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The 17 new skyscrapers now transforming the city's skyline in midtown west might not represent the biggest growth spurt in Manhattan's history. But, in architectural terms, it is by far the most eclectic.
Some of the new buildings will have the sheer glass curtain walls of Modern architecture. Others will have classical shapes and forms similar to those found on skyscrapers built during the early 20th century. Still others are combining historical and modern techniques.
All of this represents a dramatic departure from the building booms of the 1950s and 1960s, when one aesthetic prevailed. Freed from the strict discipline imposed in the past, today's architectures are exploring a wide range of new forms.
"There are no set styles," says David Childs, design partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. "There are many responses to issues and sites."
This individualistic current, like previous trends in the profession, is driven as much by economics as aesthetics. Corporate tenants in recent years have been increasingly drawn to critically acclaimed and distinctive buildings. Developers who have spent more on design and construction have seen payoffs in higher rents and lower vacancy rates.
But it is unclear whether that equation will work in today's soft office market. With the New York economy shaky and millions of square feet becoming available at once, most tenants are again searching for bargains.
Still, some West Side developers are spending as much as $45 a square foot on facade surface area, almost double the cost of the cheapest design. Now they face the risk of charging rents that are too far above the market rate.
Architects and critics also have mixed feelings about the aesthetic impact of the new age of permissiveness. Most agree that contemporary designs are a great improvement over the more standardized architecture of the 1950s through early 1970s. That period produced the glass boxes along Park and Third avenues and the set-back towers along Sixth Avenue.
Many architects also predict that the current era will lead to a more interesting and livable urban landscape. "The good people are not groping," says Mr. Childs, the designer of two of the new projects: the worldwide Plaza tower on Eighth Avenue, and 1540 Broadway, in the heart of Times Square. "We're enjoying...