The Condé Nast Building, officially 4 Times Square, is a modern skyscraper in Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. Located on Broadway between 42nd Street and 43rd, the structure was finished in January 2000 as part of a larger project to redevelop 42nd Street. The building stretches 48 stories to 809 ft (247 m) making it the 12th tallest building in New York City and the 41st tallest in the United States. The size of the tower raised concerns from the city about what impact this sized tower would have on Times Square. The major office space tenants are magazine publishing company Condé Nast Publications and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, the wealthiest U.S. law firm. Major retail tenants include ESPN Zone and Duane Reade.
4 Times Square is owned by The Durst Organization. The architects were Fox & Fowle who also designed the Reuters Building as part of the larger project. The building contains 1,600,000 square feet (149,000 m2) of floor space. In 1995, 4 Times Square was the first speculative office building to be developed in New York City in almost a decade, but it was fully leased and occupied almost immediately after completion.[1] The City Hall chose Fox & Fowle architectural firm to design the building because they were known as the designers of ecologically sustainable buildings.
NASDAQ's MarketSite is located at the northwest corner of the building. It is a seven-story cylindrical tower with a high-tech electronic display, providing market quotes, financial news and advertisements. The ground floor of the MarketSite contains a television studio with a wall of monitors and an arc of windows looking out onto Times Square. Including the antenna, its height is 1,143 ft (348 m), making it the third tallest structure in New York City, behind the Empire State Building and the Bank of America Tower.
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Green design
4 Times Square is one of the most important examples of green design in skyscrapers in the United States. Environmentally friendly gas-fired absorption chillers, along with a high-performing insulating and shading curtain wall, ensure that the building does not need to be heated or cooled for the majority of the year. Office furniture is made with biodegradable and non-toxic materials. The air-delivery system provides 50% more fresh air than is required by New York City Building Code,[2] and a number of recycling chutes serve the entire building. Being the first project of its size to undertake these features in construction, the building has received an award from the American Institute of Architects, as well as AIA New York State.
Antenna mast
Between 2002 and 2003, the existing radio antenna, built primarily for Clear Channel Communications as a backup transmitter site for its four FM stations, was removed and replaced with a 300-foot (91 m) mast to support television and radio broadcasters as a backup transmission site. This was done so that work could be completed to relocate those who were displaced by the destruction of the World Trade Center to the Empire State Building, without disruption to the existing FM tenants at the Empire State Building.[3] The mast has three tiers, one for VHF, one for UHF, and one for FM. Currently, 8 FM stations use the site as a backup, and 1 FM station ( WNYE (FM) ) uses it as a primary site.[4] 3 TV stations are using the mast for auxiliary use, and 1 for primary.[5] The antenna systems and mast were constructed by Dielectric Communications of Raymond, ME., Shively labs of Bridgton, ME., and Electronics Research Inc., of Chandler, IN.[6]
Condé Nast Building in popular culture
An almost exact replica of the Condé Nast Building is featured in the Battlestar Galactica universe, as a prominent building in the Caprica City skyline. It can be seen during scene of the city in the series finale Daybreak: Part 2. It can also be seen briefly in the pilot for Caprica (TV series). The building is also featured in Grand Theft Auto IV, as part of Liberty City and the recent documentary about Anna Wintour, "The September Issue."
The building was the basis for the fictional Elias-Clark building in Lauren Weisberger's novel The Devil Wears Prada (novel), where the head office for fictional Runway magazine is located. Weisberger based the plot on her own experiences as assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, whose offices are located in the Condé Nast building.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/database/overview.cfm?ProjectID=32 eere.energy.gov
- ^ http://www.cleanaircounts.org/resource%20package/A%20Book/EStar%20Buildings/Case%20Study%20-%20Four%20Times%20Square.htm cleanaitcounts.org
- ^ A selection from a decade of visits to tower and studio sites in the Northeast and beyond
- ^ FCCInfo Facility Search Results
- ^ FCCInfo Facility Search Results
- ^ Shively Labs FM Antennas and Accessories
- Skyscrapers, Antonino Terranova, White Star Publishers, 2003 (ISBN 8880952307)
External links
- 4 Times Square Data Sheet from durst.org
- in-Arch.net: The Condé Nast Building
- Emporis - Condé Nast Building
Coordinates: 40°45′21″N 73°59′09″W / 40.75583°N 73.98583°W
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