Architecture And Design

Hudson Yards Park renamed in honor of activist and former NY congresswoman, Bella Abzug

Rendering via MVVA and the Hudson Yards Development Corporation

March 5, 2019

Hudson Yards Park renamed in honor of activist and former NY congresswoman, Bella Abzug

Update 3/25/19: Tishman Speyer bought last week an auto repair building on West 36th Street for $20 million, the New York Post reported Monday. The company will demolish the two-story building to make way for a greenway that will be the next segment of Bella Abzug Park. In exchange for paying for the new park, Tishman Speyer will get air rights from the city to put up a tower bounded by Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The city on Friday renamed a park near Hudson Yards in honor of the late Bella Abzug, a former U.S. Representative of New York and stalwart supporter of the women's rights movement. The greenspace, formerly Hudson Yards Park, stretches just over two acres between West 33rd and 36th Street. First developed with the extension of the 7 subway line to 34th Street, the park will soon be extended to 39th Street and run over an Amtrak rail cut.
Details here

Architecture And Design

Proposed project would bring 167 affordable housing units to East New York using modular construction

Rendering courtesy of Think! Architecture and Design

March 4, 2019

Proposed project would bring 167 affordable housing units to East New York using modular construction

By Devin Gannon

Hoping to create affordable housing more quickly and at a lower cost, New York City is turning to cutting-edge construction methods. The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced on Monday plans to develop 167 affordable housing units in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York using modular construction. The $70 million project would become the first under Mayor Bill de Blasio's Housing New York 2.0 program to use this method of building on property owned by the city. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, officials think modular construction could reduce the project's timeline by 25 to 30 percent.
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DXA Studio’s pedestrian bridge design would connect Hudson Yards and Moynihan Train Hall

Rendering: DXA Studio.

March 4, 2019

DXA Studio’s pedestrian bridge design would connect Hudson Yards and Moynihan Train Hall

By Michelle Cohen

A curvy urban pathway designed by DXA Studio could allow commuters to pass between the new Moynihan Train Hall at West 31st Street to the High Line and Hudson Yards at 30th Street without having to deal with cars at all. The design is the grand prize-winning entry–for a $15,000 prize–in the 2019 Design Challenge by Metals in Construction magazine. The contest asked architects, engineers, and students to create a pedestrian bridge that could safely move the approximately 100,000 people daily that travel from the train hall to Hudson Yards while keeping the foot traffic from affecting the street below.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

180 East 88th tower tops out at 524 feet, set to be tallest tower north of 72nd Street

Rendering via DDG; Construction shot of 180 E 188th in early January via CityRealty

February 28, 2019

180 East 88th tower tops out at 524 feet, set to be tallest tower north of 72nd Street

By Alexandra Alexa

The highly anticipated tower rising at 180 East 88th Street recently topped out, taking the title of the city’s tallest building north of 72nd Street, as CityRealty first reported. Developed by DDG, the 524-foot structure will bring 48 expansive condos to the Upper East Side and is expected to open this Spring. Photos from a recent construction visit show crews adding the final pieces of the concrete-enclosed rooftop bulkhead. Crews are still working to fully cover the facade of the 32-story tower in hand-laid Kolumba brick (there are 593,987 individual bricks) which will be accented by bronze-colored window frames.
See the shots

IKEA’s newest curtains will purify indoor air

Images courtesy of Ikea

February 26, 2019

IKEA’s newest curtains will purify indoor air

By Alexandra Alexa

The World Health Organization estimates that 90 percent of people worldwide are impacted by the harmful effects of pollution, which provoke a range of life-threatening diseases. While pollution is thought to cause around eight million deaths a year, more than half of those are the result of indoor pollution, not the smog-filled city streets we’re more commonly wary of. To help with this problem, IKEA is preparing to launch GUNRID, an air-purifying curtain. The low-cost, low-tech option will give New Yorkers (who are always short on space) a simple way of destroying indoor air pollution without using any bulky filtering systems.
Get the scoop

Usonian-style Bronxville home built in 1950 by Frank Lloyd Wright collaborator asks $5M

Images courtesy of William Pitt/Julia B. Fee for Sotheby’s International Realty; photo credit: Chris Collins Studio.

