NEW YORK | 450 11th Avenue | 642 FT | 51 FLOORS

I was in Hudson Yards on Wednesday those blank walls facing Hudson Yards look like crap. Wonder how long they will remain exposed before something is built to hide them. Hope they are at least painted in the mean time. Glad to see glass being installed at last.

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Little progress over past two weeks. It is clear the limiting factor here is glass supply chain issues. Perhaps it is an overall backup or this particular form of module is too difficult to produce to the right dimensions. But there is no glass waiting to be installed and no crews present today. Really unfortunate

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A registered architect must oversee the plans of buildings in New York state for a property to be approved for construction — often at a cost of several millions of dollars to developers of large projects, the Times reported. Schiffman received substantially less money, and told the Times that he was not asked to review any design plans. While he said he renewed his license after he retired, Schiffman also denied taking the required courses to do so.

The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) found “no signs of structural defects” in the under-construction Hudson Yards hotel, a spokesperson for the agency told Commercial Observer. The DOB barred Schiffman from filing building plans in December after learning that someone may have fraudulently re-registered him with the state without his knowledge, according to the Times.

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The NY Times is making a mountain out of a molehill.

The “architect” profession is dying, as buildings these days are basically designing themselves. I have a feeling that, not too far in the future, this “trade” will go the way of the telegraph operator.

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Clearly you have no idea about what architects actually do for a living. Some architecture is utilitarian and uninspiring, but great architecture has the potential to transcend it’s original intent and become something greater.

If you think that can be done via AI or some system that doesn’t involve human creativity, ingenuity and historical perspective you’re sadly mistaken.

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Waymond Womano: Where in heavens name do really good if not great buildings come from? AI? Nonesense. There are good reasons why SHOP designs first rate buildings. They have talented architects.

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This is a class E felony and is NOT overblown. Apparently Marx, an attorney, signed an agreement with the retired architect to NOT review drawings but give up his credentials. So, Marx, Schiffman, and whoever at DSM Design Group is preparing drawings, are all complicit in practicing architecture w/o a license.

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The most damning thing about that NY Times article is the lengths developers will go to get their project up and running. They were willing to pay off and fake an official seal of an architect who was no longer in practice. It’s a good thing there’s many layers of oversight and reviews by the DOB.

The profession of architecture can never really go away. They said the same thing in the early 90s and 2000s once BIM software took off and yet - here we are 2-3 decades later. The role of an architect will continue to adapt and change with the way our world functions. Also - firms are hiring like crazy, so definitely not dying.

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Are permits suspended because of this? That might explain the construction delay. Hopefully this is rectified by some sort of re-evaluation/peer review of the plans. It would be horrible if this becomes a quagmire like the leaning tower of the seaport…

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QUOTE - The “architect” profession is dying, as buildings these days are basically designing themselves. I have a feeling that, not too far in the future, this “trade” will go the way of the telegraph operator.

WAYMOND may be on to something here…

This is a jazzy, snazzy fantastic looking building - so WHO designed this without an Architect. I believe Way Wo is on to some element of truth: the architecture professions may not be completely dead - but the need & ultimate demand for professional architectural services are surely diminishing.

This group was able to design this and only wanted the Architect for a ‘technical’ legal requirement.

I think there are new laws in place that will enable builders’ to file construction documents with the DOB without the need for a licensed architects ‘seal’.

Once those ‘License requirements’ to sign-off on the drawing with the DOB happen; the way we design buildings will need to be re-imagined.

Times are changing. A stand alone ‘design firm’ may in fact become obsolete. The mention of ShoP may not be a valid comparison: they have effectively become a design/construction firm. They have obviously ‘partnered’ with that one construction JDS who builds most/all the projects designed by ShoP.

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I wanna know who designed it.
Someone obviously designed it as the DOB has found no structural flaws.
So was it the guy who says heres never seen the plan? Is he lying? Or is it an architect the developer doesn’t want to disclose?

Guys that work for the concrete subcntractor told us that the exterior was designed by an Israeli firm (not licensed in NY) and that the production architect, DSM Design Group, which is a creation of the developer, was a fucking clown show. This is a 3-way conspiracy between Marx, Schiffman, and DSM. The other architect in the times story got 2 yrs in jail for practicing arch w/o a license. And, NO! this is not nothing…the arch is responsible for all the fire and egress codes and coordinating all of the disciplines, which is extremely complicated in a skyscraper.

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So, the architect whose seal appears on the docs has to be licensed in New York State. If an architect/designer that is not licensed in NY State wants to design a building in NY, they must act through an “architect of record” that is. For example, that’s why the listed architect for 270 Park on the city docs is Adamson Associates of NYC and NOT Foster + Partners of London, who are not licensed in NY.

For this tower, the NYT says that the design work was carried out by “DSM Design Group”, the design arm of Marx Realty the developers. Since this is just part of a real estate firm and not an actual licensed architecture practice, they needed an Architect of Record (Schliffman) to sign off on the plans—that’s where the fraud comes in.

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Oh I see. That clears it up.




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Once things are sorted out for this tower and it (hopefully) resumes, I think the finished product will be very nice, the differing reflections of the sky on the few panels already installed looks good. Sunset reflections should be interesting.

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The story of this building (and many others in NYC) makes obvious what many of us in the construction business know both intuitively and from years of painful personal experience - much of the process in architecture, engineering and construction is broken and inefficient.

SEE the The MacLeamy Curve, & IPD.

I am posting this comment here acting as sort of an evangelist, one who must proselytize; spreading the word that the way we ‘build’ needs to change with the times. We have not seen significant changes in the construction industry in the last century - ‘integrated project delivery’ is the answer.

Here is a more on the subject: be sure to watch the entire 5 part series. Enjoy.


Credit: The Dronalist

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Not trying to bump the thread, but I was driving by the other week and it looks like more glass was installed.

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Not a bump to me if it’s helpful info :+1: Was it podium cladding or the angular tower cladding?

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