Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Bierut on Designing NY Times Signage
By
Jill Priluck
Published Jul 9, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jill Priluck
Published Jul 9, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Designer Michael Bierut has details over at the Pentagram blog on how he and his team created the recently installed sign at The New York Times Building, the 52-story tower designed by Renzo Piano and FXFowle.
At 110 feet, the sign, located on the building's Eighth Ave. facade, is a 10,116-point version of the paper’s Fraktur font. It is comprised of 1,000 custom-designed pieces, each a painted extruded aluminum sleeve a little more than three inches in diameter, says Beirut.
Their biggest challenge?
“How do you add a block-long, 15-foot-tall blackletter logo to the front of a minimalist building without obstructing the view of the Times staffers working inside?”
By breaking it into 959 pieces, natch. Each letter was divided into narrow horizontal stripes, ranging in number from 26 (the “i” in “Times”) to 161 (the “Y” in “York”). Then each piece was transformed into a three-dimensional form that could be fitted over the building’s famed ceramic sunscreen rods.
A “beak” on each form added an additional two inches of projection to enhance the sign’s street-level visibility. And boy is it visible!
Bierut also had to contend with, yes, zoning rules established in 1993 based on the design principles of architect Robert A.M. Stern and designer Tibor Kalman. The requirements mandated minimum size requirements – signs have to be large (based on ratios of the sign area to the overall elecation area) and applied (added to the building and not subtly integrated).
At least Times staffers aren’t forced to stomach the sign from their cubicles day in and day out.
Curbed has more signage views of the Times building. And The New Yorker’s Paul Goldberger wrote last year that the Times building “takes on a strange, thin blandness." The NY Sun’s James Gardner called it “quite refined.”
Photos courtesy of Pentagram
Tagged
Beirut
breaking
design
Eighth Ave
James Gardner
Michael Bierut
new york
new york times
new york times building
new yorker
ny sun
Paul Goldberger
people
photos
renzo piano
Robert A
The New York
the new york times
the new yorker
the view
Tibor Kalman
Jill Priluck
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Immanuel Wilkins is upholding NYC's jazz history. He's also dreaming up its future.
The saxophonist performs this week at the Village Vanguard.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
Ever wish you could get paid to walk through a stranger’s house? ‘The Scout’ is for you.
A new film focuses on the strange career of a location scout in New York City.
By
Sonia Rao
There are 100s of places to visit during Open House New York. Here's 5 of our favorites.
By
Hannah Frishberg
A massive MTA archive ended up in a Virginia warehouse. A Brooklyn man brought it home.
By
Hannah Frishberg
How a Harry Styles pop-up in the East Village led to a nearby bookstore owner's arrest
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .