America's East Coast for its 250th anniversary

From New York’s new skyscrapers to the expanded New Museum and the redesigned The Boca Raton: For the anniversary of the USA, the East Coast is on the move with culture, design and hospitality.

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the USA, it is particularly worthwhile to take a look at the East Coast. Between New York and Florida, new landmarks, cultural addresses and hospitality concepts are emerging that continue to write American architecture and design history. Whether it’s 520 Fifth Avenue, the expanded New Museum, the new JP Morgan Tower on Park Avenue or The Boca Raton: In 2026, the East Coast will show how tradition, urban density and contemporary luxury are combined in a new way.

A vertical village that, by means of striking arches and terracotta, ties in with the classic New York 5th Avenue architecture and thus Art Deco traditions, and which, with a final height of 305 meters and 88 floors – surmounted only by the Empire State Building – is celebrated as the new exclamation mark of Midtown: All this makes the 520 Fifth Avenue skyscraper, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, the new supertall landmark of New York. Apart from luxury apartments and boutique office floors, public retail spaces and the Private Member Club Moss are also part of the concept.

520 Fifth Avenue
520 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036, United States
520fifth​.com

At the end of the 1970s, when the New Museum was founded, the area around Bowery Street on the Lower East Side did not enjoy a particularly good reputation. The idea at the time of building up a rolling collection that concentrated exclusively on the presentation of contemporary artists and that wandered through New York for a long time without a fixed location fits well with the former image of the now long-gentrified environment. While the Japanese SANAA architects marked an important stage in the history of the New Museum of Contemporary Art with the construction of the New Museum almost twenty years ago, the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas is ushering in a new era with the extension that has now been opened. The seven-storey extension, which expands the exhibition space to around 11,0000 square metres and houses galleries as well as artists’ studios, is considered one of the most important US museum projects of the decade. It is also part of Rem Koolhaas’ engagement with New York: the Dutchman once succeeded with the concept of ​“hyperdensity”, which combines checkerboard-like urban grids à la New York and architectural diversity. The title of the ongoing opening exhibition, which extends over three floors: ​“New Humans: Memories of the Future.”

New Museum of Contemporary Art
235 Bowery, New York
newmuseum​.org

Sustainable materials, translucent optics, interactive workshops, a colour code system and curated exhibition spaces. These are essential elements of a completely redesigned retail space in the heart of SoHo N.Y. Or to put it another way: 113 Spring replaces pure consumption with an invitation to communication and focuses specifically on education. Instead of conventional sales advice, a specialized Advisory team provides support. Private rooms complement the shopping experience of tomorrow. You can still take good things with you – the focus is on product ranges from emerging brands and innovative studios – such as algorithm-based fragrance advice.

113 Spring
113 Spring Str., N.Y.
113spring​.com

Blue collar plus Boeing snout. People in the middle of gears. Such special insights are provided by an exciting photo exhibition at New York’s Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, a top address for US product culture. The large-format photos by Christopher Payne, who specialises in industrial photography, sharpen the view of iconic US design through the camera lens. Until 27.9.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
2 E 91st St., New York
cooperhewitt​.org

Giving a piece of urban space back to the average New Yorker: this noble gesture characterises the construction of the 270 Park Avenue NYC skyscraper realised by Foster & Partner, which creates wider pavements and a spacious outdoor plaza on the ground floor by means of walls that have fallen diagonally inwards. Perhaps the most modern and sustainable skyscraper in the Big Apple, now the JP Morgan Chase headquarters, serves as a community hub, but also for other reasons: A state-of-the-art wellness center and a curated art program in the lobby equipped with a monumental staircase – the latter includes works by Maya Lin, Leo Villareal, Gerhard Richter, Refik Anadol and Norman Foster – contribute to this. In the western part, a green public plaza invites you to linger. An underground connection to Grand Central Terminal has also been created.

270 Park Avenue NYC
270 Park Avenue NYC
270parkave​.com

While star architect Renzo Piano is pushing ahead with the planning of the Boca Raton Creative Campus, a neighboring holiday hotel icon is celebrating various stages of a comprehensive redesign. We are talking about The Boca Raton, a landmark of Floridian holiday architecture, founded in 1926 in southern Florida, more precisely on the Intracoastal Waterway than the Ritz-Carlton Inn. The careful restoration by the Rockwell Group focuses on the American Mediterranean Revival style of the original architecture, and creates new fine dining options – such as The Flaming Grill with spectacular tile motifs or the exclusive Principessa Ristorante. The striking Cloister Towers, the Beach Club and the Yacht Club were also restored.

The Boca Raton
501 E Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida
thebocaraton​.com

No U.S. news without a bar opening: The exciting new Midtown watering place of the Clemente Bar on Madison Avenue, New York, stands out. As part of a collaboration between celebrity chef Daniel Humm and artist Francesco Clemente, an interior was created here that functions like a walk-in canvas. Hand-painted frescoes and a massive sculptural bar made of dark wood contribute significantly to this. 

Clemente Bar
11 Madison Avenue, New York
clementebar​.com

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