432 Park Avenue taken as of yesterday
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Today I pay homage to this Iconic work of Architecture. RIP Rafael Vignoly.
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The utility floor lights.have been off the last few nights at 432. Anyone know what’s up? Given all the other failed lighting schemes on new buildings I hope this one hasn’t failed too.
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Honestly this tower has lived up to its designers’ intentions the most consistently over the years on 57th Street. And it had to suffer the brunt of the harshest criticism for being so tall and among the first. Our beautiful ugly supertall trash can. New York’s elegant geometric smoke stack.
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Can’t believe it’s about 10 years since this has topped out if I’m correct. I remember looking up Madison Avenue in 2013/2014 and seeing this steadily rise like it was never going to stop. It was quite startling just how thin and tall it was. At the time it was the tallest in midtown.
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Yep, and in terms of it being completed it is now 9 years old 
^
Phone shots taken on 2/19/24 ^
Part 1/2
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Used to really hate it at first.
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Yes, I have heard that a lot about this building: it is now an ICON.
This building is the architectural equivalent of the work of Mondrian. I think most initial reactions is; “well, that is just a bunch of boxes, how boring.”
Once you gain an appreciation of the subtle, articulate composition; you begin to SEE the brilliant artistry of the work. It is called ART with a Capital A… 
Excerpt -
“Mondrian’s adherence to the aesthetic theories of neoplasticism, a utopian approach that ascribes the power of spiritual progress and social change to geometric abstract painting, restricted him to the most basic artistic elements — horizontal and vertical lines — and to primary colors along with white, black, and gray. From these limited means, the Dutch artist and principal member of the de Stijl movement created works that carefully balanced each line and field of color to achieve a harmonious composition. In this painting brushed fields of soft gray and primary color contrast with the glossy varnished black lines. The fact that none of the lines extends completely across the picture lends the composition a sense of harnessed dynamism.”
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I like the comparison to Mondrian. It makes sense–simple and geometric, but with superb spatial conceptions that make your eyes wander around over the space. I’ve like 432 from the start, tho it apparently has ongoing construction issues and litigation between the condo board and the developers over plumbing, elevator, and other owner complaints. I wonder if 111 W 57 has similar problems?
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Thank god. The lighting malfunctions on some of the other towers are frustrating but this would be aesthetically fatal. The open mechanical floors absolutely make this tower — when they’re not clearly visible, it becomes a monotonous, bizarrely proportioned slab.
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