Building Competing Messages With Graphics

A debate is taking place here in New York over a proposed office tower across from Madison Square Garden. 15 Penn Plaza would bring 67 stories of Class A office space to the doorstep of Penn Station, the nation’s busiest rail hub, as well as much needed transit improvements to the subway stations around Penn. However, the owners of the Empire State Building say the new tower will obstruct views of one of New York’s best-known buildings.

The City Planning Commission has already approved the project, and in advance of a vote by the City Council this week – one of the last major approvals needed – 15 Penn Plaza’s developer and the Empire State Building’s owner have released renderings that alternately make the new tower look like a glowing new icon, or a massive behemoth:

You can see in the renderings above how each side envisions the future of the skyline. In Vornado’s (left), each tower is clearly visible in all its illuminated splendor. Co-existence, hooray! But in the Empire State Building’s (right), it’s like 15 Penn Plaza has obliviously and obnoxiously lumbered in front of the Empire State Building while you were taking a photo. “Um, excuse me, sir — sir? — you are right in our way.”