Architecture And Design

April 17, 2018

Skyscraper proposal adds affordable housing in a new vertical system between Manhattan buildings

eVolo Magazine just announced the winners of its 2018 Skyscraper Competition. One of this year’s honorable mentions is “Manhattan Ridge: Affordable Housing for Commuters” by Zhenjia Wang and Xiayi Li, a proposal based on the premise that “people who work in Manhattan deserve a home in Manhattan." Therefore, they've created a new, tripartite vertical system in which residents would consume and recreate “downstairs” and work right next to where they live. The existing buildings would remain and this new vertical space would rise up their facades.
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April 17, 2018

First look at the glamorous, sixties-inspired guest rooms at the TWA Hotel

Guests staying at the TWA Flight Center Hotel will be transported back to 1962 through rooms decorated with Eero Saarinen-designed Knoll furnishings, martini bars and terrazzo-tiled bathrooms with Hollywood-style vanities. MCR and MORSE Development unveiled on Tuesday a model of the guest rooms at the hotel, located at the John F. Kennedy Airport, part of the landmark flight center's restoration and repurposing. Scheduled to open in 2019, the 512-room hotel is found in two low-rise, wing-shaped buildings behind the flight center, an homage to Saarinen's iconic design. The center will serve as the hotel's lobby, measuring 200,000 square feet, the largest hotel lobby in the world. The buildings, which officially topped out last month, will have a seven-layer, soundproofed-glass facade to provide the ultimate quiet retreat.
Check it out
April 17, 2018

Construction restarts at Pier 55 offshore park with new walkways in place

After years of drama, during which the project was declared dead, then given new life, construction on the public park anchored in the Hudson River (also known as Pier 55 and Diller Island), is now moving forward as evidenced by a site photo taken by CityRealty this week showing two walkways leading to the pier from Hudson River Park now in place. As 6sqft reported last October, the Pier 55 project spearheaded by media mogul Barry Diller was rebooted with Diller's renewed commitment, complete with the backing of his recent legal foes, former ointment-fly Douglas Durst and Governor Andrew Cuomo.
More pictures this way
April 17, 2018

$700M proposal calls for NYC’s first soccer stadium and 550 affordable apartments in the South Bronx

New York City could be getting its first soccer stadium if a proposal for the project led by Related Companies gets chosen by officials. A partnership made up of developers Related and Somerset Partners, along with the Major League Soccer team, New York City Football Club, has submitted a plan to bring a 26,000-seat soccer stadium designed by Rafael Viñoly, over 550 units of affordable housing and a waterfront park to the South Bronx. According to YIMBY, the project, estimated to cost $700 million, would rise on the site of the Harlem River Yards, a 13-acre parcel in Mott Haven operated by the Empire State Development Corporation.
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April 16, 2018

Jeanne Gang’s High Line ‘Solar Carve’ tower tops out, see new renderings and photos

Since 6sqft reported just over a year ago on the beginnings of the building formerly known as the Solar Carve tower by celebrated architect Jeanne Gang at 40 Tenth Avenue, the new High Line-hugging addition has been quietly rising. Now, the 10-story commercial tower has officially topped out, and we've got the construction photos and new renderings to prove it.
Renderings and photos this way
April 13, 2018

Where I Work: Architecture firm Woods Bagot shows off their ‘raw’ FiDi studio

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the Financial District offices of architecture firm Woods Bagot, located on the seventh floor of the Continental Bank Building at 30 Broad Street. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Internationally acclaimed architecture firm Woods Bagot opened their first office in 1869 in Adelaide, Australia. 150 years, 15 offices, and 850 staff members later, they've designed projects from a master plan for Perth to a mixed-use tech center in Singapore to a rental tower right here in Brooklyn. After opening their first NYC office a decade ago in Midtown, the rapidly expanding firm decided it was time to design a work space for themselves. So last summer, they moved into a brand new 11,000-square-foot home in Lower Manhattan. The vision of Woods Bagot's head of global workplace interiors, Sarah Kay, and head of global hotels, Wade Little, the studio has done such an impeccable job creating a "raw" feel that guests often think it's the original interior. Using a simple color palette of black and white, along with industrial elements like raw columns, exposed pipes, and cracked, stained concrete floors, they've managed to infuse "New York City grit" into their modern space, complete with virtual reality technology, 3D printing, and, most importantly, an industrial-strength espresso machine. 6sqft recently visited Woods Bagot to see the space in-person and chat with Sarah Kay about how she approached the design, what a typical day in the office is like, and what we can expect to see in the near future from this incredible firm.
Go on the tour
April 13, 2018

A Buckminster Fuller dome almost kept the Dodgers in Brooklyn

With baseball season back in full swing, talk at some point turns to the heartbreak of losing the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. Modern Mechanix informs us that team owner Walter O'Malley had championed a Brooklyn dome stadium designed by Buckminster Fuller–and how the result is yet another reason to blame Robert Moses. O'Malley took the team to Cali, if you'll remember, because he got a better deal on land for a stadium–better than he was able to get in the five boroughs. He had wanted to keep the team in Brooklyn, but Ebbets Field was looking down-at-the-heels by then and bad for morale. In 1955 O'Malley wrote dome-obsessed architect Buckminster Fuller requesting a domed stadium design.
So what happened?
April 13, 2018

L/AND/A transforms a dark Bed-Stuy row house into a spacious, sun-drenched dream

LIGHT AND AIR, better known as L/AND/A, is a New York-based architecture and design studio led by architect and artist Shane Neufeld. Established in 2017, L/AND/A takes a “primal approach” to architecture by reducing design to its essential components to find clarity in a hectic world. Neufeld believes, "architecture is most powerful when elemental, and that spatial clarity and specificity have the potential to shape distinct experiences that ultimately enrich our lives- reconnecting people to their environments in meaningful and surprising ways.” This is just what Neufeld has done in his most recent project.
See the transformation
April 12, 2018

For $3.2M, costume jewelry connoisseur Kenneth Jay Lane’s former Stanford White-designed duplex

The two-bedroom duplex owned by late designer Kenneth Jay Lane, best remembered for creating sought-after costume jewelry, hit the market for $3.2 million. The apartment, located at 23 Park Avenue in the James H. and Cornelia V. Robb House, was designed by legendary architect Stanford White. Constructed in 1891, the mansion boasts a beautiful Italian Renaissance Palazzo style. The co-op, where Lane passed away in 2007 at age 85, sits on the second and third floors of the landmarked building, as the New York Post reported.
See inside
April 12, 2018

ODA’s new Lower East Side project looks a lot like Zaha Hadid’s High Line condo

Not only does 520 West 28th Street lay claim to being Zaha Hadid's only New York City project, but its futuristic design, marked by the late starchitect's signature curvaceous forms, is unlike any other building in the city. But ODA Architects may be looking to change that, as a proposed rendering uncovered by CityRealty for a condo at 208 Delancey Street looks strikingly similar to Hadid's High Line-hugging residence. The Lower East Side project shares its inspiration's L-shape, squat massing, and, most importantly, curved glass corners and extending balconies.
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April 11, 2018

$4M duplex in Park Slope’s Tracy Mansion is dripping with historic details

After struggling to sell for what would have been a record-breaking $25 million, Park Slope's grand Tracy Mansion – a Montessori School since 1970 – finally sold for $9.5 million back in 2013. Scott Henson Architect then divided the neoclassical landmarked structure into seven luxurious condos, the first-floor duplex now asking $3.85 million. In addition to a 432-square-foot backyard, the three-bedroom home boasts a myriad of historic details, an eight-foot-tall marble fireplace, tons of decorative molding, Corinthian pillars, wood paneling, herringbone wood floors, and a sweeping grand staircase that was featured in the HBO show "Boardwalk Empire."
Drool over this grand home
April 10, 2018

First look at 3 World Trade Center’s huge outdoor terrace

Rendering via Silverstein Properties New renderings have been unveiled for an 11,000-square-foot outdoor terrace at 3 World Trade Center, expected to open when the skyscraper does so in June. Designed by Ken Smith Workshop, the space will be fully landscaped and feature a lush garden. As the first outdoor terrace on the World Trade Center campus, 3 WTC tenants will enjoy unbeatable views of 1 WTC and the WTC Transportation Hub. Another perk? A special operator will serve coffee to tenants in a furnished, canopied area on the terrace.
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April 10, 2018

With Pfizer as an anchor tenant, construction on Bjarke Ingels’ Spiral tower will begin in June

Rendering via Tishman Speyer With an anchor tenant and necessary financing secured, Tishman Speyer announced on Tuesday plans to officially begin construction this June on Bjarke Ingels' 65-story office tower planned for Hudson Yards, the Spiral. The developer has reached a deal with Pfizer, a biopharmaceutical company, for an 800,000 square-foot lease at the Spiral, and has secured funding for the $3.7 billion project. The Spiral will reach 1,031 feet high and boast a facade of cascading landscaped terraces and hanging gardens. The tower will spread an entire block, stretching from West 34th to West 35th Streets and 10th Avenue to the Hudson Park and Boulevard.
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April 10, 2018

New renderings revealed for Daniel Libeskind’s affordable senior housing building in Bed-Stuy

Just a few weeks ago, 6sqft reported that starchitect Daniel Libeskind's first New York City building to rise from the ground up would be a 197-unit affordable senior housing project planned for Site 2 of the Sumner Houses in Bed-Stuy. Now Studio Libeskind has released three new renderings of the 10-story building-to-be, showing more of its an angular white-colored facade done in the firm’s signature un-orthogonal style (h/t Dezeen).
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April 9, 2018

REVEALED: Jeanne Gang’s 51-story condo next to Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s

Tishman Speyer released on Monday the first renderings for its new luxury residential tower in Downtown Brooklyn, 11 Hoyt. Designed collaboratively between Hill West Architects and Jeanne Gang's architecture firm, Studio Gang, the 51-story, 480-unit condominium project will offer a variety of apartment layouts, with more than 190 different floor plans. The tower's rippling exterior seems to borrow elements used in two of Gang's Chicago projects, the Aqua Tower and the Vista Tower, which is currently under construction. The project will rise next to the Macy's on Fulton Street, which is currently undergoing renovations by Tishman Speyer, who are also planning a 10-story office tower on top of the store. Sales will launch at the tower this summer, but interested buyers can now check out the building's newly launched teaser site.
See them here
April 9, 2018

Richard Meier’s East side master plan moving ahead with three condos and biotech offices

Across the street from Richard Meier’s nearly-complete new black glassy-facaded condo/rental tower at 685 First Avenue (known as 685 First), between First Avenue and the East River, a boarded-up construction site has remained quiet for the better part of a decade. Now, Curbed reports, the site’s developer, Solow Building Company, headed by Sheldon H. Solow, 89, and son Stefan Soloviev, confirms the site's awakening and imminent transformation into three condominium buildings and a fourth building, to be a biotech office, using the 2012 master plan penned by Meier's architecture firm.
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April 6, 2018

Quirky Union Square artist’s loft with a massive skylight and floating library cube asks $4M

An enormous north-facing skylight is the focal point of this sprawling 3,000-square-foot loft at 60 West 15th Street on the border between Chelsea and the Flatiron District. Currently, the quirky artist's quarters is also home to a large studio area, which, along with 11-foot ceilings, exposed brick and beams, and a very cool floating library cube adds to the ultra-creative vibe of the co-op, which is asking $3.995 million.
There are some things we can't figure out here
April 6, 2018

An eco-conscious pavilion made of scaffolding and moss could bloom in Times Square

New York City has 280 miles of scaffolding, totaling more than 7,700 sidewalk sheds in front of 7,752 buildings. Described as pervasive eyesores and sunlight-blockers, scaffolding has an unflattering reputation in the city. Artist Sam Biroscak is looking to change the public perception of these sidewalk sheds, by highlighting it as an "under-appreciated" urban element in his conceptual design. Dubbed Mossgrove, Biroscak's project would create an architectural pavilion in Times Square made of two materials seen as nuisances: moss and scaffolding. The proposal calls for the installation be built during NYCxDESIGN, a nine-day event featuring interactive installations and talks. The theme of this year's Design Pavilion will be "From This Day Forward" (h/t Untapped Cities).
See the design
April 5, 2018

REVEALED: New renderings of Domino Sugar Factory’s waterfront park and esplanade

Almost a year to date since the first renderings were revealed for Domino Park, the 11-acre park and waterfront esplanade that will anchor the three-million-square-foot Williamsburg mega-development at the Domino Sugar Factory site, a new batch of views has been released by developer Two Trees, and they showcase everything from an urban "beach" to a better look at how preserved artifacts from the historic factory will be incorporated throughout. Designed by James Corner Field Operations (of the High Line fame), the park is scheduled to open this summer, ahead of most of the buildings.
All the renderings and details ahead
April 5, 2018

