October 21, 2015
Less than a month ago, 6sqft noticed that prominent architect Vishaan Chakrabarti, a principal at starchitecture firm SHoP, had sold his Flatiron loft for $5 million. We speculated as to why he was selling the massive pad, and though we're still not sure, we do know he won't be departing NYC any time soon. A press release put out today announces that Chakrabarti is leaving SHoP (he's already been removed from the website's staff page) to start his own firm, called the Partnership for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), which will focus on the advancement of cities. According to the statement, the new NY-based firm will work "to advance groundbreaking architecture and urbanism projects to build the physical, economic, social and cultural networks of cities with an emphasis on beauty, function and user experience."
More on the new firm