Soon, in addition to Hare Krishnas, a farmer’s market, and a dog park, Union Square will be home to a beautiful diagrid dome. Sitting atop what was once Tammany Hall, former home of the city’s Democratic political machine, the dome will provide light, views, and new dignity to the seemingly forgotten 44 Union Square. The dome will also serve as a connection to Tammany’s — and the city’s — greater history by alluding to Lenape Chief Tamanend, whose culture placed great value upon turtles.
With an estimated date of completion in mid-2019, 44 Union Square will provide six floors of either retail or office space. It’ll be a hard-earned victory considering the challenge of working with a landmarked building, a distinction Tammany Hall earned in 2013 from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In order to complete the project, BKSK Architects, who handled the design, took painstaking measures to protect the exterior while conjuring up a modest yet attractive addition to cap the building.
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The interior sixth-floor space under the new dome
As reported by the Commercial Observer, the approach BKSK took, along with the construction company CNY Group, was to buttress the facade using temporary towers. This made it possible to demolish 44 Union's steel structure and then replace it with a concrete building. That part of the project was completed in July of 2018.
The dome, currently under construction, will be a framework of diagonally intersecting glass and steel. It was manufactured by Gartner, a German-based facade construction firm. The visual effect for those working on the crowning sixth floor will be astounding. The dome's skylight roof provides tenants both shelter and awareness of the outdoors. With rain, snow, sunlight, and moonlight serving as a natural inspiration to tenants, the space may serve as an ever-present reminder that while our indebtedness to our environment isn’t as apparent as it was to the Lenape, that the Earth remains deserving of our veneration.
Construction photos of 44 Union Square via https://www.instagram.com/44unionsquare/
44 Union Square in late November take from the somewhat nonsensical bike lane along Union Square North (Ondel/CityRealty)
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Contributing Writer
Ben Kharakh
Ben Kharakh is a writer and comedian living in the New York City metropolitan area. His work has appeared in Vice, Fortune, and The Best of McSweeneys: Humor Edition by Vintage Press.
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