Trump Tower

Trump Tower is a 68 story skyscraper found on Fifth Avenue and owned by - you guessed it - Donald Trump. It was built on the former site of the Bonwit Teller flagship store, an architecturally renowned building that Trump unceremoniously demolished in 1980. Having initially promised the sculptures and ornate grille from the exterior would be donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he jackhammered them instead, citing expense and a potential 10-day construction delay due to difficulties in removing them.

The building does, however, retain some of the Art Deco style of its predecessor. The public spaces are lined with pink white-veined marble, and the combination of mirrors and brass fill them with rich, golden light. In fact, it is extraordinarily lavish: the wall-to-wall gold and marble make it feel as if you are in Tutankhamen’s tomb. The final touch is a waterfall that runs through the atrium. Made of marble and granite, water glides silently down nearly fives stories to the bar and eating area below.

American dream

Apart from admiring the building itself, there is plenty do here, including some luxurious shopping — no surprise, given it was built by a man who considers himself the very definition of the American success story, a businessman and capitalist without peer. Nike and Gucci are among those that have their flagship stores here. No to mention Trump Jewellery, the Trump Bar and the Trump Grille…

High Society

According to the building’s website, it is home to numerous “affluent sophisticates”. Aside from The Donald himself, other past and present tenants include Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Bruce Willis and Cristiano Ronaldo.