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.
