LITTLE LEGO MODEL ON MY DESK AND I FOLLOWED THE TRADE CENTER CONSTRUCTION GOING UP AND I'D LOOK OUT THE WINDOW AND SEE IT EVERY DAY. IF THE TEAM BEHIND ITS CUTTING-EDGE DESIGN CAN PULL IT OFF, THEN LEAD ARCHITECT AND LOCAL BOY GREGG PASQUARELLI WILL BE FULFILLING A CHILDHOOD DREAM. NARRATOR: BUT THE NEWEST KID ON THE BLOCK 111 WEST 57TH STREET, WILL BE TALLER AND NARROWER THAN ANY OTHER SKYSCRAPER IN THE WORLD- OVER 1,400 FEET TALL AND JUST 60 FEET WIDE. THEY BECOME THE LANDMARKS OF THE FUTURE BECAUSE THEY REPRESENT THE INVENTION OF THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY. WILLIS: THESE NEW TOWERS INVENT A REALLY NEW TYPE OF SKYSCRAPER IN SKYSCRAPER HISTORY. ![]() THE SOLUTION HAS SPAWNED A NEW BREED OF SKYSCRAPER, STRUCTURES WHICH DWARF LAST CENTURY'S HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS AND TAKE UP JUST A FRACTION OF THE SPACE. WITH SO LITTLE SPACE FOR CONSTRUCTION LEFT, ARCHITECTS ARE BEING FORCED TO REWRITE THE RULE BOOK. NARRATOR: AFTER MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES OF CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT, MANHATTAN ISLAND IS JAMMED. WE HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF EXPLOITING THE VALUE OF THE LAND FOR A PROFIT. THE RESULT-THE MOST ICONIC CITY SKYLINE ON EARTH. JUST 23 SQUARE MILES AND HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST REMARKABLE BUILDINGS EVER BUILT.įOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, NEW YORK HAS BEEN PIONEERING THE SUPER HIGH-RISE. IMPOSSIBLE BUILDS WAS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM VIEWERS LIKE YOU. NARRATOR: THIS IS THE SKINNY SKYSCRAPER AND IT IS AN IMPOSSIBLE BUILD. ![]() NARRATOR: ONE FALSE MOVE COULD TURN A CENTURY OF MANHATTAN HISTORY TO DUST. MAN: SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET KILLED WALKING OVER THERE. ![]() NARRATOR: BATTLING SOME OF THE HARDEST GROUND EVER FOUND BENEATH A MAJOR CITY. NARRATOR: IN AN EXTRAORDINARY PROJECT, OLD AND NEW ARE MERGING TO FORM A BUILDING WITHIN A BUILDING. MAN: I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANOTHER SKYSCRAPER IN THE WORLD WHICH CAN COMPARE WITH IT. NARRATOR: THIS IS THE INSIDE STORY OF NEW YORK'S LATEST WONDER BUILDING, THE SKINNIEST SKYSCRAPER EVER TO BE CONSTRUCTED. MAN: THIS IS RADICALLY SHATTERING WHAT A TALL, SLENDER SKYSCRAPER OF THE 21ST CENTURY COULD BE. NARRATOR: IN THE CITY WHERE SKYSCRAPERS RULE, ONE RESIDENT ARCHITECT HAS A DREAM- TO STAMP HIS MARK ON THE MOST ICONIC SKYLINE ON EARTH WITH THE MOST DARING SKYSCRAPER IN GENERATIONS. ![]()
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