AOL Time Warner Center (1987-2003)
In many ways this project could be seen as a template for what would later happen at Ground Zero: businessmen, politicians, and community groups fighting over a replacement for a city landmark (New York Coliseum) on some of the most expensive real estate in the city (Columbus Circle). Childs was brought in to be the project's unifier, and after redesigning the building several times, he came up a plan that satisfied everyone involved: a moderate, 750-foot-tall building consisting of identical glass-capped towers that emerge from a dark granite base, an allusion to nearby Art Deco residential towers. The new building, which seems to grow lighter and more slender as it rises, houses the world headquarters for AOL Time Warner, a high-end retail mall, a five-star hotel, luxury condos, and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

© Archimation. Reproduced with the permission of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.