New York contemporary gargoyles

Mark Forster Gage Architects’ proposal for 41 West 57th Street New York City – All photos: courtesy of MFGA.

New York. Contemporary gargoyles, cantilevered balconies with carved wings and gothic designs extending outward. Mark Foster Gage proposed a highly decorative bespoke residential tower in response to “other skyscrapers that are virtually free of architectural design”.

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The 102 floors skyscraper might recall Gotham City architecture but, on the opposite, stands out for its ambitious attitude and its provocative message. “I think that many of the super-tall buildings being built in New York City are are just tall boxes covered in a selected glass curtain wall products” says Mark Foster Gage to ArchiPanic.

Mark Foster Gage Architects was commissioned by a developer to design a new, 21st century, super-tall luxury building project. “We wanted to design something that adds to a city rather than merely occupies a place within it”.

According to the studio, the building adds luxury value to the individual units, but could also offer the city something beautiful and significant. “The project stands out from different distances and each floor is more than just space in they sky but it is designed to be unique to the owner”.

Bronze and brass decorations extend from the tower and define a panoramic platform on the top of the building. Even though, the studio primary interest “wasn’t symbolism as might have been the case with such sculptural forms a century ago”.

Despite the complex design, Mark Foster Gage Architects reassure that the structure is absolutely feasible thanks to robotic CNC technologies. “Robotic stone-carving systems that are going to revolutionise how we think of forms in architecture. This technology is gaining access to a level of detail that we have not had access to for centuries. The world is about to get a lot more beautiful– and my office has decided it want’s to be leading part of this revolution”.