Developer Stephen Ross Selects Designer Thomas Heatherwick for Public Art Piece

Developer Stephen Ross has selected the British artist and designer Thomas Heatherwick to create what could be one of the most expensive works of public art in the world, in the hopes of establishing a must-see attraction at the heart of his $15 billion Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's West Side.

Mr. Heatherwick, known for visually spectacular creations such as the Olympic cauldron at the 2012 London Games, will work with landscape architect Thomas Woltz to design a 4-acre public space with, at its center, a large-scale artwork that the developer's website describes as "a new icon for the city."

It isn't clear what the artwork will look like, though a person familiar with the matter said it would have a "gathering" theme. But it will be expensive: Mr. Ross, chairman of builder Related Cos., has told friends and associates the company intends to spend as much as $75 million on the centerpiece and surrounding public space.

It will be the focal point of the public plaza for Related's Hudson Yards project, a planned cluster of office skyscrapers and high-rise apartments meant to remake Manhattan's West Side. Related intends to move ahead with the infrastructure under the plaza and other planned buildings early next year.

People familiar with the project said the design for the public space would draw inspiration from great urban plazas such as New York's Rockefeller Center or Rome's Piazza del Campidoglio, designed by Michelangelo.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to integrate a new kind of public space into the fabric of the city and to add another layer to New York's rich cultural heritage," Mr. Heatherwick said in a statement confirming his involvement.

His creation, combined with the adjacent Culture Shed, a planned exhibition space, could serve as a northern anchor for a new cultural corridor emerging along the West Side. Pedestrians would eventually be able to walk along the elevated High Line park from Hudson Yards through Chelsea's gallery district to the new Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District, opening in 2015.

No public-art programs are currently planned around the Heatherwick piece, but Culture Shed events next door—such as sculpture exhibitions or concerts—might sometimes spill over into the space, according to a person familiar with the plans. Mr. Ross serves on Culture Shed's board of trustees.

Kate Levin, the city's cultural affairs commissioner and a Culture Shed board member, didn't respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Ross was intensely involved in the selection of an artist to develop a vision for the public space at the core of the development. He personally solicited ideas from such high-profile artists as Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Maya Lin and Richard Serra, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Koons and Ms. Lin didn't respond to requests for comment. Mr. Kapoor couldn't be reached. Mr. Serra said that at his meeting with Mr. Ross, he told the developer he wasn't "up for" submitting a plan at the same time others were vying for the work, explaining that his process is to see a site and work with engineers as he develops an idea.

According to Mr. Serra, Mr. Ross said, "Will you at least make me a sketch?" Mr. Serra said he declined, saying that wasn't how he worked, and Mr. Ross, disappointed, got up and left the room, ending the meeting.

Chicago's Millennium Park, one of the few other such large-scale public-art projects in the U.S., could offer a guide.

The 25-acre park built at the edge of downtown Chicago a decade ago invested heavily in public art, spending $17 million on Jaume Plensa's "Crown Fountain," marked by giant LED screens that display faces of Chicagoans, and $23 million on "Cloud Gate," a bean-shaped sculpture by Mr. Kapoor around which crowds gather to see their reflections.

"When you look at what it's done for Chicago, it was a small price to pay," said Edward Uhlir, the executive director of the Millennium Park foundation.

Mr. Uhlir said the park sought artwork that was interactive—such as "Cloud Gate"—because "people come back time after time to experience it again and again."

London, meanwhile, added a new landmark to its skyline for the 2012 Olympics with a 376-foot-high, roller-coaster-like tower created by Mr. Kapoor and designer Cecil Balmond, at a cost of $36.6 million.

Mr. Heatherwick is an artist, designer and architect. His projects include a pedestrian bridge that curls up when not in use, London's new double-decker bus and a pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo that resembled a sea urchin, covered in spiky acrylic rods.

His work upends expectations and ranges from utilitarian to fantastical, said Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art.

"It's about magic," she said. "He's so good at spectacle. That's his ideal dimension."

Nicholas Baume, director and chief curator of Public Art Fund, a nonprofit that presents public art in New York, said he was pleased to hear that Mr. Heatherwick's art installation would be integrated with the design of the plaza—a good approach, he said, to thinking about important civic spaces.

"I think all the great public spaces in New York City have come along with a big price tag. You know, building Central Park, Rockefeller Center," he said, "you can't do it out of cotton candy."

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