NYC landmark ‘the vessel’ to reopen again with steel mesh netting [Video]

Now set to reopen once more, New York City‘s 150-foot, honeycomb-like structure The Vessel was designed by Heatherwick Studio, and has been a point of controversy since its first opening in March 2019. Its ‘alien’ form has been met with mixed reactions, at once being described as Escher-esque with its dizzying maze of stairs, and being likened to a larger-than-life shawarma. Thomas Heatherwick intended for the place to be a public climbing experience, inviting visitors to ascend more than 2,500 steps to experience a spiraling, ever-changing view of the city.

In a short film released upon the project’s opening, Heatherwick described it as an amphitheater for the people, and revisited precedents including the complex stepwells of India with their criss-crossing stairways. Regardless of its varied critiques by New Yorkers, the intricate network of staircases and landings quickly became a popular tourist destination in the growing neighborhood.

But it wasn’t aesthetic qualms which caused the attraction’s closings. Four young people under the age of 25 …