Heatherwick's 'Vessel' Unveiled

Heatherwick's huge piece of public art will sit between six towers as part of the first phase of the Hudson Yards project, which spans railroads tracks on Manhattan's West Side and sits just steps from the High Line elevated park. Vessel is just one element in the development's Public Square & Gardens, which are being designed by landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz.

In comparison, the landscape design, with its curved planting beds, is a gentle foil to Heatherwick's showstopper, which the designer describes as "a geometric puzzle that resolves itself into a lattice of 80 platforms, 154 flights, and almost 2,500 steps." Inspired by his innate interest in stairs, as well as in researching Indian stepwells, Heatherwick and his eponymous studio devised a series of steps that radiate outward as they rise to "lift up people in the square to be more visible and to allow new views and perspectives of each other." 

Although Vessel is a striking object with the bonus of being interactive, it is important to point out that the five acres of public spaces that lie at the heart of the development are elevated just a few feet above the neighboring High Line. When the Hudson Public Square & Gardens and the Hudson Park & Boulevard to the north are completed next decade, a network of public spaces that includes the High Line will extend about thirty blocks, from the Meatpacking District to Times Square.