One Vanderbilt Plaza is an ingenious fusion of design, research, and materiality, coming together with elegance to create a serene oasis in one of New York´s busiest intersections. Situated on Vanderbilt Avenue, which was reclaimed for pedestrian-only use, the plaza overlays a maze of unseen regulatory boundaries and access routes that profoundly shaped the space. Flanked by Grand Central Terminal´s Beaux-Arts facade on one side and One Vanderbilt´s sleek modern tower on the other, the plaza artfully weaves both architectural styles into a cohesive whole. A timeless arrangement of materials and patterns ties the space together, accented with sparse plantings and trees that nod to the seasons and natural world.
Crafting this plaza felt like working alongside visionary Lebbeus Woods: a cyborg-street section underfoot, devoid of terra firma. Millimetric accuracy aligned the plaza´s grades to surrounding streets while serving as carpet, route, node and bridge – functioning flawlessly for an individual or hundreds. Countless patterns were explored, but the original stood up to every test.
