Heatherwick Studio’s “The Vessel” Opens at Hudson Yards

New York City, USA

At long last, British architect Thomas Heatherwick’s massive, Escher-like structure has opened in Hudson Yard. Visitors wanting to climb this impressive staircase can get timed free tickets here following a short wait.

The Vessel, as it’s temporarily called, opens with the rest of the first phase of Hudson Yards and includes the plaza, gardens, shopping and entertainment.

From Heatherwick Studio:

At the epicenter of the square sits a structure temporarily known as Vessel, a new kind of public landmark: social, engaging and interactive, meant to be entered and explored. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio, Vessel is comprised of 154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs—2,500 individual steps—and 80 landings.

The dramatic design of Vessel creates a kind of stage set for New Yorkers and visitors from around the world. Standing 150 feet in the air, Vessel was fabricated in Monfalcone, Italy and arrived on Manhattan’s West Side after 15 days at sea, a brief stay at Port Newark and a five-hour barge trip across the Hudson River. Vessel was constructed from a steel frame that was covered by a copper-colored steel cladding.

It was designed to lift the public up and offer a mile’s worth of pathways and a nearly infinite number of ways for visitors to engage with and experience New York, Hudson Yards and each other.