Architecture And Design

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

Koppert Cress, a farm in the Netherlands that uses low-energy magenta LED lamps in its greenhouses. Photo credit: Pieternel van Velden, courtesy of Guggenheim Museum.

December 4, 2017

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

By Michelle Cohen

World renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, known for being both innovative and committed to urban living, has turned his eye toward a new frontier–literally. The focus of the peripatetic starchitect’s upcoming 2019 exhibition, titled “Countryside: Future of the World,” to be installed in the spiral rotunda at the Guggenheim Museum, will be the world’s rural landscapes and how they have been altered by technology, migration and climate change. According to the New York Times, Koolhaas asks us to consider the countryside–that is, "anything but the city," for reasons of architecture, culture–and politics, in light of events like Brexit and President Trump's election.
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December 4, 2017

$4.35M Connecticut home Marcel Breuer designed for himself got a glass and steel addition

By Emily Nonko

Marcel Breuer isn't just the architect behind the original Whitney Museum of Art--he's also known for his mid-century modern home designs. And now there's an incredible chance to buy the New Canaan, Connecticut home he actually designed for himself in 1951. The striking home has changed hands several times after Breuer's death, according to DesignBoom. But the current owner commissioned New York-based architect Toshiko Mori to extend the property. A steel and glass extension gives the property a modern edge, which also doubling its size to four bedrooms over 5,577 square feet. It's asking $4.35 million.
Get inside

December 1, 2017

Historic freestanding manse in Forest Hills Gardens asks $1.4M

By Emily Nonko

This freestanding Tudor home at 310 Burns Street was original to the master plan designed by Grosvenor Atterbury of the model housing community Forest Hills Gardens. The 175-acre enclave just south of the Forest Hills LIRR station and within the greater Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills was developed in the early 1900s as a private garden community with shared green space alongside urban convenience. Today the community consists of 11 apartment buildings and 800 free-standing--this being one of them. Situated right in the heart of "The Gardens," the historic home is up for grabs asking $1.418 million.
Get the interior tour

December 1, 2017

Two Dakota neighbors seek a $20.5M buyer to restore their apartment pair to its original splendor

By Michelle Cohen

Just listed at the venerable Dakota at 1 West 72nd Street–with over 85 feet of Central Park views–is an opportunity to combine two apartments and re-create the gilded-age grandeur of a front-facing corner residence. 6sqft recently covered a beautifully-preserved eight-room co-op in the building, on the market for the first time in 50 years, asking $12.5 million. Now, the owners of that unit and the apartment next door are offering the rare pair for $20.5 million, in hopes that a deep-pocketed buyer will combine the two and enjoy the original 4,800 square-foot home as it was created in 1884 (h/t WSJ).
See what 4,800 square feet in the Dakota looks like

November 30, 2017

Art-filled ‘Musée Maison,’ Hamilton Heights home of artist/acrobat, still a tough sell at $2.7M

By Michelle Cohen

In 2015, 6sqft took a look at this unusual Hamilton Heights three-family townhouse at 532 West 148th Street, then on the market for $2.5 million. The home was purchased by Portuguese-born architect/artist Luis Da Cruz in 2006 for $995,000 and thoroughly renovated, emerging as a canvas for the artist's personal creative vision. Cruz restored the 1920 home's carved wood stairways and railings, moldings, five fireplaces, beamed ceiling and exposed brick walls, and added his signature art pieces to an eclectic industrial/bohemian decor. Luis called the home Musée Maison (aptly, Museum House), and made it his studio and workshop; he also hosted art events during which all of the work was for sale and he would perform tricks on aerial silks suspended from the ceiling. The home has apparently yet to find the perfect match, and has seen its asking price rise with the market rather than fall to entice buyers; the four-bedroom house was just re-listed for $2.7 million.
Get lost in this amazing home

November 29, 2017

See inside the American Copper Buildings’ amenity-filled sky bridge

By Devin Gannon

The highly anticipated three-story sky bridge that links the two American Copper Buildings officially opened on Wednesday, making it the first of its kind in New York City in more than 80 years. In a collaboration between SHoP Architects and JDS Development Group, the pair of copper-clad luxury rental buildings at 626 First Avenue, known for their slanted silhouettes, began leasing earlier this year. And now, the buildings' swath of amenities have been unveiled, including the 100-foot-long sky bridge that is suspended 300 feet in the air and boasts a 75-foot indoor lap pool, hot tub and a bar and lounge for residents.
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PAU’s revised Domino Sugar Factory proposal gets the green light from Landmarks

Domino Sugar Refinery rendering via Practice of Architectural Urbanism

November 28, 2017

PAU’s revised Domino Sugar Factory proposal gets the green light from Landmarks

By Devin Gannon

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved on Tuesday a project to redesign the iconic 19th century Domino Sugar Factory building in Williamsburg into a modern office space. While the proposal from Vishaan Chakrabarti’s Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) was first rejected by the commission in October, during the hearing Tuesday, LPC said the revised design “sets the landmark free.” Overall, the commissioners were enthusiastic about the retention of part of the original building, giving credit to PAU’s “novel and creative approach.”
More this way

November 28, 2017

Landmarks votes to consider Philip Johnson’s postmodern AT&T Building for historic designation

By Emily Nonko

This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984. The world’s first skyscraper built in a postmodern style was originally known as the AT&T Building, as the tower served as the company headquarters. Sony moved in in the 1990s, giving it the nickname of the Sony Tower. Last year, the building sold to the Olayan Group and Chelsfield for a whopping $1.4 billion. Their resulting renovation plan, led by Snøhetta, has elicited protest from preservationists who do not want to see changes to the building's impressive arched entryway. Now that the tower's calendared, the developers' $300 million renovation will eventually come up for a landmarks vote by the LPC.
See renderings of Snøhetta's proposal

Snøhetta reveals ‘excavated’ bronze tower that will be the Upper West Side’s tallest

Rendering of 50 West 66th Street courtesy of Binyan Studios/ Snøhetta

November 27, 2017

Snøhetta reveals ‘excavated’ bronze tower that will be the Upper West Side’s tallest

By Devin Gannon

Of-the-moment firm Snøhetta has revealed their design for a 775-foot condominium tower at 50 West 66th Street, set to be the tallest on the Upper West Side (h/t Wallpaper) The Extell-developed building will feature 127 units and a series of "sculptural excavations" that the architects say are "evocative of the chiseled stone of Manhattan’s geologic legacy." On the lower levels, the tower will be clad in textured limestone with bronze window frames; its narrower upper portion will have a glassy facade and chamfered corners that create a series of open-air loggias.
More renderings and details

INTERVIEW: Holiday House founder Iris Dankner supports cancer research through interior design

Background: “Christmas Dinner” by Kim Radovich Interiors and Bernhardt, photo by Alan Barry. Photo of Iris Dankner by Richard Lewin.

November 27, 2017

INTERVIEW: Holiday House founder Iris Dankner supports cancer research through interior design

By Dana Schulz

Step into the Upper East Side's Academy Mansion until December 6th and you'll find a festive wonderland of interior design known as Holiday House NYC. The interior design show house is an undeniable display of top design talent, but what's perhaps less obvious is that the word "holiday" here has a much deeper meaning. Interior designer and Holiday House founder Iris Dankner is a 20-year breast cancer survivor. After her experience, she feels that every day is a holiday and a chance to celebrate life. With that outlook and the realization that there were no initiatives in the design industry to benefit breast cancer--a disease that impacts more than 250,000 women and 2,000 men in the U.S. each year--Iris started Holiday House a decade ago, asking each designer to draw inspiration for their room from a "holiday" or special moment in life. Now in its 10th year, Holiday House has launched its inaugural London outpost and released a coffee table book, and it's continuing its partnership with The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, to which it's already donated more than $1 million. 6sqft recently visited Holiday House and talked with Iris about 10 years of Holiday House, her personal inspirations, and why "women supporting women is such a powerful tool."
Hear from Iris ahead

Did Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban buy Michael Jackson’s former UES mansion?

By Annie Doge

Adding to the mansion’s celebrity lineage, country music star Keith Urban might be buying the 16-room Upper East Side townhouse at 4 East 74th Street for $39 million as a gift for his wife, Oscar-winner Nicole Kidman. According to Woman's Day, Kidman will take her acting career to Broadway, making the townhouse on Central Park the perfect nesting spot, although a deal has not been made official. "While there are several interested parties in the house, no deal has been made yet and a contract has not been signed," said the listing's agent, Adam Modlin. "The house is available." Constructed in 1898, past residents have included artist Marc Chagall and Michael Jackson. The sprawling six-story home features seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and an original detailed oak staircase, 10 wood burning fireplaces and a private roof deck. As 6sqft previously covered, the building's current owner, billionaire hedge fund manager and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, listed the property earlier this month.
See inside

November 27, 2017

Built into a stone ledge, this historic Hudson Valley church is a live-work fairytale

By Michelle Cohen

This unusual property has an enchanted background even before you see it: Situated in the Hudson Valley between the towns of New Paltz and Kingston, built into a stone ledge above the Wallkill River at the mouth of the Sturgeon Pool, this former church made of hand-cut stone dates from the 19th century. With an industrial past behind it, the 7,000 square-foot building is now used as a multi-level living and working space, with a three-story tower, balconies, an indoor fire pit and three bedrooms within, surrounded by lush gardens, water views and an outdoor grill. It's also for sale, asking $799,000.
Explore this amazing live-work building

November 21, 2017

Narofsky Architecture built this Long Island home using trees knocked down during Hurricane Irene

By Devin Gannon

In the summer of 2011, Hurricane Irene landed in New York City and on Long Island, heavily damaging the area, the storm's heavy rainfall and strong winds knocking down trees and causing major power outages. Turning destruction into art, Narofsky Architecture designed a house on an Irene-destroyed site using the wood from fallen trees (h/t dezeen). Based in Nassau County, the home features black locust, a rot-resistant wood, for its exterior paneling and shower benches and darkened pin oak for floors throughout the home. Even some of the home's furniture was made from fallen trees, including its bookcases, mantels, dining table, and cabinetry.
Take a tour

Preservation unbound: Is a plan to re-build the original Penn Station a viable option?

Drawing of the original Penn Station, re-created. Credit: Jeff Stikeman for Rebuild Penn Station

November 20, 2017

Preservation unbound: Is a plan to re-build the original Penn Station a viable option?

By Michelle Cohen

In August 6sqft reported that major work was underway in the $1.6 billion transformation of Penn Station's James A. Farley Building into a state-of-the-art, 225,000-square-foot “world-class 21st century transportation hub” called Moynihan Train Hall. That hasn't stopped the flow of suggestions for how to best make use of New Yorkers' un-favorite transport hub, which have included Practice for Architecture and Urbanism founder Vishaan Chakrabarti's proposal to repurpose, then move the old building to create a neighborhood gathering spot and a plan by Columbia University’s DeathLab to turn the the station into a landscaped cemetery. Among those voices-with-a-vision is Rebuild Penn Station, a group of architects and preservationists whose intent is to recreate the original McKim, Mead and White-designed Penn Station, and a new ad campaign aims to get commuters on board (h/t Curbed).
Find out more

November 17, 2017

$5.2M Queen Anne Victorian in Nyack comes with its own Hudson River pier

By Devin Gannon

A six-bedroom Queen Anne Victorian in Upper Nyack has hit the market for $5.2 million (h/t Curbed). Although the 1887 residence, known as the Bennett-Deyrup House, underwent a major $4 million renovation 10 years ago, many of its historic details--like embossed "lincrusta" ceilings and walls, stained glass windows and tile glass--remain. Just a quick, 30-minutes outside New York City, the home sits on the Hudson River and includes its own rocky beach and stoned pier.
Take a tour

5 Manhattan West. Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu via REX Architecture

November 17, 2017

First look at REX’s pleated-glass transformation of Brutalist 5 Manhattan West office tower

By Michelle Cohen

Brookfield Office Properties offered a look at the second building in the nearly-six-million-square-foot, six-building Manhattan West project to be completed. The 16-story office building known as 5 Manhattan West, where Amazon signed a lease for a 360,000-square-foot space, is approaching completion on Tenth Avenue between West 31st and 33rd Streets across from Hudson Yards. Archpaper shares images of the building's sparkling new look and interiors, the result of some fancy architectural footwork by REX. The 1969 Brutalist office building was nearly everyone's example of ugly since a 1980s renovation left it clad in brown metal and beige paint. The rechristened building's new facade wraps it in sleek, form-fitting pleated glass that does more than just look pretty.
More images of the 21st century transformation, this way

