After her late husband, Bobby Zarin, passed away earlier this year, original “Real Housewives of New York” cast member Jill Zarin has put her Upper East Side condo on the market for $3.3 million, after living there for 18 years. Since her daughter is also out of the house, she told Forbes, “it’s time for a change of scenery,” which likely be warmer weather since she added, “Since I love tennis, I want to spend more time in a climate that is suited for it.” Likely in anticipation of selling, Jill renovated the three-bedroom apartment at 401 East 60th Street less than a year ago, working with designers at Schoeller + Darling on a contemporary makeover.
Architecture
adaptive reuse, Architecture, condos, New Developments, Nolita
Marvel Architects has completed its school-to-condo conversion in Nolita, bringing seven condos and one private townhouse to the former site of the Old St. Patrick’s School on Prince Street. The project restored the facade of the four-story building, which was built in 1826, as well as its dormer windows and arched doorways. Because the interiors of the building, dubbed the Residences at Prince, were not landmarked, the architects were able to add new modern elements like steel columns and white oak floors while retaining original brick walls and roof timbers.
Art, Chelsea, Landscape Architecture
Back in May 6sqft reported on plans for the 15 new gallery spaces in the works next to the Zaha Hadid-designed condo at 520 West 28th Street along the High Line, with the Paul Kasmin Gallery to anchor the project, which will expand into a 5,000-square-foot space with a sculpture garden designed by Future Green on its roof. With the official opening of the new building and inaugural exhibitions of works by Walton Ford and Joel Shapiro come new photos of the gallery and of the sculpture garden being installed.
Starchitecture
Photo via Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Famed architect Richard Meier is stepping down from his eponymous architecture firm following sexual harassment allegations made earlier this year, his office announced on Tuesday. According to a press release from Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Meier will “step back from day-to-day activities and support the leadership transition of the firm he founded in 1963.” In March, five women accused Meier of sexual harassment and said he groped them, exposed himself, and other similar inappropriate incidents, the New York Times first reported.
adaptive reuse, Architecture, Chelsea, New Developments
260 Eleventh Avenue expansion (Vornado Realty Trust)
A high-tech future awaits the 235,000-square-foot building at 260 Eleventh Avenue that served as headquarters for the iconic Otis Elevator company from its construction in 1911 until the company’s move to midtown 1974. For the site’s next life, REIT Vornado Realty Trust plans to renovate and expand the property, which they purchased in 2015, for commercial tenants. Now, CityRealty reports, a trio of renderings from Vornado’s latest investor report provide a peek at the planned design overhaul by British architect Richard Rogers. Evoking the “inside-out” structure of the Pompidou Center in Paris and the high-tech Lloyd’s of London building, the new addition displays exposed structural and circulation systems and a multi-story atrium beneath glass-enclosed floors.
Architecture, Features, History
Terra-cotta, Latin for “fired earth,” is an ancient building material, made of baked clay, first used throughout early civilizations in Greece, Egypt, China the Indus Valley. In more modern times, architects realized that “fired earth” actually acts as a fire-deterrent. In the age of the skyscraper, terra-cotta became a sought-after fire-proof skin for the steel skeletons of New York’s tallest buildings. In the early part of the 20th century, the City’s most iconic structures were decked out in terracotta.
You’ll find terra-cotta on famous facades from the Flatiron to the Plaza, but the material often flies under the radar of pedestrians and architecture buffs alike because it can mimic other materials, like cast-iron or carved wood. Now, this long-underappreciated material is getting its due. On October 24th, the Historic Districts Council will present its annual Landmarks Lion Award to the terra-cotta firms Boston Valley Terra Cotta and Gladding, McBean, which work to keep terra-cotta alive worldwide, and to the preservation organization Friends of Terra Cotta, which has worked to preserve New York’s architectural terra-cotta since 1981. The ceremony will take place at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar, under the magnificent Guastavino terra-cotta ceiling recently restored by Boston Valley Terra Cotta. Fired up about finding “fired earth” around town? Here are 10 of the most impressive examples of New York terra-cotta!
Architecture, Hudson Square, New Developments
Oxford Properties Group this week unveiled the first renderings of its project to transform an old freight terminal in Hudson Square into a 12-story office building. The Canadian developer bought a section of the St. John’s Terminal site, located at 550 Washington Street, in January for $700 million from Atlas Capital and Westbrook Partners. Oxford Properties then tapped COOKFOX Architects to design a 1.3 million square foot 12-story office complex. New renderings reveal a modern structure with floor-to-ceiling windows, planted roofs and terraces, 100,000 square-foot floor plates, and waterfront access.
Architecture, Construction Update, Major Developments, New Developments, Starchitecture, Upper West Side , Video
Via Field Condition
Construction is wrapping up on a trio of glassy residential towers known as Waterline Square, located on the five-acre waterfront site between West 59th and 61st Streets. Three Waterline Square, designed by Rafael Viñoly, got its multi-faceted crystal-planed exterior earlier this month. Richard Meier, on a leave of absence from his firm after accusations of sexual harassment, designed One Waterline Square, the 37-story building that also recently reached its pinnacle. Finally Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates‘ Two Waterline Square culminates at 38 stories. After the jump, check out a video showing the entire project rise in under 90 seconds.
Nomad, Starchitecture
While all has been quiet regarding HFZ Capital Group’s office tower in Nomad since December, new documents from the Department of Buildings documents filed on Tuesday reveal the project is still on track. CityRealty uncovered a ZD-1 zoning diagram online with a site plan, section, and axonometric drawing that mirror renderings released last year. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the tower will rise from a through-block property at 3-7 West 29th Street.
Architecture, Harlem, Starchitecture
Left to right, Jerome L. Greene Science Center and The Forum. ©Frank Oudeman/Columbia University.
Sixteen years after Columbia University president Lee Bollinger announced the development of the school’s $6.3 billion 17-acre Manhattanville campus, he joined Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano to celebrate and unveil the third and final building of the starchitect’s ensemble in West Harlem. Previously, Piano completed the Jerome L. Greene Science Center and the adjacent Lenfest Center for the Arts, and today he marked the completion of the Forum, the ship-like structure that peaks at the triangular intersection of Broadway and West 125th Street. The 56,000-square-foot building will serve as a flexible meeting and conference hub, and like its siblings, was purposefully designed with a transparent, public ground floor surrounded by plazas.
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