Architecture And Design

Having a stocked bar in your home is one of the many privileges of adulthood, but that doesn't necessarily mean we know how to make drinks. Thanks to designer Lily Szajnberg, we can take the guess work out of mixing boozy concoctions at home with her Cocktail Computer. Szajnberg, who's an expert at in-home mixology, has combined her experience finding and executing her favorite cocktails to create this funky kitchen accessory that allows users to search curated drink recipes based on the ingredients they have available.
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October 19, 2015

Garrison Treehouse Features Twisty Slide, Writing Desk and Hudson Valley Panoramas

Even as adults many of us willingly admit that having a treehouse would be awesome, and the Garrison Treehouse, designed by the NYC-based studio Sharon Davis Design, is better than we imagined. This 200-square-foot playful retreat is quaintly situated amongst the meadow, forest, orchards and hills of the Hudson River Valley in Garrison, New York (where Davis herself has an eco-retreat), and includes fire poles, a twisty slide, a balcony and even a writing desk.
Live out your childhood fantasies

Architecture And Design

October 16, 2015

New Renderings of Handel Architects’ Torqued 43-Story Rental Underway Near Grand Central

Groundwork on BLDG Management's 43-story rental tower at 222 East 44th Street is quickly moving forward now that the large block-through parking garage that occupied the site has been removed. The 441,000-square-foot development situated midblock between Second and Third Avenues will house 429 residential units, 87 of which will be deemed affordable. East 44th Street is among the most densely built streetscapes in the city, and will be more so once three other high-rises projects on the stretch are complete. But as 6sqft reported in August, the 556-foot-tall, Handel Architects-designed development employs a unique massing where its elevations are torqued away from the street wall, granting additional light and air to residents.
This way for more details and renderings

October 16, 2015

Freyja Sewell’s Felt Cocoon Helps People Reconnect With Their Senses

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

In a world that focuses so much on the convenience of online interactions, it's important to bring attention to our bodies and physical sensations. Tackling this issue, British designer Freyja Sewell created the "Sensory Concentration Space," a cocoon-like habitat for enjoying different stimuli and escaping away from it all. Hand-sewn from biodegradable grey felt, it isolates people from the hustle and bustle of modern urban life, something most New Yorkers could benefit from.
Learn more about this warm comfy space

October 16, 2015

Robert Stuart Fills His West Village Condo With Thoughtful Details for a Past Reimagined

This gorgeous, rustic West Village condo belongs to designer Robert Stuart from Rob Stuart Interiors. Located on Perry Street, his city oasis was used as a warehouse in the 1980s, so was in desperate need of some personality when he moved in. With his own home as his canvas, the designer took advantage of the massively high ceilings, wood burning fireplace, and panoramic NYC views. Before renovations were installed, the space was stripped down to its bare bones and every corner and detail was put in place to design a home of the past reimagined.
See it all here

Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion Debuts Its ‘American Cheese Yellow’ Paint Job

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

October 16, 2015

Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion Debuts Its ‘American Cheese Yellow’ Paint Job

After 8,000 hours and 1,600 gallons of paint, the New York State Pavilion's Tent of Tomorrow is camera-ready for its spot on Open House New York Weekend. The Daily News reports that Philip Johnson's iconic World's Fair structure in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is now sporting a fresh coat of "American Cheese Yellow" paint. The job "included power-washing off decades of rust, applying primer and the historically accurate paint while working on a platform suspended 100 feet in the air," and it cost $3 million. It'll certainly be all over Instagram tomorrow and Sunday, but some ambitious architecture lovers have already gotten up close to the landmark.
Have a look at the pictures here

Architecture And Design

October 16, 2015

Jaw-Dropping Apartment in Former Ballroom of Park Slope’s Historic Montauk Club Asks $5.25M

By Emily Nonko

Well, it doesn't get much better than this. The entire fourth floor of Park Slope's historic Montauk Club, located at 25 8th Avenue, is now on the market for $5.25 million. This apartment was originally the private social club's ballroom, which was built in 1889 to serve the Brooklyn elite. Today, it's still a private club, although a lucky someone now gets to live on the fourth floor. 4,000 square feet, mahogany woodwork, chandeliers, fireplaces, and a copper bathtub? It's too hard not to swoon.
Take the tour

First Full Look at Extell’s 80-Story One Manhattan Square, 800 Condos Aimed at Asian Buyers

