5. The Hive by Emgreen & Dragset
As part of Elmgreen & Dragset‘s work The Hive, over 30,000 pounds of futuristic skyscrapers hang upside down by the West 31st Street entry. The 91 real and fictional buildings, which are nine-foot-tall models, contain windows that glow with 72,000 tiny LED lights. Six of the aluminum buildings can change colors, and there is a mirrored base that allows commuters to feel projected into the miniature city.
Dragset told The New York Times that the installation was named “The Hive” to reflect how the diversity and richness of cities can function because people accept certain rules for coexisting. The artists shipped the work to New York from Germany, and the buildings weigh more than 30,000 pounds. Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, the artistic duo that works and lives in Berlin, investigate social, cultural, and political structures through their installations.