Opened in 1933, the observation deck at Rockefeller Center was designed to evoke the elegant promenades found on the period's luxury transatlantic liners—only with views of the city's skyline instead of the ocean. In 1986 this cultural landmark was closed to the public and sat unused for almost two decades. Last November, the observation deck was reopened following a $75 million renovation that restored the Art Deco masterpiece to perfection.
 |
| PHOTO: BOB ZUCKER |
Key to the deck's renovation was the creation of a full Top of the Rock “experience.” Visitors begin their tour in the building's new three-story atrium lobby, where sweeping glass stairs circle around a giant Swarovski chandelier with 14,000 crystals. Rockefeller Center's elevator room was moved and extended by the Building Team to make room for a set of new elevator cars dedicated to whisking guests to the now-combined 67th, 69th, and 70th floors.
 |
| Closed for nearly two decades, the observation deck at Rockefeller Center has been restored to its original 1933 Art Deco appearance. New features include a nine-foot-tall, basesupported safety wall fitted with nonreflective glass panels to ensure unobstructed views of Central Park and the skyline. PHOTO: BOB ZUCKER |
At the top, visitors can wander through a series of rooms and terraces leading upward to the Grand Viewing Deck, encountering exhibits and a theater focused on the history of Rockefeller Center along the way. An interactive display gives visitors the illusion of walking a structural steel beam suspended 67 stories above the street.
Out on the decks and terraces, the Building Team restored the shot-sewn limestone and cast aluminum fleur-de-lis panels. They installed new nine-foot-tall, base-supported, nonreflective peri-glass safety barriers that withstand 100-mph winds. A coil snow melt system was also added to keep the deck from becoming slushy or dangerously icy. The result: 360-degree views of the Big Apple, in a setting worthy of the name Top of the Rock.
Related Stories
| May 23, 2014
Top interior design trends: Gensler, HOK, FXFOWLE, Mancini Duffy weigh in
Tech-friendly furniture, “live walls,” sit-stand desks, and circadian lighting are among the emerging trends identified by leading interior designers.
| May 22, 2014
No time for a trip to Dubai? Team BlackSheep's drone flyover gives a bird's eye view [video]
Team BlackSheep—devotees of filmmaking with drones—has posted a fun video that takes viewers high over the city for spectacular vistas of a modern architectural showcase.
| May 22, 2014
IKEA to convert original store into company museum
Due to open next year, the museum is expected to attract 200,000 people annually to rural Älmhult, Sweden, home of the first ever IKEA store.
| May 21, 2014
Gehry unveils plan for renovation, expansion of Philadelphia Museum of Art [slideshow]
Gehry's final design reorganizes and expands the building, adding more than 169,000 sf of space, much of it below the iconic structure.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
| May 19, 2014
Calatrava wins court case concerning 'Calatrava bleeds you dry' website
A judge has ordered the left-wing political party Esquerra Unida to pay €30,000 to Santiago Calatrava because of "insulting and degrading" website.
| May 15, 2014
First look: 9/11 Memorial Museum opens to first-responders, survivors, 9/11 families [slideshow]
The 110,000-sf museum is filled with monumental artifacts from the tragedy and exhibits that honor the lives of every victim of the 2001 and 1993 attacks.
| May 13, 2014
Steven Holl's sculptural Institute for Contemporary Art set to break ground at VCU
The facility will have two entrances—one facing the city of Richmond, Va., the other toward VCU's campus—to serve as a connection between "town and gown."
| May 13, 2014
19 industry groups team to promote resilient planning and building materials
The industry associations, with more than 700,000 members generating almost $1 trillion in GDP, have issued a joint statement on resilience, pushing design and building solutions for disaster mitigation.
