Vessel (structure)

Vessel is a structure and visitor attraction built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built to plans by the British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the elaborate honeycomb-like structure rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings for visitors to climb. Vessel is the main feature of the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Funded by Hudson Yards developer Related Companies, its final cost is estimated to have been $200 million.

The concept of Vessel was unveiled to the public on September 14, 2016. Construction began in April 2017, with the pieces being manufactured in Italy and shipped to the United States. Vessel topped out in December 2017 with the installation of its highest piece, and it opened to the public on March 15, 2019. Upon its opening, Vessel received mixed reviews, with some critics praising its prominent placement within Hudson Yards, and others deriding the structure as extravagant. Vessel was also initially criticized for its restrictive copyright policy regarding photographs of the structure, as well as its lack of accessibility for disabled visitors, although both issues were subsequently addressed.

In January 2021, following three suicides at the Vessel, it was closed to the public indefinitely. The Vessel reopened in May 2021, then indefinitely closed again after another suicide two months later. As of April 2024, it was expected to reopen later that year, following a three-year closure.

Description

Structure

Vessel is a 16-story, 150-foot-tall (46 m) structure of connected staircases among the buildings of Hudson Yards, located in the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, Vessel has 154 flights, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings, with the total length of the stairs exceeding 1 mile (1.6 km). The copper-clad steps, arranged like a jungle gym and modeled after Indian stepwells, can hold 1,000 people at a time. The structure also has ramps and an elevator to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), though only three of Vessel's landings are ADA-accessible as of 2019.

Vessel is 50 feet (15 m) wide at its base, expanding to 150 feet (46 m) at the apex. Stephen Ross, the CEO of Hudson Yards' developer Related Companies, said that its unusual shape was intended to make the structure stand out like a "12-month Christmas tree". Heatherwick said that he intends visitors to climb and explore the structure as if it were a jungle gym. At the top of the structure, visitors can see the Hudson River.

Surroundings

Vessel is located in and was designed in concert with the Hudson Yards Public Square, designed by Thomas Woltz of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The 5-acre (2 ha) space hosts 28,000 plants and 225 trees in total. A canopy of trees is located in the southern area of the plaza. The southeast entrance to the plaza also includes a fountain. A "seasonally expressive" garden stands across from Vessel outside the entrance to the New York City Subway's 34th Street–Hudson Yards station. The plaza is also connected to the High Line, an elevated promenade that extends south of Hudson Yards.

Cost and assembly

Although Vessel had originally been slated to cost $75 million, the projections were later revised to between $150 and $200 million. Heatherwick attributed the greatly increased price tag to the complexity of building the steel pieces. The pieces of Vessel were assembled in the comune of Monfalcone in Italy. Ships transported the sections of the sculpture to Hudson River docks.

Name

"Vessel" was planned to be the structure's temporary name during construction, with a permanent name to be determined later. After Vessel opened, Hudson Yards asked the public to give it a formal name, creating a website devoted to that effect.

History

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Ross said that he "wanted to commission something transformational, monumental", which led to the concept for Vessel. Ross was looking to five unnamed artists who were renowned for designing similar plazas, then asked them for in-depth proposals. He rejected all of the plans, at which point a colleague introduced Ross to Heatherwick. Six weeks after they talked, Ross accepted Heatherwick's proposal immediately because it "had everything I wanted". In an interview with designboom, Heatherwick said that his design for Vessel originated from a childhood experience when he "fell in love with an old discarded flight of wooden stairs outside a local building site". The media first reported Heatherwick's commissioning in October 2013.

The concept of Vessel was unveiled to the public on September 14, 2016, in an event attended by hundreds of people including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Hosted by Anderson Cooper, the event featured a performance from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater that evoked the interlocking design of Vessel's staircases.

