By Diane Pham, Fri, April 18, 2014 Construction on the SHoP Architects-designed tower at 111 West 57th Street has finally begun! Yesterday evening, one of 6sqft’s reporters walked past the site and took a quick snap of the newly arrived construction vehicles and equipment.
The Manhattan giant, which will also be the world’s slenderest tower, will rise 1,300-feet high, above a floor plate of around 60-feet wide. The building will host three elevators and each floor will be its own 5,000-square-foot apartment with 15-foot ceilings. And for those worried how wind load will affect the 76-story structure, a huge steel weight will be suspended within the top of the building to keep it from swaying (yikes).
More on the tower
By Diane Pham, Thu, April 17, 2014 One of our intrepid reports stopped by the Walker Tower earlier today to check out how things are coming along at the 212 West 18th Street landmark. The tower — which has drawn buyers ranging from Cameron Diaz to Mike Thorne (that guy who discovered the Sex Pistols) — had its scaffolding removed just seven months ago and has already set new sales records for Downtown Manhattan (this includes an impressive $50.9 million deal for the 6,000-square-foot 5BR/5.5BA penthouse).
The conversion of the former Verizon building into luxury condos has been underway since 2011, but word is that construction on the interior will be wrapped up in the coming weeks. Let’s take a look at what’s been completed so far.
More photos here
By Patty Lee, Wed, April 9, 2014 If it seems like Starbucks and Duane Reade are colonizing the streets of New York City, there’s now photographic proof. A new series from shutterbugs James and Karla Murray looks at the rapidly changing face of Gotham’s storefronts and — no surprise — they’re getting more corporate.
Gone are the colorful mom-and-pop signage the Murrays shot just a decade ago for their book Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York. In their place? Fast food franchises, banks, and high-end boutiques.
A peek inside the book
By Susan Cohen, Mon, April 7, 2014 There is one more thing to cheer about at Barclays Center. The sports and entertainment venue in Brooklyn is about to get a little greener thanks to a collaboration between Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) and the Shanghai-based Greenland Group Co. Barclays will soon be topped off with small plants and a soil-like cover to create an expansive 130,000-square-foot green roof!
Going green
By Annie Doge, Sat, April 5, 2014 The Soho home where Beyonce shot the video ‘Halo‘ is still renting for $80K a month — putting it out of reach of just about all of us. Though broker photos are aplenty across the nets, 6sqft got to explore the private home last fall on Dwell magazine’s City Modern Tour.
The 5-story structure, renovated by Asfour Guzy, is touted as one of New York’s most unique properties, and it’s no wonder why: This former Con Ed station boasts everything from a huge verdant terrace to 19-foot ceilings, and even a 007-like indoor pool that we bet B took a dip in.
Take a look inside
By Diane Pham, Sat, April 5, 2014 Manhattan is known for hosting more than a handful of the world’s most luxurious homes — many of which are perched hundreds if not thousands of feet above ground. Though few folks will ever get to see the interior of anything higher than their 5-story walk-up, we’re offering up a look into how New York’s loftiest live.
From the “smallest” to the tallest, take a peek into the penthouses of 10 of Manhattan’s supertall condos ahead. And just to give you a little more context, the Empire State Building soars 1,250 feet high.
It’s a tall, tall world
By Annie Doge, Fri, April 4, 2014 How can we create sustainable and livable cities in the face of climate change? On April 8, 2014, the AIA New York Chapter is joining forces with the Consulate General of Denmark in New York to host a panel discussion on the water-related challenges faced by New York City and Copenhagen, and the wide array of approaches and solutions that have already been deployed or will be implemented.
attend the event
By Annie Doge, Tue, March 25, 2014 Back in 2009, Graham Hill purchased two apartments at 150 Sullivan Street with the express purpose of showing that people could have everything they need using less stuff and space. Rather than hiring an architect, the eco-entrepreneur, TED-Talk alum, and founder of Treehugger.com, decided to kickstart a competition to find his unique one-size-fits-all design. What turned up was an innovative transforming apartment filled with brilliant space-efficient features like sliding walls, hidden storage, and multi-tasking furniture. Though Hill’s ‘Life Edited‘ apartment measures an ultra tiny 420-square-feet, the elegant, high-tech space still manages to pack in all the amenities of a home of more than twice its size.
How many people can you pack into 420 sq ft?
By Diane Pham, Mon, March 24, 2014 It’s unfortunate that Santiago Calatrava‘s original design for the WTC Transportation Hub got scrapped for a shrunken, more watered-down version. But the cost saving measures that transformed his beautiful “bird” into what some critics have dubbed as a “rack of lamb” didn’t completely destroy the majestic spirit of the original design.
Construction images recently released by the Port Authority of NY & NJ reveal that the Oculus is finally taking shape, emerging from its WTC site as something that could very well be quite iconic.
More incredible photos ahead
By Jon Dioffa, Mon, March 24, 2014 Just moments ago, Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was announced at the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate. The 56-year old architect, who has offices in Tokyo, Paris, and NYC, is known for his elegant and innovative applications of unconventional materials such as paper and corrugated plastic in his structures, for both private international clients and in disaster relief efforts. Jump ahead to see some of his best works, including the Metal Shutter Houses, located right here in NYC.
More Shigeru here