February 26, 2019

Usonian-style Bronxville home built in 1950 by Frank Lloyd Wright collaborator asks $5M

By Michelle Cohen

This unique home tucked into a gorgeous wooded landscape in Bronxville, NY, was built in 1950 by architect and Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice David Henken in the iconic Usonian style. A complete renovation by renowned architect Markus Dochantschi in 2012 modernized and expanded the 5,500-square-foot home; Dochantschi, founder of StudioMDA, is a former director of Zaha Hadid Architects and specializes in minimalist, functional design. The property is on the market for $4.995 million.
See more, this way

Finalists announced in Transit Tech Lab accelerator program to help modernize NYC public transit

Image via Flickr

February 26, 2019

Finalists announced in Transit Tech Lab accelerator program to help modernize NYC public transit

By Michelle Cohen

As part of the much-needed effort to modernize New York City public transit, the MTA and the Partnership for New York City have announced six finalists for the inaugural Transit Tech Lab accelerator program. The eight-week program, which began this week, will give the six chosen companies an opportunity to try new technologies customized to solve for specific subway and bus priorities such as reducing cost and cutting down subway delays by employing predictive maintenance, deploying a transit network planning platform, using computer vision to untangle bus lane traffic and using sensors to address platform crowding.
More innovation this way

February 22, 2019

Sotheby’s announces $55M expansion and redesign of NYC headquarters by Rem Koolhaas’ OMA

By Alexandra Alexa

Renowned auction house Sotheby’s has revealed renderings of its reimagined Upper East Side headquarters, designed by OMA New York’s Shohei Shigematsu. Slated to open on May 3rd to coincide with their auctions of Impressionist & Modern and Contemporary Art, the redesign features 40 galleries across four completely transformed floors and will increase Sotheby’s exhibition space from 67,000 square feet to more than 90,000 (a whopping two acres of space!).
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Architecture And Design

INTERVIEW: Architect Nancy Ruddy on 30 years in NYC, adding to the skyline, and restaurant design

Photo courtesy of CetraRuddy

February 22, 2019

INTERVIEW: Architect Nancy Ruddy on 30 years in NYC, adding to the skyline, and restaurant design

By Dana Schulz

When Nancy Ruddy and her husband John Cetra formed architecture firm CetraRuddy in 1987, they wanted to "create inspirational spaces and buildings based upon the ideas of craft and the human touch." Thirty-one years later, and the 100-person firm has achieved this goal and then some, marking the skyline with their soaring One Madison tower, transforming Tribeca's 443 Greenwich Street into the hottest celebrity residence, and adapting historic buildings by prolific architects such as Ralph Walker and Rosario Candela. They've also distinguished themselves by combing architecture and design practices, which was most recently showcased at their designs for the new Time Warner Center restaurant Bluebird London. Ahead, 6sqft talks with Nancy Ruddy about how all of these successes came to be, where she sees the architectural landscape of NYC heading, and what it was like creating a destination dining space overlooking Central Park.
Hear from Nancy

Staten Island Levee project secures funding, will move forward

Rendering of original sea wall plan via Governor Cuomo’s office

February 19, 2019

Staten Island Levee project secures funding, will move forward

By Michelle Cohen

Mayor Bill de Blasio, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, United States Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and United States Congressman Max Rose announced today that funding has been secured for the Staten Island Levee project. The news gives the green light for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to build a long-awaited 5.3 mile sea wall that would protect waterfront communities in Staten Island from future storms.
Good news for Staten Island

Plans for Norman Foster’s Red Hook office complex may be kaput

By Alexandra Alexa

According to sources close to the project, plans for Norman Foster’s Red Hoek Point, a 7.7-acre commercial campus at the former Revere Sugar Factory on the Red Hook shoreline, appear to be getting scrapped, The Real Deal reports. The website still advertises the “revolutionary office campus on the Brooklyn waterfront,” but Thor Equities is reportedly going to abandon the 800,000-square-foot complex and replace it with warehousing, a change of course that Thor’s founder Joseph Sitt may have been considering as early as last October, as new renderings for Red Hoek Point were being developed.
More info

Facing poor sales, the partners behind Jean Nouvel’s 53W53 seek additional price chops

Rendering by Hayes Davidson

February 14, 2019

Facing poor sales, the partners behind Jean Nouvel’s 53W53 seek additional price chops

By Alexandra Alexa

The partners behind the Jean Nouvel-designed tower at 53 West 53rd Street (also known as the MoMA Tower) will be serving even more price chops to the ultra-luxury project in the midst of lackluster sales, though they disagree on how much that should be. As Crain’s reported, Hines, Goldman Sachs, and Singapore’s Pontiac Land Group recently underwent an arbitration process to settle the matter, with Hines seeking aggressive discounts. The 1,050-foot condo building has already received $167 million in price cuts since hitting the market almost four years ago with a projection of $2.14 billion in sales. About 15 percent of the 145 units at 53W53 are under contract currently, with closings set to begin in the spring, a spokeswoman for the project said.
Get the details

