A vase of interlocking staircases in copper steel, climbed one landing at a time, the works on every parapet, the towers all around.
Vessel opened in March 2019 as the centerpiece of Hudson Yards, built over the West Side rail yards. Thomas Heatherwick designed it: 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps and 80 landings in a copper colored steel frame 150 feet tall. It closed in 2021 after a series of deaths and reopened in 2024 with mesh barriers.
Source · Hudson Yards ↗
The widening honeycomb of landings and flights, the copper coloured cladding, the plaza and its glass towers, the river and the rail yards below. Mood: copper noon. Everything is procedural geometry with painted surfaces; nothing is a scan or a photograph. The room is an interpretation, and it hangs the New Yorkers the census recorded at this place first.