As we reported back in September, there have exciting been plans in the works to build a 16-story, beehive-like public installation at Hudson Yards. Designed by British architect, Thomas Heatherwick, who also designed the London 2012 Olympic torch, the installation called “Vessel” will eventually become a giant climbing frame consisting of 154 interconnected flights of stairs, 80 landings, and 2,400 steps by the fall of 2018. We recently stumbled across what appear to be pieces of the beehive on the High Line near 30th street! Check out our photos of the pieces, an incongruous pile of large fragments that hint at the grandeur of the future structure.
Dubbed “New York’s Eiffel Tower,” Vessel will be the permanent centerpiece of the Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens, which will connect Hudson Yards to the High Line. The project is part of a larger Hudson Yards development initiative, consisting of 16 skyscrapers on the West Side. At a price $25 billion, it is the largest and most costly real estate project in the United States to date, according to CNN.
The structure will eventually be a huge climbing frame, offering visitors unique new ways to see New York City.
“In a city full of eye-catching structures, our first thought was that it shouldn’t just be something to look at,” said Heatherwick. “Instead we wanted to make something that everybody could use, touch, relate to.”
Vessel is reported to cost $200 million, which will be paid for by Hudson Yards developers, the Related Company.
In September, when plans for the structure were revealed, steel and concrete pieces were still under construction in Monfalcone, Italy, and were not planned to be assembled until this year. Now, it looks like the plans are finally becoming reality, with the pieces coming in ready for assembling. See what the finished structure will look like in these renderings from Heatherwick Studios:
