Architecture And Design

The sandy deserts of the southwest are a long way from New York, but that doesn't mean we can't add a little of that earthy style to our lives. And the Faceted Concrete Planters by Spacio Terreno are the perfect way to start — their distressed concrete bodies and dusty colors remind us of sandy deserts, while the geometric design maintains an urban aesthetic. Plus, they're made in Brooklyn.
More on the lovely planters right this way

July 3, 2014

Rent This Oceanfront Long Island Retreat Designed by Resolution: 4 Architecture

East Quogue, a town located on the far end of Long Island, is littered with beach houses thanks to its picturesque oceanfront location. It's the perfect escape for New York City families to leave behind the hustle and bustle of Big Apple living and swap their tiny apartments for sprawling vacation homes. Because of its location on a barrier island, that doesn't hold true for this dune retreat, which meant the team at Resolution: 4 Architecture has to be as efficient with space as possible.
See how the architects overcome their dilemma

July 2, 2014

Flashback: See Five Famous New York City Buildings and Bridges Under Construction

By Jason Carpenter

As the Freedom Tower is being completed, New Yorkers are losing a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity: The chance to snap pictures of a landmark while it is still being built. It is incredible to imagine getting to see a half-built Empire State Building, or a mess of wires that will soon be the Manhattan Bridge, or an excavated hole in the ground where Rockefeller Center will soon be placed. With old photos, we can see what these buildings looked like before they were finished, and what New York looked like before its landmarks were in place.
See what the landmarks of New York looked like in-construction here

July 2, 2014

‘The Cloud’ Lamp Simulates a Thunder Storm Right in Your Living Room

By Lori Zimmer

Richard Clarkson’s incredible Cloud lamp brings the romantic intensity of a thunderstorm right into your living room. The interactive light fixture is a combination of a lamp and a speaker system that bursts with thunder and lightning in response to your step. The poofy cloud rumbles, grumbles and illuminates the space around you, but you won't run risk of getting soaked in an impending downpour.
More on the design here

Architecture And Design

July 2, 2014

Jane Kim Design’s Tribeca Loft Lifts the Bedroom to Create an Oversized Living Space

In an endless attempt to maximize space in tiny New York City apartments, the lofted bed has become a popular mechanism. This usually consists of a mattress hoisted up on wooden supports, leaving just about a foot of space below the sleeper's head and the ceiling. But in a beautiful Tribeca loft renovation, Jane Kim Design masterfully tackled this issue by lifting the entire bedroom volume only slightly off the ground, encasing it in an architectural glass cube, and installing cabinetry, bike storage, HVAC, and a washer/dryer beneath.
Take a look at the rest of this ingenious space

July 1, 2014

Park Slope’s Slim and ‘Super Green’ Condo Building Features a Solar Panel-Clad Facade

A brand new building has popped up in Park Slope and it's got quite an interesting facade. Located at 443 Bergen Street just off of Flatbush Ave, this sleek new addition to the neighborhood boasts 5 stories of living space, a 7KW solar array, reclaimed IPE wood from boardwalks, and triple glazed Passive House windows and doors. According to the building permits, work started in the Fall of last year, and by the looks of things, construction has just about wrapped up.
More on the new solar powered building this way

July 1, 2014

Tranquil Fishers Island House by Thomas Phifer is a Study in Light and Transparency

When you arrive 11 miles off the tip of Long Island at the Fishers Island House you'll be instantly in awe of the Long Island Sound views, apple tree orchard, lush green landscaping, and colorful mix of flowers. You then might to start to wonder where the house is... until you realize you've been peering straight through its transparent glass frame the entire time. Thomas Phifer & Partners designed the simple, 4,600-square-foot pavilion to delicately blend in to the surrounding landscape and create a seamless interior/exterior transition. At two points in the otherwise rectangular floorplan, the outdoor space penetrates inward — once in the entry way, which emerges as a shallow reflecting pool that disappears into the Sound, and again with a tranquil, mossy rock garden at the other end of the home.
Don't miss the rest of this incredible work of architecture

Architecture And Design

July 1, 2014

Moorehead & Moorehead’s Chipboard Pendant Will Light Up Any Room With Its Sinuous Form

The Seattle-based lighting manufacturer Standard Socket teamed up with Robert and Granger Moorehead of Moorehead & Moorehead to create an uncomplicated, organic pendant light that takes on a shape much more complex than its basic construction. The result is the Chipboard Light — an elegant, sculptural fixture that complements both traditional and modern design esthetics.
More on the design here

Hear How Rafael Viñoly and Other Top Architects Tackle the Design of Buildings Over 100 Stories

There are skyscrapers going up left and right all over Manhattan, and in the race to build the loftiest and the glassiest, big name developers are seeking out even bigger name architects to brand their supertalls with iconic designs. As part of their ongoing Palaces for the People: Guastavino and the Art of Structural Tile series, the Museum of the City of New York will be hosting what's sure to be a riveting panel in which several of the world's leading architects and engineers will be discussing how they approach the design and construction challenges that come with building 100 stories and up.
Details on how to attend here

June 30, 2014

The Architects at Triarch Make Wood Paneling Look Ultra Modern in This Tribeca Penthouse

Wood-paneled walls came along before the dark, dreary styles of the 80s that were found in your grandparents' basement. Earlier in the century, modernist architects, such as Jean Michel Frank, Adolf Loos and Bruno Paul, tastefully incorporated them in their designs. This splendid penthouse, located in a Civil War-era building in Tribeca, is inspired by that style, masterfully melding limed oak paneled walls with dark wenge flooring and 90-degree angles. Though definitively modern, this home's calming simplicity and warm material palette give way to cozy and welcoming rooms not often attainable in spaces of this size.
Take a tour of the home here

June 30, 2014

These Ballpark Blueprints are a Homerun for Baseball Fans

There's only so many miniature bats and steeply priced game tickets you can buy for the baseball-loving family member or friend in your life, so Uncommon Goods' Ballpark Blueprints are the perfect gift for aficionados of America's pastime. The framed illustrations "evoke the nostalgia of midcentury architectural plans" through an aged finish that gives the look of a vintage document. Each print comes complete with the stadium's design specs and notes particularly interesting game stats. The Portland-made drawings are printed on museum-grade archival paper and framed in black poplar wood using acid-free archival board.
Step up to the plate for more design details

June 30, 2014

New York Public Library Will Go High Tech with Its $300 Million Renovation

Norman Foster's design for the New York Public Library (NYPL) may have been scrapped, but the library isn't giving up on the opportunity to turn its space into an innovative learning hub. As the NYPL gears up for a new $300 million renovation plan, they're turning to a very unlikely locale for their inspiration: The South. The NYPL is using two high-tech libraries in Tennessee and North Carolina as models for their new spaces at the Schwarzman building and the highly trafficked Mid-Manhattan branch across the street. The renovation will be geared towards the needs of teachers, students and entrepreneurs, and will be designed to support collaborative pursuits within the library walls.
More on the NYPL's new plans here

Architecture And Design

June 29, 2014

Architect Morris Adjmi’s NYC Industrial Revolution – How One Architect Dares to Be Different

Have you ever seen an interesting building and wondered if it was old, new, or somewhere in between? If so, there's a good chance you were looking at one of Morris Adjmi's creations. This is the brilliance of the architect--his buildings focus on the fundamentals of design, blending in with their historic surroundings, but still showcasing subtle, modern touches that make them unique. While Adjmi's contemporaries seem to be in a race to build the tallest, glassiest building in town, he has become the go-to architect for downtown developers thanks to his utilitarian- and industrial-influenced designs. After opening his own firm MA in 1997, Adjmi gained permanent notoriety with the Scholastic Building in SoHo, a 2001 project he collaborated on with Pritzker Prize winner Aldo Rossi. It was the first example of new construction in the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District, and architecture Paul Goldberger said it was "a building that will teach generations of architects the proper way to respond to historic contexts."
More on Adjmi's work right ahead

June 28, 2014

A Glittering Tower Built from Mushrooms Rises in the MoMA PS1 Courtyard

By Annie Doge

There's a new tower in town, and for once it's not made of steel and glass... After a month of construction, David Benjamin and his firm, The Living, have completed the world's first large-scale structure made of mushroom bricks. Better known as ‘Hy-Fi‘, the tower is the winning design of this year's MoMA Young Architects Program, and like the works that preceded it, it's an idea that asks us to rethink what we know about materials, fabrication and architecture in an urban context.
More photos of the fungtastic tower this way

June 28, 2014

LTL Architects Unites This Upper East Side House with Two Dazzling Modern Staircases

Connecting the two floors of this Upper East Side townhouse was no easy task for the team at LTL Architects. That's because six — that's right, six — distinct floor elevators stood in their way. Not only that, but the levels in the back and front don't align, making the conversion of separate units into a single-family home even more difficult. So how did the architects maneuver their way around the multiple obstacles? By installing two stunning staircases that not only tied together the four levels of the 19th-century townhouse, but also double as stand-alone centerpieces.
See how the architects overcome their dilemma

June 27, 2014

Philip Johnson’s “Tent of Tomorrow” Receives $5.8M for Its Restoration

Philip Johnson lovers rejoice! It was just announced that the city will put aside $5.8 million to restore the dilapidated crown jewel of the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Funding for the restoration of the "Tent of Tomorrow" came via Mayor Bill de Blasio, who contributed $4.2 million to the project, while the rest was provided by the City Council and Borough President Melinda Katz. Katz has been a champion for restoring the iconic structure, even forming a task force of civic leaders to save the work. Efforts to restore the project will begin soon, but a bumpy road lies ahead...
More on the restoration efforts here

