ARO Condominium (New York City, New York)

USA / New Jersey / West New York / New York City, New York / West 53rd Street, 242
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738-foot, 62-story structural-expressionist-style residential building completed in 2018. Designed by Cetra/Ruddy, it replaced the famed Roseland Ballroom, which was built in 1922 as Iceland, an ice-skating rink later known as the Gay Blades Ice Rink. The Roseland Ballroom originally opened in 1919, and moved to this location in 1956, maintaining its reputation for ballroom dancing — but also being used for ice-skating and operating as a roller rink. After a sale in 1981, it gradually became more of a concert venue, featuring acts ranging from Madonna to Nirvana. The ballroom closed on April 7, 2014, with Lady Gaga as the last performer. Demolition of the old building and construction of the new tower began in 2015.

The undulating facade is clad in white aluminum and dark blue-green glass. The glass-clad podium base on 53rd Street rises to three stories' height at the east end, with retail on the ground floor and amenities on the upper level, dropping down at a sharp angle to one tall story at the west, with a landscaped roof garden. The tower rises from the center of the podium, angled back at the west end, with an extension at the 4th floor at the east end, with another, smaller landscaped terrace. Two low wings of the base wrap around the August Wilson Theatre to the south and extend out to 52nd Street. The western wing contains a driveway ramp to the underground parking garage.

The defining feature of the tower itself is its web or lattice or filigree of window surrounds, cast in the same shade of stark white that was used at the base, but now forming a striking pattern that resembles brickwork. The tower itself is irregularly formed, its four sides conceived as concavities that cause the building to bulge at the rounded corners and slightly subside toward the center, becoming more pronounced near the top. The glass is recessed behind the metal structure, and the balconies at the corners have curved glass railings.

The building contains 426 condominium units.

roselandballroom.com/home.html
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Coordinates:   40°45'48"N   73°59'2"W
This article was last modified 1 year ago