Jean Nouvel Latest Starchitect to Have a Project Meet a Scalpel

Norman Foster‘s been through it, Frank Gehry has seen it happen, and it’s been such a common thing over the years that there’s even a phrase used to describe it: “accidental architecture.” So while starchitect Jean Nouvel is the latest to see a project of his cut down by a number of floors, we’re hoping that he realizes that he’s in good company and shouldn’t feel too terribly about the alteration. In this case, it’s Nouvel’s MoMA-adjacent Hines Interests Tower, which the Architect’s Newspaper reports was set to be the second-tallest building in Midtown Manhattan, until NYC’s City Planning Commission voted against the tower’s height and are now demanding that 200 feet be removed from the plans. The Commissions issues with the original height were its creation of additional shadows on its neighbors and worries that Nouvel wouldn’t be able to hide all of the standard “mechanical equipment” a skyscraper usually has on its tippy top using his current design. So now it’s back to the drawing board for Nouvel, this being the second major impedance he’s suffered this year, following his 10000 Santa Monica Boulevard project being put on indefinite hold at the start of the year.

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