Adjaye Associates proposes its tallest skyscraper Affirmation Tower for New York

Image © Peebles Corporation

If built, the project would be the studio's tallest skyscraper to date and would be the tallest building in New York City, and the entire Western Hemisphere.

The plans include two hotels, an observation deck and skating rink and commercial office spaces to house the headquarters of NAACP, a civil rights organisation in the United States.

Image © Peebles Corporation

Adjaye's design has a dramatic appearance that reverses the traditional high-rise typology to offer larger spaces in upper levels. Its five stepped cantilevered volumes are wrapped a series of vertical stone fins that act a lattice-work from afar. On the ground level, the studio uses inverted arches and irregular colonnades that wrap the glazed windows. As it is understood from the renderings, the studio has designed an open and green terrace on the sixth level that separates the plinth from the tower itself.

Image © Peebles Corporation

"This project is emblematic of true equity in development," said The Peebles Corporation. "A symbol for all who visit New York, cementing in brick and mortar that New York is serious about economic inclusion."

"Unfortunately, for most of New York’s history, African-Americans and people of colour have been rendered as mere economic tourists who gaze upward at one of the greatest skylines in the world with the intrinsic knowledge they will never be able to participate in what really makes New York unique," said Rev Dr Charles Curtis, head of NY Interfaith Commission For Housing Equality.

Image © Peebles Corporation

"The awarding of this project to this team will send a statement across the globe that architects, developers, engineers and financial professionals of colour are now full participants in this great miracle of global capitalism called New York City."

Article originally published on World Architecture Community.