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

Image: Framlab

November 16, 2017

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

By Michelle Cohen

The growing population of homeless New Yorkers is sending creative agency Framlab up a wall–literally. The Oslo- and New York City-based agency has proposed a way to provide shelter for the city's homeless in an arrangement of 3D-printed micro-neighborhoods comprised of hexagonal modules designed to attach to a scaffold structure, creating a second layer of properties, basically, alongside a building's empty wall (h/t designboom). In the project, called "Homed," the modular pods can be clustered together, creating a "cellular mosaic" with their fronts facing the street.
Way better than giant ads

Crown Building’s $100M penthouse will have two indoor pools and a piano lounge

Penthouse rendering courtesy of Aman Resorts

November 16, 2017

Crown Building’s $100M penthouse will have two indoor pools and a piano lounge

By Devin Gannon

Floor plans of the Crown Building's crown jewel, its five-story penthouse, have revealed what $100 million will buy you at one of the city's most desirable locations for the super-rich. As the Real Deal learned, the penthouse features two swimming pools, a piano lounge and a full-floor master suite. The 14,000-square-foot pad sits in the actual crown of the building, spanning floors 22-26. The rest of the Billionaires' Row building at 730 Fifth Avenue isn't too shabby either; the building includes an 83-key luxury Aman Resorts hotel with a three-story spa, a jazz and cigar club, a few restaurants and 20 luxury condos.
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New 40th Street entrance. Credit: Mecanoo with Beyer Blinder Belle

November 16, 2017

NYPL unveils $317M master plan and renderings for iconic main branch

By Michelle Cohen

At a Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday evening, The New York Public Library revealed the $317 million master plan that will guide the renovation of the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The plan was developed by Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo and the NYC-based Beyer Blinder Belle. The historic Midtown Beaux-Arts building is home to one of the nation’s leading research libraries as well as historic spaces like the landmarked Rose Main Reading Room, the Maps, Periodicals, and Genealogy reading rooms, and Astor Hall.
This way for more renderings and what's to come

Architecture And Design

New affordable Bronx development will feature a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse

Rendering of the Bedford Green House courtesy of Edelman Sultan Knox Wood/Architects LLP and Hollister Construction Services

November 15, 2017

New affordable Bronx development will feature a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse

By Devin Gannon

The construction of a 13-story supportive housing development in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx will begin Thursday when federal, state and city officials join nonprofit Project Renewal in a groundbreaking ceremony at the site. Located at 2880 Jerome Avenue, the Bedford Green House will feature 118 units of affordable housing for families, seniors, and singles. To connect its residents to nature, the building will be covered in carbon sequestering plants and have an operational rooftop greenhouse where residents will be able to raise fresh fish and produce, partake in healthy cooking demos, and enjoy a community playground.
More this way

November 15, 2017

Historic UES mansion with Michael Jackson and ‘Gossip Girl’ ties asks $39M

By Dana Schulz

The celebrity connections at 4 East 74th Street date all the way back to its construction in 1898 when architect Alexander Welch was commissioned to design the Beaux-Arts townhouse. Welch served as the consulting architect on the restorations of Alexander Hamilton's Harlem home Hamilton Grange and George Washington's headquarters in White Plains. The Upper East Side home was bought by Francis Lynde Stetson and his wife. Corporate attorney Stetson was at one time the law partner of Grover Cleveland. According to Curbed, who first spotted the listing, in more recent years, the 16-room mansion has counted among its residents artist Marc Chagall and Michael Jackson, who rented it in the 90s. The house also stood in as the exterior of Nate Archibald’s residence in "Gossip Girl." It's now owned by billionaire Moroccan-born American hedge fund manager and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry, who's just listed it for $39 million.
Take a tour

Frank Lloyd Wright had a plan to build a ‘city of the future’ on Ellis Island

Frank Lloyd Wright/TAA drawing of Key Project for Ellis Island. Credit: The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

November 10, 2017

Frank Lloyd Wright had a plan to build a ‘city of the future’ on Ellis Island

By Michelle Cohen

Ellis Island, well known as the processing center for millions of American immigrants until 1954, has figured heavily in the nation's history; once the center was closed and neither of its current owners, the states of New York and New Jersey, knew of an alternative for its re-use, the island was offered for sale. Among the bidders for the 27-acre site were a pair of young NBC executives whose idea included breathtaking plans conceived by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. According to Metropolis, Wright's idea supported the media execs' vision for “an entirely new, complete, and independent prototype city of the future."
So what happened?

