Some say Thomas Heatherwick’s Vessel in New York resembles a climbable MC Escher drawing; others say it’s New York’s version of the Eiffel Tower.

Most call it “the honeycomb;” others say it looks like “a giant shawarma.”

The new icon, which has been referred to as a “latticed StairMaster,” has a bit of a spooky, futuristic side, like something out of a Star Wars film.

And, well, what should we call this spiraling maze?

It is temporarily called the “Vessel.” Hoping for public buy-in, its patron, The Related Companies, have invited suggestions for a new name.

It is said that the Vessel was inspired by ancient Indian stepwells from a very famous Hindu temple in Rajasthan. Others feel the structure reminds them of Skull Mountain at Six Flags Great Adventure or a truncated pyramid from Chichen Itza or Uxmal.

Heatherwick tries to explain: “It’s a dream come true. “A weird, extraordinary dream,” he says.

“It’s not an inanimate object,” continues the designer. “It’s thrilling that it isn’t finished until its able to be lifting up 1,700 people every day. Like Italian promenades, people can look up and down at each other to share this extraordinary experience.”

The object — I think to call it a sculpture — is a 150-foot-high, $200 million, latticed, waste-basket shaped stairway to nowhere, sheathed in a gaudy, copper-cladded steel.

The structure is a walkable feat boasting 2,500 steps on 159 interconnecting flights of stairs. With an elevator for those who can’t manage the mile-long walk to the top, this masterpiece offers a view of the Hudson river from the west side of Manhattan.

Around the Vessel, there are four supertall skyscrapers dwarfing Heatherwick’s monument—a mega-complex that is Hudson Yards, New York’s largest development since the Rockefeller Center, featuring 16 skyscrapers, a shopping mall, luxury condos, a performance venue and 20 acres of public space.

Dwarfed—but the Vessel stands out in the bland skyline painted a millennial-friendly color of rose gold, a soft pink tone of iridescent copper.

The color is more familiar as paint for phone shells, a recent makeup trends, or products that range from suitcases to the resurgence of rosé wine.

The Vessel, in fact, shines like a polished car hood or perhaps iridescent nail polish across the concrete and glass surroundings.

Next door to the Vessel is the $500 million city-sponsored arts center called the “Shed,” which feature a giant sliding roof, eye-catchingly swathed in a tufted Teflon-based sheeting that can bring to mind an inflated dry-cleaning bag.

The Vessel and its neighbors looks more like “Sim City on steroids.”

Heatherwick cringes at the thought of his Vessel being as described as “public art.”

“I’m not an artist,” he affirms. “My interest in how you make the world around you better, more meaningful ways in how to bring us together. We saw this project not as an artwork, but as an extension of three-dimensional piece of public space.”

And in his words, there is no better description for this new iconic addition to Manhattan’s skyline.

Architect: Heatherwick Studio
Client: The Related Companies, LLC.
Structural Engineers of Record: Thornton Tomasetti
Structural Engineers: AKT II
Photographers: Michael Moran and Caroline Spivack