Bloomberg News reported yesterday that the restless developer Gary Barnett will soon begin marketing the 800 condominiums of his upcoming One Manhattan Square development to Asian buyers first. Apparently not satisfied with erecting two of the tallest and priciest residential buildings in the city, One57 and the Central Park Tower, the Extell Development Company founder and CEO is busy laying the groundwork for one of the largest condominium towers in the city at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Going by the address 252 South Street, the bipartite tower is being designed by Adamson Associates Architects (AAI) and will soar 80 stories tall, roughly to the same height as the Comcast Building (former GE/RCA Building) in Midtown. At nearly 850 feet, the tower will be the tallest skyscraper on the island between Midtown and downtown, and by far the tallest building directly along the waterfront. Its staggering 800 units will fall just short of the city's largest individual condo-tower, the 816-unit Corinthian in Murray Hill.
More details on the development

October 15, 2015

Grid System: Ying Chang’s Customizable Mesh Desk Adapts to Your Busy Life

By Ana Lisa Alperovich

With limited space, New Yorkers need to be smart about the way they live and work. So if you often find yourself multi-tasking at home, this design may be right up your alley. Royal College of Art graduate Ying Chang has come up with the modular "Grid System," a piece of furniture that allows users to plug and unplug different storage boxes and trays according to their needs.
Learn more about this clever design

October 15, 2015

Studio Cadena Turns a Cramped 600 Square Foot Bushwick Loft Into a Three-Bedroom Artist Residence

Bushwick is a rapidly changing artists' neighborhood and much like other popular neighborhoods in New York City, is experiencing an increasing scarcity of affordable living space. That being said, it's easy to understand why this group of just-starting-out youngsters decided to transform a 600-square-foot, awkwardly subdivided loft into a bright open space they could share comfortably. With a limited budget and help from the architects and designers at Studio Cadena, their apartment is now a modern and dynamic living space.
Check it out here

October 15, 2015

Pollution Cleanup Park Taking Shape at Gowanus Canal

The Gowanus Canal isn't the first place that comes to mind when one thinks about lush waterfront parks, but that's exactly the vision behind the long-planned Gowanus Canal Sponge Park, an 18,000-square-foot public space that will be built with engineered soil to absorb (hence "sponge") stormwater that would otherwise pollute the canal, as well as plants to break down toxins and floating wetlands. It was first conceived back in 2008 by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Susannah Drake, principal at the landscape architecture firm DLANDstudio (who's also responsible for the Queensway). Now, seven years later, DNAinfo reports that state officials announced on Tuesday that construction has officially commenced on the $1.5 million project at the notorious Superfund site. The park will sit on city-owned land at the point where Second Street dead-ends at the canal. Workers are on site, digging out five feet of contaminated soil that will be sent to a special facility that handles toxic materials; during the next 90 days, the metal walkway will be installed; and plants will arrive in the spring.
More on the park and the Gowanus Canal cleanup

Architecture And Design

October 15, 2015

Make Beautiful Music in Ira Gershwin’s Noted UWS Penthouse, Listed for $6M

By Annie Doge

If these walls could sing, they'd probably belt out a Gershwin brothers tune. One of the two adjoining penthouses occupied by George and Ira Gershwin has just hit the market for $5.99 million, The Post reports. The two apartments, located at 33 Riverside Drive, were quite the party pad for the two brothers back in the day; a famed locale that welcomed legendary celebs like Ethel Merman (incidentally, the brothers were said to have written "Girl Crazy" within its walls). The pair called the two penthouses home from 1929 until 1933, and now Ira's space is up for grabs.
More photos inside the home this way

October 14, 2015

These Bike Helmets Are Designed to Resemble the Human Head

Bike culture in NYC is a vibrant part of the city, so we love any quirky bike swag that might make heads turn. These crazy bike helmets called Project:Human Helmet from Dubai-based designer Jyo John Mulloor are a great example. The conceptual gear doesn't look like a regular helmet, but rather it was designed to resemble the surface of a human scalp. Weird, right?
Find out more about these helmets

October 14, 2015

REVEALED: First Look at GDC Properties’ Townhouses Coming to Long Island City

After the record snatch-up of Red Hook's King and Sullivan Townhomes last month, another not-so-Brownstoney neighborhood is joining in on the townhouse craze. Westchester County-based GDC Properties is slated to bring eighteen two-family townhouses to Long Island City, and here we have a first look at what the ensemble's 11th Street frontage will look like.
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October 14, 2015

Gracie Mansion Reopening for Public Tours Next Month With a New Art Collection

Gracie Mansion will reopen for public tours starting next month, and visitors will be welcomed with a new, diverse art collection. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife wanted the art and objects inside the 1799 home where her family now lives—one of the oldest surviving wooden structures in New York City—to be a broader and more accurate reflection of the city as it looked in the late 1700s and early 1800s." She therefore brought in 49 new works that include "portraits of freed slaves, historic documents, imported goods and items traded to American Indians." The new installation is called "Windows on the City Looking Out at Gracie’s New York" and will be unveiled at an open house on October 25th.
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October 14, 2015