November 9, 2017

Preserved Dakota apartment hits the market for the first time in 50 years, asking $12.5M

By Devin Gannon

For the first time in 50 years, an eight-room apartment in the Dakota, quite possibly the city’s most iconic apartment building, is for sale with an asking price of $12.5 million. Built in 1884, the fortress-looking building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side has been home to many celebrities over the years, including Judy Garland, Roberta Flack, Yoko Ono, and many more A-listers. As Curbed learned, four of the rooms in the available unit directly face Central Park and boast wood-burning fireplaces and original mahogany pocket doors.
Take a look around

Artist aeries: Touring downtown’s ‘studio windows’

Artist’s studios on Bleecker Street, via GVSHP

November 9, 2017

Artist aeries: Touring downtown’s ‘studio windows’

By Andrew Berman of Village Preservation

With fall’s arrival and the turning back of the clocks, sunlight becomes an ever more precious commodity. Perhaps no New York living space is more centered around capturing and maximizing that prized amenity than the artist’s studio, with its large casement windows and tall ceilings. So with sunlight at a premium, let’s conduct a brief survey of some of the most iconic artist’s studio windows in the Village and East Village.
But first, a little history

Rafael Viñoly’s 88-story tower at 125 Greenwich Street gets new renderings

Rendering of 125 Greenwich Street, courtesy of March

November 9, 2017

Rafael Viñoly’s 88-story tower at 125 Greenwich Street gets new renderings

By Devin Gannon

Shortly after the launch of condominium sales last month, new renderings of 125 Greenwich Street were released Thursday, revealing its imposing height over neighboring Financial District towers (h/t YIMBY). The proposed 912-foot tall luxury condo designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the firm behind staggering 432 Park Avenue, features 273 total units, including 190 studios and one-bedrooms. Upon its completion, 125 Greenwich will have the third-highest apartments in lower Manhattan, after the Four Seasons Private Residences at 30 Park Place and nearly complete 45 Broad Street.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

Architecture And Design

Architect Rem Koolhaas turns to the countryside for answers in upcoming Guggenheim exhibition

$4.35M Connecticut home Marcel Breuer designed for himself got a glass and steel addition

Historic freestanding manse in Forest Hills Gardens asks $1.4M

Two Dakota neighbors seek a $20.5M buyer to restore their apartment pair to its original splendor

Art-filled ‘Musée Maison,’ Hamilton Heights home of artist/acrobat, still a tough sell at $2.7M

See inside the American Copper Buildings’ amenity-filled sky bridge

PAU’s revised Domino Sugar Factory proposal gets the green light from Landmarks

Landmarks votes to consider Philip Johnson’s postmodern AT&T Building for historic designation

Snøhetta reveals ‘excavated’ bronze tower that will be the Upper West Side’s tallest

INTERVIEW: Holiday House founder Iris Dankner supports cancer research through interior design

Did Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban buy Michael Jackson’s former UES mansion?

Built into a stone ledge, this historic Hudson Valley church is a live-work fairytale

Narofsky Architecture built this Long Island home using trees knocked down during Hurricane Irene

Preservation unbound: Is a plan to re-build the original Penn Station a viable option?

$5.2M Queen Anne Victorian in Nyack comes with its own Hudson River pier

Ricky Martin sells Upper East Side apartment for $6.15M

First look at REX’s pleated-glass transformation of Brutalist 5 Manhattan West office tower

Framlab proposes 3D-printed modular microneighborhoods to shelter NYC’s homeless

Crown Building’s $100M penthouse will have two indoor pools and a piano lounge

NYPL unveils $317M master plan and renderings for iconic main branch

New affordable Bronx development will feature a rooftop aquaponics greenhouse

Historic UES mansion with Michael Jackson and ‘Gossip Girl’ ties asks $39M

Frank Lloyd Wright had a plan to build a ‘city of the future’ on Ellis Island

Preserved Dakota apartment hits the market for the first time in 50 years, asking $12.5M

Artist aeries: Touring downtown’s ‘studio windows’

Rafael Viñoly’s 88-story tower at 125 Greenwich Street gets new renderings

252 East 57th Street in Midtown East

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