Wikipedia

The New York Times Building

Location: New York,United States
Design firm: Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Typology: Other
Years: 2000–2007
Status: Complete

Facade facts

Facade summary: A highly transparent glass curtain wall screened by an exterior framework of over 186,000 off-white ceramic baguettes.
Documented intention: Renzo Piano intended the facade to represent 'transparency' as a physical manifestation of journalistic integrity. The physical design aims to shift in color and appearance based on the time of day and atmospheric conditions of the sky, turning golden at sunset and bluish on overcast days.
Street relationship: At the ground floor,the ceramic rods are omitted, allowing highly transparent floor-to-ceiling glazing to open views directly from the street into the building's lobby and inner open-air courtyard garden.
Climate relationship: The ceramic baguette screen blocks up to 50% of solar heat gain before it penetrates the building envelope, drastically reducing cooling loads while allowing the use of highly transparent,non-reflective glass.
Window pattern: Repetitive vertical modules stretching floor-to-ceiling across all office floors.
Glazing: Double glazed,low-iron,low-E coated glass units.
Depth: Pronounced physical depth created by the 1.5-to-2-foot cavity between the inner glass envelope and the outer ceramic rod layer.
Rhythm: Strong horizontal rhythm established by the parallel ceramic tubes, contrasted with the strong vertical expression of the steel corner columns and exposed framing.
Ceramic: Ceramic — Outer sunscreen screen layer — Smooth,matte glazed finish
Glass: Glass — Inner curtain wall — Ultra-clear,low-iron
Steel: Steel — Outriggers and structural brackets — Painted structural finish
Aluminum: Aluminum — Curtain wall framing mullions — Anodized or painted
Unitized Curtain Wall: Custom floor-to-floor unitized glazed aluminum frames pre-fabricated offsite and hung from the concrete slabs.
Suspended Ceramic Sunscreen: Horizontal ceramic tubes mounted on vertical aluminum and steel outrigger support structures attached to the primary curtain wall mullions.

Description

The facade is comprised of a primary floor-to-ceiling unitized glass curtain wall using ultra-clear low-iron glass. Offset 1.5 to 2 feet from this glass skin is an outer screen of horizontal, off-white ceramic tubes (baguettes) held by a delicate steel outrigger system. The spacing of the ceramic tubes changes relative to floor height and eye-line requirements—denser at floor slabs and spandrels, and more open at eye level to preserve external views. This system is integrated with an automated motorized internal shading system that responds dynamically to solar positioning.

Visual analysis

Visually, the ceramic rods soften the massive volume of the tower, making the facade appear delicate, screen-like, and semi-opaque from steep angles, yet highly transparent when viewed directly from the interior.