 Hearst Tower revives a dream from the 1920s, when William Randolph Hearst envisioned Columbus Circle as a vibrant media and entertainment quarter. Hearst commissioned a skyscraper on 8th Ave., but construction ended because of the Depression. The current Hearst Tower's distinctive faceted silhouette rises dramatically above the already-completed 1928 base of Joseph Urban's planned building, with a vast internal plaza occupying the entire shell of the historic base. Designed to consume significantly less energy than a conventional office building, the new 42-story tower provides almost one million square feet of office space. It rises above the old building, linked on the outside by a transparent skirt of glazing that floods the spaces below with natural light. 

Hearst Tower

Brandon Haw, from Foster and Partners, discusses the construction of the Hearst Tower.

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners.

Norman Robert Foster

SITES