Nouvel to In-Spire Manhattan with Midtown Tower

The Museum of Modern Art is getting a new–or should we say Nouvel–neighbor. The architectural firm of Jean Nouvel (who we hope will one day tread the boards in an all-starchitect cast of The King and I) was recently declared the winner of the Tour de Verre competition, sponsored by real estate firm Hines and Goldman Sachs. Nouvel’s preliminary design (see rendering at left) calls for a 75-story tower betwixt 53rd and 54th Streets that will house a 7-star, 100-room hotel, 120 residences, and a 50,000-square-foot expansion of MoMA’s gallery space.