Architecture And Design

June 27, 2014

90 Years Later, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fuel Station Finally Built in Buffalo, NY

Filling up the ole' gas tank is not a glamorous job, and usually not a task that leaves one marveling at the surrounding architecture. But in 1927, Prairie-style extraordinaire Frank Lloyd Wright put together plans for a fuel filling station in Buffalo, New York that would leave even the most seasoned driver awe struck. Now, almost 90 years later, the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum has realized Wright's vision and constructed the station as a one-of-a-kind installation housed in a 40,000-square-foot glass and steel atrium, made possible by a $6.3 million state grant. The arts-and-crafts gas station, the third Wright recreation in Buffalo, makes a nod to Native American design and thoughtfully mixes practicality with visual appeal.
Take a virtual tour of the architectural masterpiece

June 27, 2014

INTERVIEW: Resolution: 4 Architecture’s Joseph Tanney Talks Prefab Homes and Designing NYC Apartments

Since it was founded in 1994, Resolution: 4 Architecture (RE4A) has been a game-changing force in the world of building and design. Founders Joseph Tanney and Robert Luntz were some of the first architects to embrace the idea of modular prefabricated homes, a concept that continues to grow in popularity for its cost0-efficiency, eco-friendly nature and versatility in design. The RE4A team has worked on numerous projects, ranging from envy-inducing vacation retreats to space-efficient lofts to the headquarters for Equinox gym. While they have helped design and build spaces across the nation, the firm calls New York City — specifically, Chelsea — home and plenty of Big Apple sensibilities show up in their work, which is bold, yet functional. We recently spoke with Tanney about RE4A's mission and upcoming work, plus his tips for creating a storage-friendly apartment.
Check out our full interview here

June 27, 2014

NYC Events 6/30: Jeff Koons at Rockefeller and the Whitney; Say ‘Oui’ with Air France This Weekend

By Lori Zimmer

We welcome this second week of summer with open arms as the warm weather we've been oh so patiently waiting for brings with it plenty of amazing art and design events happening outdoors (and in). This week, Jeff Koons descends upon New York, first hitting up Rockefeller Center with his giant living floral sculpture, Split Rocker, then rounding out this verdant new work with a full on retrospective at the Whitney's Upper East Side Breuer Building. But if you just want to relax and recline (literally), Air France will be kicking off the weekend by bringing a little bit of Paris to New York. Three days of French flavor are planned for anyone who wants to partake, and guests will get to indulge in delicious food and drink and even take French lessons while lounging in one of Air France's first class chairs. C'est bon!
All the best events here

June 27, 2014

NYC’s Billboards to be the Biggest in the USA: Even More Wattage Being Added to Times and Herald Squares

By Ondel Hylton

Billboard signs along Times Square, and now Herald Square, are growing ever bigger and brighter as LED displays become the top choice for developers of new supersigns. Projects such as the upcoming Mariott Edition, Vornado's Marriott Marquis renovation, and the revamping of the Herald Center all include LED displays that will be among the largest in the world. Though more expensive to install than the standard illuminated billboard, the light-emitting diode canvasses have the primary advantage of being eco-friendly by using less electricity and lasting 25 times longer than their incandescent alternatives. Their cost depends on size, complexity, and resolution; and may run upward of $1000 a square foot. But new technology in the past decade has cut the average price in half allowing for a brighter and more prolific future in the city.
See videos and images these eye-popping supersigns

June 27, 2014

Soho Square Poised to Get Multimillion Dollar Makeover

By Stephanie Hoina

Coming on the heels of a rezoning last spring that will yield much more residential and retail development in the area just north of Canal Street, the Hudson Square Connection Business Improvement District embarked on an ambitious $27 million campaign to create more open space and beautify the neighborhood’s streets. First up was a $200,000 investment at Freeman Plaza West a few months after the City Council approved the rezoning. The vacant property near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel was magically transformed into an unexpected but charming garden respite with the addition of umbrellas, tables, chairs and trees.
What are the plans for Soho Square?

Architecture And Design

June 26, 2014

Live Like an Outlaw (At Least for a Night) at the Urban Cowboy B&B in Brooklyn

As New Yorkers we love to think of ourselves as original and cutting edge, but there's no denying that many of us have a soft spot for things that harken back to gentler times. In a sea of towers and shiny new boutiques, Williamsburg's newest hotel addition bucks the steel and glass trend for a beautiful Adirondack design that will appeal to even the most unwavering modernist. If you're looking for an oasis in this concrete jungle of ours, look no further than the Urban Cowboy Bed & Breakfast, a ranch-style escape sure to turn any city dweller into a cowboy complete with a twang.
Check out the incredible interiors of this quirky B&B

June 26, 2014

Dan Hisel’s Ingenious Z-Box Instantly Creates an Extra Bedroom