One of the most admired and critically acclaimed buildings to have risen in New York in recent years is French architect Christian de Portzamparc's luminous, crystalline LVMH office tower on East 57th Street (right). Winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1994, de Portzamparc has now teamed up with Handel Architects to design a residential cousin of sorts--a rental apartment house for a site at Park Avenue South and 28th Street. The apartment tower, though much larger, will take a similar form, with faceted glass rising into offset peaks. More after the jump...
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First Look: Hudson Blue
Why does it seem as if every developer is asking for sparkling glass curtain walls these days? Perhaps it's something in the water. More likely, the splash of attention gained by the Meier towers in the West Village has had a heavy influence on developer's view of the market, and maybe even caused them to reassess the viability of high design. Clearly there is now a comfort level (dare we say a demand?) among home buyers for stark, modernist, non-historically-based designs. Under inspection here is a project now rising at 423 West Street, just up the road from those Meier towers about which so much has been written. Hudson Blue (above right) is a ten-story 8-unit condo on a lot just 23.5 feet wide, formerly occupied by the Pit Stop Auto Repair garage. The architect for this blue-gray sliver of glass and steel is Patrick Han. Last year the developer Michael Yanko told The Villager that his ideal customers "want some privacy--not like the wild scene in the Meier buildings." We're not quite sure what that means exactly. Below is a rendering of the lobby. Click through to the Corcoran listing to view more images and take an animated virtual tour.
Penthouses
Largely unseen from the street, penthouses are a city's secret spaces. In loft conversions where they are set back from the property line, penthouses can give an architect the opportunity to create an original structure with a totally separate and distinct DNA from the legacy design without offending preservationists. Great views are only one measuring stick while square-footage of outdoor space is another key metric. Invariably, penthouses are realms of privacy and privilege, and after the jump we give you a look at three dramatic new perches hidden away on the island of Manhattan, including a virtual peek at the new home of actress Meryl Streep.
Calatrava Sky Box Condos
Despite some early doubts whether Frank Sciame's audacious 80 South Street tower designed by Santiago Calatrava would actually be built, a flurry of expensive advertising seems to suggest the project is alive and well. Last week the first ads began appearing in the New York Times, and this week a big double-page spread greets readers of entertainment industry bible Variety. The ten condo units begin at $29 million, for those of you scoring at home. The web site is now fully functional, and has glimpses of new detailed renderings that give views of the amazing spaces. This is one project where the overused word "unique" can be justly applied. Make sure to view Calatrava's gorgeous watercolor sketches, works of art in their own right. The only lingering question is whether the Seaport location can lure big fish more accustomed to SoHo and TriBeCa waters. Then again, Sciame only has to bait and hook ten buyers.
- 80 South Street (80southstreet.net)
- Visualizing Calatrava's Tower (Triple Mint's first look)
First Look: 163 Charles
Continuing with our West Village theme, architect Daniel Goldner has now placed on-line a large color rendering of his design for a building to fill a narrow lot at 163 Charles Street. The site sits directly behind the just completed Richard Meier tower, and was recently dubbed (unfairly, we think) "Mini Meier" by the New York Times. To our eyes Goldner's design seems competent in its own right, and comes after the property's previous owner (art dealer Kenny Schachter) had commissioned Zaha Hadid to design an earlier plan for the site. The new design appears to have retained at least some of the intersecting planes associated with Hadid's work, while also carving out a triplex unit, two duplexes, and ground floor commercial space. The project was recently the target of a demonstration by preservationists who are seeking to maintain the area's scale and protect the surviving examples of 19th century houses and stables. To see a larger view of the rendering click through to the link below.
