The Pencil Towers: Reading the Supertall
Five of the slimmest buildings on earth stand on one Manhattan street. The most extreme is taller than it is wide by a factor of twenty-four. By the end of this walk, you'll know how they did it.
Start
Hearst Tower: The Engineering Revealed
Hearst Tower: The Engineering Revealed
300 West 57th Street, 2006. Norman Foster on top of a 1928 base. The diagrid bared, the structural trick the next four buildings will hide.
220 Central Park South: The Limestone Disguise
220 Central Park South, 2018. Robert AM Stern. The classical-looking pencil. Same engineering as the towers next to it, hidden behind limestone.
Central Park Tower: The Cantilever
217 West 57th Street, 2020. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill. The tallest residential building in the world, leaning out over a neighbour to claim its air.
One57: The First of the Breed
157 West 57th Street, 2014. Christian de Portzamparc. The original supertall residential pencil. The shape that started the row.
Steinway Tower: The World Record
111 West 57th Street, 2022. SHoP Architects on top of the 1925 Steinway Hall. The slimmest skyscraper on earth, growing out of a hundred years of piano-makers.
Looking Back Along the Row: What You Can Now See
A vantage on West 57th Street near Sixth Avenue, looking west. The literacy granted. The listener leaves able to read every supertall pencil in the world.
Best Time to Visit
Afternoon, when the sun is low enough to side-light the bronze and terra-cotta of Steinway Tower and the limestone of 220 CPS. Avoid midday on a cloudless summer day — the white concrete of Central Park Tower flattens out in overhead light. Winter afternoons give the strongest reveal of the row's silhouettes against the sky.
Pro Tips
- •Wear comfortable walking shoes. The route is approximately 0.9 km along West 57th Street between 8th Avenue and 6th Avenue, with one short half-block detour to Central Park South.
- •Stops 2 and 3 (220 CPS and Central Park Tower) are a comparison pair visible from one vantage at the corner of 7th Avenue and West 58th Street. The sightline is the load-bearing geographic claim of the middle of the tour.
- •Hearst Tower's diagrid is most legible from the south side of West 57th Street, looking north across the street. The diagonals show against the sky most clearly in afternoon light.
- •Steinway Hall (the 1925 base of Stop 5) is open to the public on weekdays — the rotunda is genuinely worth a look if you have time after the walk ends. The tour route does not enter the building.
- •Pause between stops. Five terms compound. Each stop sharpens what the previous one taught.
Safety & Precautions
- West 57th Street between 6th and 8th is a busy commercial corridor. Stop near building entrances rather than mid-sidewalk when you stand to listen.
- The Central Park Tower cantilever is visible from the north side of West 57th Street. To see it clearly, you'll need to step back into the street; pick a quiet moment to cross.
- Many of these buildings have private security at their lobbies. Photography from the public sidewalk is unrestricted; the tour does not enter any building.
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