First & Fiftieth
The streetscape of Makati City can be hard on the soul.
Meager trees provide little relief when the pavement bakes in the sun and the concrete towers that line Ayala Avenue and its intersecting streets radiate heat and humidity at people scurrying to work. The NEX Tower is a reprieve from the aging opacity that shuts pedestrians out from most office building interiors in the business district.
It achieves a distinctive form, not as most skyscrapers in Manila attempt to do, by topping an upright box with a fancy ‘hat’ (which no one can see from ground level). SOM widened the base of the building, then sliced off a large part of the upper southwest corner so
