December 21, 2014

North Haven’s Peconic Residence Is Made from an Assemblage of Volumes in Harmony with Nature

Nestled amongst mature cedar, sycamore and black pines, this beautiful residence is made from an assemblage of different volumes. Featuring a mix of brown shades on its exterior, the Peconic Residence by Martin Architects in New York's North Haven was created in harmony with nature. Designed using passive house standards and sustainable materials, this beautiful dwelling also has a waterfall edge reflecting pool and a Japanese stone garden.
Learn more about this sustainable woodland home
December 20, 2014

Weekly Highlights: Top Picks from the 6sqft Staff

Is 125th Street the Next 14th Street? Big-Name Developers Think So. Brand New NYC Water Taxi Stop Makes It Easier to Explore Red Hook Explore NYC in 3-D with Latest Google Maps Update Couple Fills a 242-Square-Foot Village Apartment with Brilliant Interior Design Ideas REVEALED: NoMad Tower by FR-EE; Is It a Cowbell, Exclamation Point, […]

December 19, 2014

REVEALED: 290-Foot Cantilevering Condo Coming to Hudson Square/West Soho

A development site at Greenwich and Charlton Streets promises to be among the first to bear fruit from Hudson Square's 2013 rezoning. Images uncovered on the website of Fernando Romero EnterprisE (FR-EE) detail a 26-floor, 116-unit condominium along the quiet commercial edge of the neighborhood. The L-shaped lot is owned by the developer Cape Advisors, whose forward-thinking projects include 100 Eleventh Avenue and One Kenmare Square.
More details ahead
December 19, 2014

New Yorker Spotlight: All Aboard the NY Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show with Karen Daubmann

Every year, the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show gives visitors the chance to marvel at iconic New York landmarks and model trains. Now in its 23rd year, the show features more than 20 locomotives traveling on almost a quarter mile of tracks, which are laid out amongst the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Radio City Music Hall, and more than 150 other replicas made from bark, pine cones, pistachio shells, and other plant materials. Like any train, the Holiday Train Show requires a team of conductors to guide it, and Karen Daubmann is on board as the Associate Vice President of Exhibitions and Public Engagement, responsible for overseeing a wide range of current and future exhibitions. For this show, Karen works closely with Applied Imagination, the visionaries and builders behind these structures, to ensure the show runs smoothly and on time. We recently visited the show and spoke with Karen--standing near the Brooklyn Bridge and Yankee Stadium--to learn more about this annual production.
Read our full interview here
December 19, 2014

Real Estate Wire: Top 10 Residential Renderings of 2014; BIG-Designed Residential Coming to Harlem

Architecture critic Carter B. Horsley shares his top 10 picks for best renderings of the year. Chuckle-worthy commentary included. [CityRealty] An 11-story, 235,000-square-foot Bjarke Ingels-designed residential project is coming to Harlem. But will BIG’s tower be as bold as their 57th Street project? [TRD] The $1.75B sale of the Crown Building at 730 5th Avenue sets a […]

December 19, 2014

MAD-Designed West Village Duplex Gets a Modern Update with a Cantilevered Staircase

Originally built in 1817, this West Village townhouse recently underwent a complete renovation by Matiz Architecture & Design (MAD). The transformation of this historic Bleecker Street duplex introduced custom millwork and a cantilevered wood stair as the focal point of the design. It also mixed the home's original features, like exposed brick, ceiling beams and wide-plank flooring with modern updates such as sleek countertops, whitewashed woodwork and contemporary art. By eliminating all full-height partitions and creating an open floor plan, the firm was able to make this space feel twice its size.
See what else this duplex has in store
December 19, 2014

REVEALED: NoMad Tower by FR-EE; Is It a Cowbell, Exclamation Point, or Cheese Grater?

Another exclamation point in a year of seemingly endless skyscraper unveilings has appeared on the city's "to-build list" with a possible rendering of a long-proposed mixed-use tower slated for the heart of NoMad. This exclamatory statement comes from the Mexico-based office of Fernando Romero EnterprisE (FR-EE). Never heard of them? Then check out their website and browse the bold work we New Yorkers too often miss out on. If the selection of FR-EE is official, Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital would join a growing list of New York developers bitten by the design bug. Developers like Hines, Rosen, Related, and Extell have led the way in commissioning big name, often foreign, architects to pen skyline-shifting projects aimed at the top of the market. HFZ also commissioned British-based David Chipperfield Architects to design a dignified 30-story tower along the southern edge of Bryant Park.
More details on the 50-story tower here
December 19, 2014

Announcing 6sqft’s 2014 Building of the Year!

DRUMROLL PLEASE… You came, you voted, and now we’re pleased to announce the winner of our first-ever Building of the Year competition! Congratulations to the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed, Continuum Company-developed 45 East 22nd Street tower which won the hearts of 29 percent of over 3,500 readers who came to cast a vote. We’re not sure if it was the champagne flute-like design that sold […]

December 19, 2014

New Photo Kiosk Lets You Take a Selfie with One World Trade Center

It's hard to get the perfect selfie when you're worried about holding the phone at the right angle and pressing the button without dropping it. So a new Financial District photo kiosk will come as a welcome relief to architecture-loving selfie-takers. The bright red "selfie station," sponsored by the Downtown Alliance, a lower Manhattan business improvement district, lets users take photos of themselves with One World Trade Center soaring in the background. Located at Albany Plaza at the corner of Greenwich and Albany Streets, the high-tech kiosk also lets visitors choose photo filters and email, tweet, or Facebook their selfie.
More details on the One WTC Selfie Kiosk
December 19, 2014

Hilarious Architecture-Inspired Holiday Cards to Hand Out This Season

Giving and getting holiday cards is always fun, but every so often you'll receive one that really gets you giggling. This year, be the person handing off clever cards to your friends and family. ArchDaily has just announced their 2014 Holiday Card Contest winners, and for all of you design-minded folks and architecture nerds, they've got plenty of punny—and just downright cool—cards to choose from.
get the cards here
December 18, 2014

INTERVIEW: HS2 Architecture’s Tom and Jane Talk Residential Design and Their 20-Year Collaboration

HS2 Architecture's name may not ring all that familiar, but you've certainly come across their projects before—and we're not just talking on 6sqft. HS2's power pair, Tom Hut and Jane Sachs, have been working together since 1994, enduring the ups and downs of the NYC market and putting some spectacular and very recognizable designs out there while at it. Does the Gramercy Park Hotel ring a bell? Maybe the Palazzo Chupi? Or maybe you've shopped at the Ralph Lauren Store on Madison and 72nd. Easily one of the most underrated architecture firms working today, HS2 is really a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the built environment. In celebration of their 20th anniversary, we recently sat down with founders Tom and Jane to talk about their studio, their work, and the roller coaster ride that has been New York City architecture over the past two decades.
Read the interview with HS2's principals here
December 18, 2014

Unique “Stone” House Struggles on the Market, Asking $7.5 Million

Apparently, living in a landmarked townhouse designed by the same architect responsible for the MoMA is not as appealing to buyers as you would think. The Edward Durell Stone-designed home at 130 East 64th Street has been on the market for over a year now, with its asking price steadily declining from a $9.995 million price tag to $7.5 million, and it’s still sitting. But this four-story house is no stranger to mixed reviews.
Find out more here
December 18, 2014

Couple Fills a 242-Square-Foot Village Apartment with Brilliant Interior Design Ideas

This home may be smaller than the average of those we showcase on 6sqft, but when it comes to incredible design details, it definitely doesn't come up any shorter than the rest. Jourdan Lawlor and her fiancé Tobin Ludwig purchased this sweet West Village pied-à-terre a few years ago for just $270,000, and after a $33,000 renovation, they turned their cramped 242-square-foot studio into a comfy home with brilliant, smart space-saving techniques like built-ins and space-maximizing illusions like white walls and good lighting. But a subdued color palette doesn't hurt this home. What it lacks in wacky wall coverings it makes up in the delightful interior touches all throughout. Curbed's Hana Alberts recently visited the apartment with photographer Max Touhey in tow—see some of their images ahead.
Tour the home here
December 18, 2014

Rustic, Elegant Loft in Soho’s Tiffany Foundry Building Lists for $3M

Soho is one of NYC's most bustling neighborhoods, and if you're hoping to live in this action-packed hood look no further than this very cool loft that just popped up on the market. The spacious, three-bedroom apartment is located at 55 Prince Street in the Tiffany Foundry building built in 1861 and is currently listed for $3 million. The elegant, rustic unit has an open floor plan featuring original wooden beams, exposed brick, and oak flooring.
See the rest of the home here
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December 18, 2014

Daily Link Fix: 3D-Printed Paws Let Dog Run for the First Time; Fashion Week Is House Hunting

Derby the dog was able to run for the first time thanks to 3D-printed paws. [Designboom] This Staten Island library recalls the neighborhood’s maritime and oystering history. [ArchDaily] Fashion Week needs a new home; it’s been evicted from Lincoln Center. [West Side Rag] NYC’s “awkwardly shaped” tax lots, like the Hess Triangle, equal over five million square […]

December 18, 2014

6sqft Gift Guide: Polaroid’s Socialmatic Camera Posts Your Pictures on Instagram

The kids today posting their selfies and cat pictures to Instagram have no idea that they owe the square-shaped insta-photos to the good old Polaroid. So give them a little history lesson this holiday season with the Polaroid Socialmatic camera. It prints your photos on the spot like the original model, but also uploads them directly to social media outlets thanks to a WiFi connection that also lets users download apps and use the internet.
More details on the Polaroid Socialmatic camera
December 18, 2014

2015 Architectural League Prize Is Accepting Submissions for Authenticity Competition

Budding architects and designers have the chance to submit proposals that cultivate new positions of authenticity within architecture, the task of this year's Architectural League Prize Competition, according to Arch Daily. Since 1981, this contest has been put on by the Young Architects + Designers Committee to recognize young practitioners. Authenticity has a very different meaning in today's digital world than it did in ancient Greece, for example, where the only two forms of copying were stamping and casting. Thus, the 2015 Authenticity competition asks participants to explore "how design, technology, and practice challenge authenticity and the ways that originality, expression, and authorship continue to be pursued."
READ MORE
December 18, 2014

Davis Brody Bond, Architects of 9/11 Museum, Will Design New NYU Building in the Village

Architecture firm Davis Brody Bond is continuing their tradition of designing projects met with much controversy. First came the 9/11 Museum, then the Frick Museum expansion, and now the new NYU building in the Village. Davis Brody Bond will join KieranTimberlake in designing the university's new building on the Coles Sports Center site on Mercer Street between Houston and Bleecker Streets. The building is part of the highly contentious $6 billion, 1.9 million-square-foot NYU 2031 expansion plan. The development agreement allows NYU to develop only one parcel of land at a time, with Coles being the first.
READ MORE
December 18, 2014

Meredith Vieira Buys an $8.55M Penthouse at the El Dorado

All of Meredith Vieira's hard work has certainly paid off. According to the Post, the journalist-slash-talk-show-host-slash-game-show-host has just scooped up a penthouse at the El Dorado. The home is a three-bedroom stunner with two large terraces and Central Park reservoir views. The final closing price has yet to be revealed, but it was last asking $8.55 million in May when it went into contract. The previous owners paid $5.95 million for it back in 2011—surely a recent, beautiful, never-lived-in renovation helped give this CPW pad a price boost.
Have a peek inside
December 17, 2014

Explore NYC in 3-D with Google Maps’ Latest Update

For those of you who remember the quirky Times story featuring a Google team's attempt to document every inch of Ellis Island, here comes the the payoff. The awe-inspiring world of Google Maps and Google Earth is growing into an even grander time suck with a slew of new city sites rendered in 3-D. Their latest update now lets us explore New York's landmarks from top to torch to spire, and all the details in between, right from our desktops. Some of the most impressive sites worth a gander include the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center.
READ MORE
December 17, 2014

$2.5M Romanesque Revival Rowhouse in Prospect Heights Is Full of Original Details

"I want something with character." This is definitely a line brokers hear all the time. And if their current character-seeking client is looking to move to brownstone Brooklyn, this $2.5 million Romanesque Revival rowhouse in Prospect Heights is the perfect place to satisfy their check list. Located at 268 Prospect Place, the three-bedroom, 2,430-square-foot home was built by William L. Beers in 1899. It's oozing with historic details, including six fireplaces, stained glass transom windows, moldings galore, a carved wood staircase, sand wood floors, original wainscoting, cornices, and shutters.
Tour the historic home here

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