‘Pixel Facade’ concept creates flexible, green office towers designed for millennials

Pixel architects, Oliver Thomas and Keyan Rahimzadeh, designed “pixel façade,” a flexible biophilic façade system for the next generation of offices, acknowledging millennials strong desire to be happy in a conducive, natural workplace. Inspired by a Metals in Construction competition challenge, the duo designed a hypothetical building in Williamsburg with a strong connection to nature to house tech startups. Thomas told designboom: “the idea was to propose conceptual but realistic ideas for built products for the future.”
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April 5, 2018

Renderings revealed for Annabelle Selldorf’s $160M Frick Collection expansion

The Frick Collection has unveiled its $160 million Selldorf Architects-designed upgrade and expansion, which will open up the private living quarters of Henry Clay Frick's original 1914 home to the public for the first time. As the New York Times explained, the renderings illustrate a plan to expand the existing building's second level, add two set-back stories above the music room, and an addition behind the library that will match its seven-story height. These will house a 220-seat underground auditorium, an education center with classrooms, in addition to a renovated lobby and larger museum shop.
More details and renderings ahead
April 4, 2018

Take a tour of artist Cj Hendry’s ‘MONOCHROME’ rooms in a Brooklyn warehouse

Australian-born, New York-based hyperrealist artist Cj Hendry--whose past work, which is often sold out through Instagram and has been quite dominated by blacks, whites and grays--created an amazing color exploration in a 22,000-square-foot Brooklyn warehouse. In each of the seven single-colored rooms, the self-described “fashion fangirl” Hendry’s MONOCHROME exhibit creates a color sensory experience centered around her new images of crumpled Pantone swatches. Everything from the walls to floors to clothes hanging to plants are the same color. It looks as if she was inspired by the 2018 Pantone color of the year, ultraviolet, for the bathroom. The rooms are built with lego-like Everblocks, creating somewhat prison-like walls in the most colorful jail ever.
Take a tour
April 4, 2018

Sting is reportedly renting at Zaha Hadid’s High Line-hugging condo

Just six months after selling his huge Central Park West penthouse for $50 million, Sting has reportedly moved on to an equally swanky residence. According to Page Six, he and wife Trudie Styler are "renting a large terraced apartment on a high floor" in Zaha Hadid's recently-completed, curvy, High Line-hugging condo at 520 West 28th Street in Chelsea. Though his former home was in a classic Robert A.M. Stern-designed building (he must really have a thing for starchitects), it was decked out in an uber-contemporary style, so it makes sense that he'd want to move over to one of the city's most futuristic buildings.
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April 4, 2018

David Adjaye’s first New York skyscraper begins its 800-foot rise in the Financial District

Four months after revealing renderings for his first NYC skyscraper, esteemed British architect David Adjaye is finally seeing the project get off the ground. CityRealty reports that construction at 130 William Street has reached street level, with a red kangaroo crane in the ready to begin its nearly 800-foot-tall rise. The Ghana-born architect, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and named one of TIME’s 2017 most influential people, has said the condo tower was inspired by the historic masonry architecture of the Financial District.
Find out more ahead
April 4, 2018

ODA’s proposed Chinatown ‘Dragon Gate’ pavilion interweaves tradition and modernity

As many other New York City ethnic neighborhoods have diminished or disappeared over the years, Chinatown continues to grow and prosper. Roughly bound by borders at Hester and Worth Streets to the north and south, and Essex and Broadway to the east and west, Chinatown is home to largest ethnic Chinese population outside of Asia. With this in mind, architecture firm ODA New York, known for prioritizing people over architecture, has proposed a unique and beautiful new gateway to the neighborhood at the Canal Street Triangle. ODA’s typical designs can be a bit boxy, constructed with heavier materials, but there is always a lightness to them, whether through the infusion of glass, archways, or greenery. Combining new technology with traditional Chinese symbolism, “Dragon Gate” will delicately weave the duality of Chinatown’s old and new into a strong structure, both in symbolism and material.
More renderings and details ahead