The Affirmation Tower could look like this someday!
The Affirmation Tower could look like this someday!

An Upside-Down Building?

Builders design an unusual skyscraper in New York City.

Skyscrapers come in all shapes and sizes. But most of the tallest buildings follow one simple rule: They have a larger base and get thinner toward the top. A design for a giant new building flips that plan. It has a small base and gets wider as it gets higher!

The name for this “upside-down” building is the Affirmation Tower. It would rise very high in New York City. In fact, it would be the second-tallest building in the Americas! Yet this is only an idea — for now. Officials have to approve it before construction can begin.

If it gets built, this tower would rise over a neighborhood of New York called Hudson Yards. There are already several skyscrapers there. Those include two super-tall buildings that stand more than 1,000 feet (305 m) high. Yet this proposed project would tower above them all. The Affirmation Tower would be 1,663 feet (507 m) tall!

This sky-high building would have hotels, offices, a theater, and even a skating rink. Visitors could stand on the observation deck. Yet this wouldn’t be just another tower in New York’s skyline. It would be the city’s first skyscraper built by the Black community.

The of the Affirmation Tower is David Adjaye. The development firm has a Black leader — Don Peebles — as well. The leaders of the projects agreed to hire many Black construction workers too. The Affirmation Tower would also include an office for the NAACP — a group for Black . In addition, a garden by the building would include tributes to famous Black New Yorkers.

This skyscraper may look impossible. But the very idea of the building is that anything is possible.

Updated January 5, 2022, 5:02 P.M (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)

An Upside-Down Building?

Builders design an unusual skyscraper in New York City.

The Affirmation Tower could look like this someday!
The Affirmation Tower could look like this someday!

Skyscrapers come in all shapes and sizes. But most of the tallest buildings follow one simple rule: They have a larger base and get thinner toward the top. A design for a giant new building flips that plan. It has a small base and gets wider as it gets higher!

The name for this “upside-down” building is the Affirmation Tower. It would rise very high in New York City. In fact, it would be the second-tallest building in the Americas! Yet this is only an idea — for now. Officials have to approve it before construction can begin.

If it gets built, this tower would rise over a neighborhood of New York called Hudson Yards. There are already several skyscrapers there. Those include two super-tall buildings that stand more than 1,000 feet (305 m) high. Yet this proposed project would tower above them all. The Affirmation Tower would be 1,663 feet (507 m) tall!

This sky-high building would have hotels, offices, a theater, and even a skating rink. Visitors could stand on the observation deck. Yet this wouldn’t be just another tower in New York’s skyline. It would be the city’s first skyscraper built by the Black community.

The of the Affirmation Tower is David Adjaye. The development firm has a Black leader — Don Peebles — as well. The leaders of the projects agreed to hire many Black construction workers too. The Affirmation Tower would also include an office for the NAACP — a group for Black . In addition, a garden by the building would include tributes to famous Black New Yorkers.

This skyscraper may look impossible. But the very idea of the building is that anything is possible.

Updated January 5, 2022, 5:02 P.M (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)

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