Timber bridge between Greenpoint and Long Island City gets support from local politicians

Rendering via CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture and Design

February 14, 2019

Timber bridge between Greenpoint and Long Island City gets support from local politicians

By Michelle Cohen

6sqft reported last May on a proposal for a civic design project aimed at reconnecting the neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Long Island City. Brooklyn-based studio CRÈME's concept, called Timber Bridge at LongPoint Corridor, calls for constructing a floating bridge made of durable timber that would span Newtown Creek and expand past it to the LIRR rail yard in LIC. Not only would the new bridge provide greater access to transit options, but, according to the design team, Timber Bridge would give cyclists and pedestrians a safer commute than the car-jammed Pulaski Bridge. The Brooklyn Eagle reports that this grassroots initiative is now just a bit closer to becoming a reality with the creation of a nonprofit and new support from local civic leaders.
Bridge love, this way

Architecture And Design

February 13, 2019

For $849K, this Westchester geodesic dome home offers energy efficiency and endless views

By Michelle Cohen

Just 45 minutes from Manhattan, this three-bedroom home in the Westchester County, N.Y. village of Pleasantville, asking $849,000, sits on a 40-foot granite rock cliff. Though that alone might make it a standout property, the 2,519-square-foot home is a geodesic dome, built by the dome kit experts at American Ingenuity, according to Curbed. The current owners built the home to follow their dream of building a geodesic dome within an hour of NYC, with a view, close to town and the Metro North commuter train. Its construction far exceeded the building codes at the time while making it 50 percent more energy efficient than a regular house.
Get a closer look

February 13, 2019

Landmarks approves Snøhetta’s new designs for Phillip Johnson’s 550 Madison Avenue

By Michelle Cohen

In December, 6sqft reported that architecture firm Snøhetta had unveiled a preservationist-friendly revision to a controversial design for an updated AT&T building at 550 Madison Avenue; last month brought more details from the firm's proposal that was submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The most recent design is one of several revisions, each followed by controversy over being seen by preservationists as diverting too much from the building’s original design by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Yesterday LPC approved the new preservation-friendly designs–with some modifications. The office tower is now on track to reopen in 2020.
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February 13, 2019

New renderings for Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed redevelopment of One Madison Avenue

By Devin Gannon

Last December, SL Green announced plans to renovate its building at One Madison Avenue with an 18-floor addition and modern interiors. On Tuesday, CityRealty uncovered a few new renderings of the planned redevelopment, which is being designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. The developer will reduce the 13-story building to its ninth floor and then add the 18 column-free floors above, as well as wraparound and rooftop terraces overlooking Madison Square Park.
See them here

Architecture And Design

New plan by BIG and WXY will help make Downtown Brooklyn a ‘competitive national urban center’

Image courtesy of Downtownbrooklyn.com.

February 12, 2019

New plan by BIG and WXY will help make Downtown Brooklyn a ‘competitive national urban center’

By Michelle Cohen

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership announced today the selection of a joint proposal from design firms WXY Studio (WXY) and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG Architects) for a public realm action plan aimed at implementing long-term improvements to Downtown Brooklyn’s plazas, streets, and public spaces to keep pace with the neighborhood's unprecedented growth. According to a press release, the two firms will conduct a comprehensive study and create an implementation plan for Downtown Brooklyn’s public realm and help "advance Downtown Brooklyn as a competitive, national urban center."
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Architecture And Design

See new photos and renderings of Bjarke Ingels’ The Spiral as it rises in Hudson Yards

Skyline rendering with The Spiral via Tishman Speyer

February 12, 2019

See new photos and renderings of Bjarke Ingels’ The Spiral as it rises in Hudson Yards

By Michelle Cohen

The Hudson Yards mega-development on Manhattan's far west side is fast becoming a collection of notable new skyscrapers; construction is underway on what may be the most recognizable of the bunch, the office tower known as The Spiral that will occupy full-block site at 66 Hudson Boulevard between West 34th and 35th Streets. Bjarke Ingels Group's design features setbacks that wind their way up the building's exterior, hosting landscaped terraces for tower-level floors along the way.
Many more renderings, this way

Designs sought for two new waterfront parks in Inwood

Inwood Hill Park via Flickr

February 11, 2019

Designs sought for two new waterfront parks in Inwood

By Devin Gannon

Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is seeking ideas for two new waterfront parks in Inwood, as first reported by Curbed. The city's Economic Development Corporation released a request for proposals on Monday for a consultant or team to design a pair of parks along the Harlem River in the Manhattan neighborhood. The plan falls under the Inwood rezoning, which was approved last August and intends to deliver $200 million in public investments. During the process, stakeholders pushed for new open space and upgraded parks to be included in the rezoning, as the waterfront remains inaccessible to many in the community.
More here

