THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW JPMORGAN BUILDING ON PARK AVENUE, NEW YORK

In December 2021 I visited New York and was struck by the beginning of the structure of the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters on Park Avenue, a project by Foster + Partners with the structural collaboration of Severud Associates Consulting Engineers P.C., also responsible for the nearby One Vanderbilt tower. The images taken at that time captured an exceptional moment: a base of inclined steel columns rising from a dozen precise points, acting as major transfer supports for the skeleton of a 423-meter-tall skyscraper, destined to become one of the tallest in the city. That structural gesture, seemingly risky, clearly revealed the intent to free the ground floor and create continuity with Park Avenue and the surrounding streets, while at the same time transforming the building’s base into a formal element of strong expressive power.

That early stage already suggested the technical complexity of the project. The site is narrow, the subsoil is densely pierced by the Grand Central rail tunnels, and the structural remnants of the former Union Carbide Building severely constrained the foundation system. Hence the singular solution: inclined columns transferring loads through a dozen points into a system of large-diameter piles, cutting through the earlier structural remains and enabling an orderly transfer of both vertical and lateral forces. The result in 2021 was that of a monumental, almost sculptural structure working in oblique compression, turning engineering itself into an image.

This week, almost four years later, I returned to New York and saw the building now inaugurated, though with the north façade still under completion. The contrast with those initial photographs is absolute. Where once there was exposed steel and open-air welding, now rises a slender, unified volume, divided into nine vertical segments that break down the scale, clad in a highly efficient glass façade capable of reflecting the sky while reducing thermal loads. Despite the new skin, the structure has not disappeared: the inclined columns remain visible at the base and have been integrated into the architectural language. What was originally a complex transfer system is today perceived as an urban strategy, enabling transparency in the lobby and unprecedented permeability between the corporate interior and the life of Park Avenue.

The most relevant aspect from a technical perspective is the way this transfer system has enabled completely column-free office floors, with a regular orthogonal grid designed for maximum flexibility. Large hidden steel transfer trusses in the lower levels have absorbed the structural complexity and released the upper floors, while the use of recycled steel and industrialized erection processes have reduced dead loads and optimized the building’s overall performance. This operation, essentially structural in nature, has had decisive consequences in terms of sustainability, functionality, and durability, showing how structural design and engineering are capable of transforming constraints into opportunities.

To compare the initial moment in 2021 with the completed building in 2025 is to realize how structural sincerity can become architectural expression. What once looked like a provisional assembly of uncertain supports now defines the character of the tower and grants it a distinct identity in the Manhattan skyline. The bold gesture of tilting columns to unload a constrained base has ceased to be an isolated technical resource and has become part of the contemporary architectural vocabulary of skyscrapers. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that with the new JPMorgan on Park Avenue a new chapter has opened in the design and engineering of office towers, for here structure and architecture are not parallel disciplines, but a single voice capable of expressing the historical moment in which it has been built.