REVEALED: Karl Fischer Pens Another Bottom-Line Design for East Williamsburg

Here's our first unfortunate look at a 12-story residential building slated to rise within a rapidly gentrifying corner of East Williamsburg. The block-through parcel at 46 Cook Street, between Graham and Humboldt Streets, will give way to a 34,000-square-foot mixed-use development designed by Karl Fischer Architect and Brooklyn-based developer Joel Braver, under the LLC Cook Properties. The project replaces a one-story brick warehouse building and is located just two blocks from the Flushing Avenue J/M subway station.
More info ahead

October 14, 2015

Robert A.M. Stern’s 520 Park Avenue Finally Reaches Street Level, $130M Penthouse on Its Way

Two years since its groundbreaking, Zeckendorf Development's tower o' opulence at 520 Park Avenue has finally emerged from its cavernous trench. Set for completion in 2018, the Billionaires' Row building will climb 54 floors and 780 feet into the Manhattan skyline, becoming the tallest and likely the most prestigious building on the Upper East Side. Envisioned by William Lie and Arthur Zeckendorf, 520 Park Avenue inherits the classically-inspired taste of the real estate dynasty's prior projects. In the '80s, their father William Zeckendorf Jr. erected some of the city's largest post-modern apartment complexes such as Worldwide Plaza, Zeckendorf Towers, and the Park Belvedere. Here, the developers commissioned the esteemed architect/historian and dean of the Yale School of Architecture Robert A.M. Stern as the designer and SLCE as the architects of record. This team also collaborated together on 18 Gramercy Park South and 15 Central Park West, which shattered apartment records when it opened in 2008. Intent on replicating its west side counterpart's success, the Zeckendorfs again gathered the now-not-so-secret ingredients: a powerful address, palatial apartments, and most importantly, the coveted Central Park view, all of which will culminate in a jaw-dropping $130 million penthouse.
More on the project's status

October 13, 2015

The Enveloppe Sofa by Inga Sempe Is as Great as Spooning

Sometimes after a long day at work you can almost hear your couch calling your name. But by introducing the Enveloppe Sofa by Inga Sempe into your living room, your most beloved piece of furniture will actually welcome you home with a well-deserved hug. The curved design of the couch can be enjoyed solo, with a friend or a loved one.
find out more here

October 13, 2015

Upper East Side Townhouse by Blair Harris Boasts Opulent Details and Regal Allure

Blair Harris Interior Design is relatively new to the New York design scene, but the work they've been churning out thus far is simply stunning. This beautifully decorated Upper East Side townhouse boasts an array of opulent textures, colors, and patterns, and the carefully curated furniture and light fixtures give the home a regal allure. The architectural details include floor-to-ceiling windows, ornate ceiling medallions, handsome molding, and decadent built-ins.
Take a look around

October 12, 2015

New Renderings of One Vanderbilt Show the 1,500-Foot Tall Tower Set in the Skyline

By Diane Pham

Outside of a $1.1 billion lawsuit, news on the One Vanderbilt front has been relatively quiet. The supertall tower received unanimous approval back in May by the City Council and since then demo at the site has been underway. But now, NY Yimby has gotten ahold of some new renderings that offer additional views of the KPF-designed tower—in particular, how the 1,500-foot behemoth will fit in with the existing NYC skyline. Once the building is constructed, it will be one of the tallest skycrapers in the city with a roof height exceeding that of One World Trade's. And as noted by YIMBY, One Vanderbilt will also be the first building in Midtown east to surpass the Chrysler Building in height (which, if you look closely at the above rendering, you can see demurely reflected in the building's glass).
see more here

October 12, 2015

INTERVIEW: ADFF Founder Kyle Bergman Invites You to Revel in Architecture Films All This Week!

By Diane Pham

Attention all film, architecture and architecture film buffs! This week marks the start of the seventh annual Architecture and Design Film Festival (ADFF). For six glorious days, from October 13th-18th, New Yorkers are invited to enjoy more than 30 feature-length and short films centered on, you guessed it, architecture and design. While many of you may be thinking that watching a two-plus hour movie about a building is a guaranteed snoozer, ADFF's Kyle Bergman would most definitely argue otherwise. We recently caught up with the festival founder and architect who turned the once five-film gathering into a multi-city phenomenon that has captured the eyes, ears and hearts of not just design professionals, but folks from all walks of life looking to be inspired and moved by great cinema. Learn more about how the festival came to be and what's in store for this year's ADFF ahead. **BONUS: 6sqft readers can enjoy special discount on tickets! Just enter the code “FLOOR” at check out.**
read the interview with Kyle here

October 12, 2015

Supertall Towers Getting Multimillion-Dollar Antenna Systems to Ensure Good Cell Reception