Manhattan, NY The Skyscraper Museum’s 2023 “Making New York History” Award, which recognizes remarkable individuals and buildings that shape New York City’s skyline, went to L&L Holding Company’s CEO and chairman David Levinson. The venue was 425 Park Ave., the tower his company developed. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster, the skyscraper, which opened in 2022, is the first new full-block office building in the Plaza District in 50 years.
More than 150 guests gathered to honor Levinson on Wednesday in the Foster + Partners-designed tower’s Diagrid Club, a cathedral-like venue on the 26th floor defined by triple-height diagrid arches. The elegant Diagrid Club serves as the amenity and wellness center for tenants and employees. The speeches and photographs took place in front of an art wall of mirrored orbs by avant-garde Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, titled “Narcissus Garden,” first shown at the Venice Biennale in 1966.
“To develop and build a tower as bold and ambitious as 425 Park Ave. requires the ingenuity and immense talent of countless individuals. I am honored to receive this award, which I share with the incredible team we have assembled at L&L Holding, along with all of the amazing architects, engineers, contractors and other professionals who helped turn our collective vision for 425 Park – and for TSX Broadway, Terminal Warehouse, 390 Madison and many others – into reality. I thank Carol Willis and the entire board of the Skyscraper Museum for their enduing support of great architecture and New York City.”
Salutes to David Levinson were offered by Carol Willis, founder and director of The Skyscraper Museum, James von Klemperer, president of the architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox and chair of the museum’s board and Meenakshi Srinivasan, past chair of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Willis described Levinson as “an urban alchemist whose diverse urban reinventions, 425 Park Ave., TSX Broadway, and Terminal Warehouse, renew our city for the 21st century.” Srinivasan and von Klemperer cheered Levinson and L&L for creativity mixed with respect for historic preservation that L&L Holding has brought to 425 Park Ave. and so many other New York City projects.
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