Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, The Vessel will be the public centerpiece at Hudson Yards

Artist: Thomas Heatherwick 

 Location: Hudson Yards, Manhattan 

Cost: $150 million 

Opens to the public: March 15th 2019

Not yet open to the public and “The Vessel” is already making a bold statement in the middle of the buzzy never-ending construction site of the West Side in Manhattan.

Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group are bringing together a mix of talented visionaries to create Hudson Yards, an urban development project that is aiming to become the new heart of Manhattan.

Amongst these visionaries there is, Thomas Heatherwick who was invited to create the centerpiece of the public space which will be the place of gathering of the new neighborhood.

 [Hudson Yards is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States] 

The Masterpiece: The Vessel

The intension was to create an interactive new landmark for New York. Where visitors can have a unique experience using their physicality. The inspiration came from the ancient step wells in India. It will be ADA Compliant and there will be elevators for everyone to enjoy.

154 interconnected flights of stairs, almost 2500 individual steps. The Vessel will lift the public , literally and figuratively.

Besides being aesthetically beautiful, well thought contributions to the community are what make a neighborhood come together. The Vessel will bring a public experiential space to the West side. Where people can gather, exercise, rest, play, eat and enjoy multiple views .

“It’s like a platform for life, a playground for humans” - Thomas Heatherwick

John Kelly, VP Structural Project Management explained how the  individual units for the Vessel were engineered in Monfalcone, Italy by Cimolai [steel experts] and then transported by boat to New York in six separate shipments spending fifteen days at sea.

All of this to be meticulously assembled piece by piece with the help of cranes on site.

Definitely, it wasn’t an easy task, but John explained the logistics of the task, very calm and satisfied.

The first section of The Vessel was installed April 18th 2017 and the last, December 6th 2017. The process took around 8 months.

These developers are really going beyond the imaginable.

More pictures of the Model

A close up