200 Park Avenue: Harnessing Urban Energies

What should a façade do? When Metals in Architecture asked six competing firms to redesign the facade of the MetLife Building, the challenge was two-fold: update an iconic but visually sluggish skyscraper—and do it without altering the original structure's frame or interiors. Our proposal imagines the façade as a sustainable powerhouse: a verdant, double-glass cladding that serves to mediate between public and private, interior and exterior, and urban and human scales. The green median running down Park Avenue is extended right up the face of the building, culminating in a glass-enclosed, public sky park. The unique cladding system, with a double-skin curtain wall optimizes heat retention, daylight harvesting and solar control to improve performance. A solar chimney conserves and redistributes energy along the tower's Northside. The new, self-sufficient exterior would reduce overall energy consumption by some 80%, a bold statement for a progressive city's future.