Ghanaian-British architecture studio Adjaye Associates has designed a skyscraper in New York. Named Affirmation Tower, the skyscraper was designed in response to New York City’s call for tenders for a vacant 4,900 m2 space in Manhattan. This 500-meter-high skyscraper develops in an inverted pyramid, so that the upper levels are much larger than the lower levels. This would give it an inverted appearance.

The building would include two hotels and office space, as well as an ice skating rink and an observation deck. It will also be the headquarters of the NAACP, an association that fights against the segregation of colored people. If built, the project would be the second tallest building in Manhattan after One World Trade Center.

According to the studio founder David Adjaye, it would be the first skyscraper built by a team of Black architects, developers, and lenders in New York City’s history. Through this project, he wants to improve the inclusion of the African American community and all minorities in the great American city.

“Unfortunately for most of New York’s history, African-Americans and people of color have been rendered as mere economic tourists who gaze upward at one of the greatest skylines in the world with the intrinsic knowledge they will never be able to participate in what really makes New York unique,” said Rev Dr Charles Curtis, Head of NY Interfaith Commission For Housing Equality. “The awarding of this project to this team will send a statement across the globe that architects, developers, engineers and financial professionals of color are now full participants in this great miracle of global capitalism called New York City.”

The supertall would be the second New York tower designed by Adjaye Associates following 130 William, a residential skyscraper designed in 2000.

The building would be the latest in a series of super tall skyscrapers built in New York with buildings over 300 metres designed by BIG, Forster + Partners and ShoP currently under development in the city.

Photo credit: Peebles Corporation

Architects: Adjaye Associates