In April 2017, the first major piece of the sculpture was installed at Hudson Yards. Construction started on April 18 with the installation of the first 10 pieces of the 75-piece structure. It was projected for completion in the spring of 2019, with the other 65 pieces arriving in five batches. The structure topped out in December 2017. In October 2018, it was announced that the opening of Vessel had been scheduled for March 15, 2019, and that tickets to enter the structure would become available in February. By January 2019, Hudson Yards officials were soliciting public suggestions for a rename of Vessel. Though the structure had no official name, the Hudson Yards website called it the "Hudson Yards Staircase". Vessel opened as scheduled on March 15, 2019.

Hudson Yards initially claimed to own any photo taken of Vessel. This drew criticism, not least because the developers had been given $4.5 billion of public money, and Hudson Yards quickly stopped claiming to own others' photos of Vessel.

Suicides

On February 1, 2020, a 19-year-old man jumped from the sixth floor of the structure and died, apparently the first such incident involving the Vessel. On December 22, 2020, a 24-year-old woman jumped from the top of the structure and also died. Less than a month later, on January 11, 2021, a 21-year-old man jumped from the Vessel. Following this third death, the structure was indefinitely closed while the Related Companies consulted with experts on a strategy to prevent suicides. Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods hired a suicide prevention expert, who suggested adding netting or raising the glass barriers. However, no changes were ultimately made to the barriers.

Vessel was reopened at the end of May 2021, but all visitors were required to be accompanied by at least one other person. In addition, after the first hour of each day, all visitors older than five years old had to pay $10 for a ticket. Revenue from ticket sales was to fund safety upgrades. Two months later, on July 29, 2021, a 14-year-old boy jumped to his death while he was with his family. After this fourth death, Vessel was again closed indefinitely. Stephen Ross said he was considering closing the structure permanently. By August 2022, Hudson Yards officials were testing safety nets around Vessel in preparation for the structure's possible reopening. After full-height steel mesh nets were installed on each level, news media reported in early 2024 that Vessel would reopen later that year, though the top level would remain closed.

Critical reception

The sculpture has received both acclaim and criticism. Fortune writer Shawn Tully called Vessel "Manhattan's answer to the Eiffel Tower", a sentiment echoed by CNN reporter Tiffany Ap. Elle Decor writer Kelsey Kloss compared Vessel to an M. C. Escher drawing. Several commentators have referred to the structure as the Giant Shawarma. Speaking about the structure's design process, Heatherwick said, "We had to think of what could act as the role of a landmarker. Something that could help give character and particularity to the space."

Ted Loos of The New York Times said the sculpture, while a "stairway to nowhere" in the utilitarian sense, served as an "exclamation point" to the northern terminus of the High Line. David Colon of Gothamist called Vessel "a bold addition to the city's landscape". Public Art Fund president Susan Freedman liked the renderings for Vessel but called it "a leap of faith in terms of scale". She said there might be too much demand for Vessel, especially considering the structure's proximity to the High Line.

Other critics panned Vessel. New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman called Vessel's exterior "gaudy" and criticized Hudson Yards more generally as a "gated community" that lacked real public space. CityLab's Feargus O'Sullivan called Vessel, along with Heatherwick's other numerous billionaire-funded developments and architectural projects, "a gaudy monument to being only ever-so-slightly free." Some called it a "piece of junk" and an "eyesore", and contrasted it negatively to Cloud Gate, also known as the Bean, in Millennium Park, Chicago. Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune called it "willful and contrived".

Vessel was initially largely inaccessible for wheelchair users. It consisted mainly of stairs, with only a single elevator to connect one of the sets of landings, and drew protests from disability-rights groups outside the structure. To protest the inaccessibility of the structure, the artist Shannon Finnegan set up a lounge that could only be accessed by signing an agreement to not travel above the structure's ground level. The United States Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that because of the number of separate landings within Vessel, most of the structure was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, except for the portions directly outside the elevator. Furthermore, elevator stops on the fifth and seventh stories were sometimes skipped due to overcrowding concerns. In December 2019, Related Companies and Vessel operator ERY Vessel LLC reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to increase accessibility to the structure by adding wheelchair lifts and retaining elevator access to all levels.