Architecture And Design

The hidden loft buildings of the Upper West Side

Via Wiki Commons

February 11, 2019

The hidden loft buildings of the Upper West Side

By Mike Mishkin

When most of us think of “lofts” in relation to Upper West Side apartments, our first thought is probably the commonplace storage or sleeping loft found in converted brownstones and townhouses. While we tend to associate actual loft apartments with downtown neighborhoods like Tribeca and Soho, there are a handful of Upper West Side condos and co-ops where you can find the same soaring ceilings and open floor plans. Ahead, we've rounded up the five loftiest options you'll find north of Columbus Circle.
Learn all about them

Architecture And Design

Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC may move forward without anchor tenant

Rendering of 2 World Center via DBOX, courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group

February 11, 2019

Bjarke Ingels-designed 2 WTC may move forward without anchor tenant

By Michelle Cohen

Silverstein Properties, Inc. chairman Larry Silverstein has said construction may begin on the final World Trade Center tower before a committed tenant signs a lease, Bloomberg reports. Following work on the building's foundation, the developer was waiting to progress with further work until a lease was signed. But optimism about the economy and strong leasing progress at neighboring towers may mean the building might rise "on spec." The 2.8 million-square-foot office tower, designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, will be the last of Silverstein’s four skyscrapers to occupy the site.
Find out more

February 7, 2019

Eleanor Roosevelt’s historic Upper East Side townhouse is back for a reduced $13.5M

By Alexandra Alexa

Here’s a chance to own the former home of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the nation’s favorite First Ladies. She lived at 211 East 62nd Street in Lenox Hill from 1953 to 1958 following her husband’s death. In the opulent spaces, she entertained the likes of Indira Gandhi, Adlai Stevenson, and John Kennedy, pursued her social justice and political causes, and penned her popular column for “My Day.” Investor Charles Ueng purchased the townhouse for $9 million in 2011 and spent $2 million on renovations before putting it on the market for $18 million in 2015. The property has been on and off the market since then and was just relisted with a lower asking price of $13,500,000.
You don't want to miss this

After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

Photo of Truman Capote via Wiki Commons

February 7, 2019

After two years on the market, historic Brooklyn Heights home that inspired Truman Capote relists for $7.6M

By Alexandra Alexa

In 1959, Truman lived in Brooklyn Heights around the corner from 13 Pineapple Street, a Federal-era home that inspired him to write the following lines: “Cheerfully austere, as elegant and other-era as formal calling cards, these houses bespeak an age of able servants and solid fireside ease; of horses in musical harness,” as 6sqft previously noted. The house, one of the oldest in Brooklyn, hit the market for the first time in 26 years in January of 2017 for $10.5 million and received a price chop the following year to $8.4 million. Now, after being on the market for two years, the owners have reduced the price again to a more conservative $7.6 million.
Look around

MoMA will be closed all summer as it wraps up the final phase of its $400M expansion

Exterior view of The Museum of Modern Art on 53rd Street. Rendering by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, courtesy of MoMA.

February 5, 2019

MoMA will be closed all summer as it wraps up the final phase of its $400M expansion

By Alexandra Alexa

The Museum of Modern Art will be closed throughout the summer as it prepares to open its expanded campus on October 21st. The $400 million expansion, developed by MoMA with architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler, will add more than 40,000 square feet of gallery spaces and allow the Museum to exhibit more art in new, interdisciplinary ways. The final phase of construction will expand into Jean Nouvel’s new residential tower 53W53 and into the site of the demolished American Folk Art Museum. It will add innovative performance and education spaces, expand the MoMA Design and Bookstore, and add free street-level galleries on the ground floor that will make art more accessible for all.
Get all the details

Memorial honoring those stricken by illness after 9/11 to open May 30

Rendering by Moso Studio.

February 4, 2019

Memorial honoring those stricken by illness after 9/11 to open May 30

By Michelle Cohen

As 6sqft previously reported, after the rescue and recovery effort for the September 11th attacks ended, an estimated 400,000 people were exposed to life-threatening toxins, and since then, nearly 70,000 first responders and more than 14,000 survivors enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program. Last May, 9/11 Memorial & Museum president Alice Greenwald revealed the official design for Memorial Glade, a monument to all those who have lost their lives or are sick due to these related illnesses. The New York Post now reports that work is underway at Liberty and West streets.
Find out more about Memorial Glade

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