Status: October 21, 2021 6:04 p.m.
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With the new “Summit” viewing platform, New York has another attraction. At a height of 300 meters, a world of glass, mirrors and light stretches out in which reality and fiction are blurred.
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With meaningful words, New York Mayor De Blasio opened the tallest office building in Midtown Manhattan in September last year in the middle of the corona pandemic: “One Vanderbilt”: “It’s not about how often you fall, but how often you get up again . And this is a great symbol: New York City is rising again, “said De Blasio.
But today – a good year later – large parts of the brand new 427 meter high skyscraper are still empty. Midtown has been hit hard by the aftermath of the pandemic and two-thirds of the office space is still orphaned.
Glass, mirrors and light on four floors. The operators call it an “immersive experience”.
Image: REUTERS
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Immerse yourself in a fictional world
But that should end now – at least on a few floors. Because with the opening of “Summit” there is a new attraction at a height of 300 meters: A new viewing platform with an interactive art installation called AIR, created by artist Kenzo Digital.
“The AIR concept should be a living space, like a living organism. Just like the entire city of New York. AIR is something like an organ of this urban body,” said the artist.
Glass, mirrors and light on four floors. The operators call it an “immersive experience”. A word creation of the 20th century, which should mean that you can immerse yourself in a virtual or fictional world.
Visitors can admire the Art Deco details of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in the immediate vicinity.
Image: REUTERS
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“What is reality and what is not?”
“AIR connects visitors with New York, but above all with other people,” says Künstler Digital. “When you walk in here, everyone asks the same question right from the start: what is reality and what is not reality.”
In addition, from floors 91 to 93, visitors can admire the Art Deco details of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in the immediate vicinity. In good weather, the view extends from Coney Island to the Bronx Zoo.
Tickets cost a whopping $ 39 to $ 73. Another ten dollars more at sunset.
Image: AFP
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Summit should bring in money again
“It’s something like the Watchtower of New York. You have this godlike view over the city. You can see storms coming in from far outside – and how people react to them,” said Digital. It’s about reconnecting New Yorkers with nature and the city. And that is only possible in this building.
But otherwise it is still pretty empty. Now “Summit” is supposed to bring in money. Tickets cost a whopping $ 39 to $ 73. Another ten dollars more at sunset.
With the glass elevator to heaven: opening of Summit One Vanderbilt
Peter Mücke, ARD New York, October 21, 2021 5:02 p.m.
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