Jacob K. Javits Convention Center (New York City, New York)

 convention center, interesting place, 1986_construction, Modern (architecture)

4-story postmodern convention center completed in 1986. Designed by James Ingo Freed of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, and named for New York Senator Jacob K. Javits, who died that year, the space frame structure was constructed from 1980 to 1986. The original building covers five full blocks, between 34th & 39th Street, Eleventh Avenue and the Hudson River. The exhibit space is over 840,000 square feet, with a total area of 1.8 million square feet. This includes upper and lower exhibition halls, special events hall and meeting rooms, restaurant, concourse, galleria, river pavilion, a public plaza, and a pedestrian link under Eleventh Avenue. The general massing of the building takes the form of large, stacked cubes with beveled edges around the main entrance on Eleventh Avenue, which projects out near the south end, between 35th & 36th Streets.

The center was renovated and expanded in 2010, with a more transparent glass curtain wall, less opaque skylight systems, and light-grey paint on the space frame. The newer glass panels are 5 by 10 feet, twice as wide as the original 5 by 5-foot panes, and allowing a clearer view of the metal frame inside. The roof of the new expansion was also made "green" by the presence of a garden in the new wing's roof. The renovation was completed in November 2013. Along much of the south facade on 34th Street, silver metal panels replace the glass panes. Along the West Side Highway, the center is largely shielded behind a pre-cast concrete wall, with a variety of service entrances.

Site of the annual International Auto show.

www.javitscenter.com