Page 82 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATED DESIGN: THE NEW YORK TIMES BUILDING 59

Figure 3.6 Designed by Renzo Piano and FXFOWLE Architects, the
New York Times building in Manhattan incorporates many energy effi-
cient, sustainable, and high-performance features including an incredibly
artistic external shading system. Working with the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, The New York Times Company created a state-of-the-
art dimmable lighting and shading system designed to reduce energy
use by 30 percent. Forty percent of the power required for The Times
space is generated by an onsite cogeneration plant.* Image courtesy of
FXFOWLE Architects, photography by David Sundberg/Esto.

What was conceived in the original competition was basically a tower on a base, but it
ultimately evolved into a ground-based tower with an attached four-story structure, as
you can see in the built condition. The primary element that was retained from Renzo’s
original vision was the notion of having a very light, transparent building, and some-
thing, as he says, that would vibrate as it refracts light from the sky. On the outside are
tubular ceramic screens, which are suspended outward from the basic glass box, adding

*Forest City Ratner Companies (November 19, 2007). “The New York Times Company Enters the 21st Century
with a New Technologically Advanced and Environmentally Sensitive Headquarters.” Press release. Retrieved on
May 28, 2008. http://www.newyorktimesbuilding.com/.