A closer look at the ETFE skin of DS+R and The Rockwell Group’s Bloomberg Building

Hudson Yards, the mega-development reshaping Manhattan’s Far West Side, needs little introduction; it has been both praised and vilified for its gigantic scale and contentious urban ethos. Regardless of the controversy surrounding it, the project showcases some ambitious engineering. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) with Rockwell Group, The Bloomberg Building’s versatile ETFE cladding and mobile shell

DS+R and Rockwell Group’s The Shed opens its massive guillotine doors

Opened in April 2019, Rockwell Group and Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s (DS+R) The Shed is an eight-level, 200,000-square-foot art center located on the southern, 30th Street flank of Hudson Yards. The project has received acclaim for its operable features, notably its gliding ETFE-clad shell and multi-ton doors. Facade Manufacturer Cimolai S.p.A BGT Bischoff Glastechnik AG Bator

A skin for the spectacular? It has to be ETFE.

From biodomes to Disney resorts, “Sheds” and stadiums, ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, better known as ETFE, has become the material of choice for architects designing a venue for the spectacular. Appealing to designers as an affordable, translucent building skin, the material is now the go-to polymer for flamboyant facades. The Architect’s Newspaper (AN) spoke to three firms leading the