Steven Holl

May 19, 2023

NYC sues architecture firm behind new Long Island City library over accessibility issues

New York City has filed a lawsuit against the architects behind the inaccessible Hunters Point Library in Long Island City, as first reported by Crain's New York. Filed in Manhattan State Supreme Court on Wednesday, the lawsuit claims Steven Holl Architects violated its contract with the city by designing an inaccessible building. The suit says that the architecture firm should be forced to pay $10 million to cover the renovations needed to make the building accessible for people with disabilities.
See more here
November 26, 2019

Disability rights group files lawsuit challenging inaccessibility of new Long Island City library

A disability rights group filed a lawsuit on Tuesday that claims a new public library in Queens does not provide full access for those with mobility disabilities. The civil suit, filed by the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York and the Disability Rights Advocates (DRA), says the newly constructed Hunters Point Library in Long Island City, which took nearly a decade to build and cost more than $41 million, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While the library opened in September to praise from architecture critics for its innovative design, visitors immediately criticized the building's third level fiction section, accessible only by stairs.
Details here
October 7, 2019

Hunters Point Library will move fiction shelves in response to accessibility criticism

Steven Holl's Hunters Point Library has garnered glowing architectural reviews since it's opening last month, but visitors quickly pointed out a critical issue with accessibility in the $41 million building. Although the library has an elevator, it doesn't stop at the fiction section which is tiered on three levels above the lobby and accessible only via stairs. In light of the criticism, a Queens Public Library official has announced that books in that section will be relocated to an accessible area of the library, as Gothamist reported.
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September 25, 2019

See inside Long Island City’s new public library designed by Steven Holl Architects

Despite standing just 82 feet tall, the new Hunters Point Library manages to stand out among its skyscraper neighbors on the Long Island City waterfront. The concrete structure, designed by Steven Holl Architects, officially opened to the public Tuesday, about two decades after officials proposed building a new Queens Public Library branch. The delays, and the whopping $40 million price tag, appear to have been worth it, as the building, with its carved windows and incredible skyline views, continues to garner approval from top architecture critics.
Take the tour
August 23, 2019

Steven Holl-designed Hunters Point Library to finally open next month

The long-awaited Hunters Point Library will open in Long Island City next month, more than eight years after its futuristic design was revealed, library officials announced Thursday. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the concrete building with carved windows sits on the East River and boasts sweeping Manhattan views. After many construction and financial delays, the library will officially open on September 24.
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July 31, 2019

Steven Holl’s geometrically fabulous Catskills ‘Y House’ asks $1.6M

Designed by renowned architect Steven Holl, this modern retreat in Middleburgh, NY says yes from the minute you see it. Holl's bright sunset red "Y House," perched atop a hill in the Catskills, extends two arms ending in balconies, ready to embrace daily sunlight throughout the three-bedroom residence. One of Holl's most accomplished works, the house is an organic presence on a 33-acre site blessed with gorgeous views, a pond and a boat house. Asking $1.6 million, the property is less than three hours from NYC.
See more of this modern mountain retreat, this way
May 11, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 5/11-5/17

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Get outside of the white cube this week and experience an art opening inside of a corporate lobby, or experience an architecture talk inside of an art museum. Celebrate Haiti’s rich culture with the kick off of their film fest, then check out future art stars at FIT’s graduate exhibition. Grace Exhibition Space hosts a five-hour performance art event, and the historic Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue opens its doors for the ARC Salon Exhibition. Head to the Bronx for JMR’s latest solo show, or spend the week at the architectural events lead by Van Alen’s Spring Festival.
More on all the best events this way
March 1, 2017

Steven Holl’s ‘T Space’ is an art gallery tucked away in an Upstate forest

Though it looks like this cedar cabin is floating above the terrain, the structure actually sits atop nine steel stilts. Architect Steven Holl employed the building technique to minimize the home's impact on the forested environment and likewise wrapped the construction in a cedar skin so it would meld with the trees. Known as "T Space," the minimalist art gallery is located on a privately-owned, four-acre woodland property in Dutchess County.
Learn more about this suspended woodland home
January 22, 2017

SPACE T2: A 1959 hunting shack transformed into an off-grid studio by Steven Holl

Space T2 is a minimal artist studio located in Rhinebeck, NY. Steven Holl Architects built the off-grid cabin using what remained of a 1959 hunting shack, dressing the exterior in a sleek black wood skin while keeping the interior core a cool and contrasting white. The tiny abode rests on a handful of stilts that have been embedded in the sloping earth below.
Learn more about this former shack
October 25, 2016

Steven Holl’s Upstate ‘Ex of In House’ is an experiment in voids and sense of place

In architecture, research and concept come long before building and design, but more often than not architects don't have the chance to execute their ideas to the fullest extent when managing client expectations. But New York-based architect Steven Holl didn't have that issue with his Ex of In House, a small guest house-turned-experimental site on the property of his personal Hudson Valley residence. The 918-square-foot structure is part of the firm's Explorations of "IN" research project, which questions "current clichés of architectural language and commercial practice." Here, they wanted to explore "a language of space, aimed at inner spatial energy strongly bound to the ecology of the place.”
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July 5, 2016

Where to Find the Most Incredible Staircases in New York City

Stairs let interior designers show off their best combination of form and function. The flagship stores, public works, and designer condos of New York make for the perfect opportunities to test the boundaries of practicality and beauty in design. Here are seven of the most beautiful and interesting staircase designs to be found in New York City.
See our staircase gallery here
February 19, 2016

Skyline Wars: What’s Rising in Hudson Yards, the Nation’s Largest Construction Site

Carter Uncut brings New York City’s breaking development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. This week Carter brings us the third installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter zooms in on Hudson Yards. The Hudson Yards neighborhood in Far Midtown West is one of the country’s most active construction areas. Construction cranes dot its emerging skyline and dozens more are promised now with the district's improved connection to the rest of the city. Last fall, the 7-line subway station at Eleventh Avenue and 34th Street opened with one-stop access to Times Square. The newly-minted station features a lengthy diagonal escalator bringing commuters to the front-door of the huge mixed-use project being created over the rail yards west of Tenth Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets. Originally, a second station was contemplated on 41st Street and Tenth Avenue but transit officials claimed it could not afford the $500 million expenditure, despite the enormous amount of new residential construction occurring along the far West 42nd Street corridor. Nevertheless, the finished Hudson Yards station deposits straphangers into a new diagonal boulevard and park between 10th and 11th Avenues that will ultimately stretch from the Related Companies / Oxford Property Group's Hudson Yards master plan northward to 42nd Street.
read more from carter here
January 28, 2015

The Storefront for Art and Architecture Gets Shrink Wrapped by SO-IL

We get frustrated every time we try to use Saran Wrap on the leftover half of a lemon, so we can't imagine shrink-wrapping the entire ground floor of a building. But that's exactly what design firm SO-IL did at the Storefront for Art and Architecture. The installation is part of Storefront's latest exhibit BLUEPRINT, which showcases 50 blueprints from various disciplines dating from 1961 to 2013. The show was also curated by SO-IL. By wrapping the exterior of the space, the gallery is "totally open, yet perpetually closed and fixed... wrapped in time and in space."
More on the exhibit and installation
October 27, 2014

Steven H​oll’s ‘Writing With Light House’ Plays with the Light That Filters through Its Wooden Skin

American architect and watercolorist Steven H​oll was inspired by Jackson Pollock's 1949 'Seven in Eight' paintings when designing this stunning property. Called the 'Writing With Light House', it stands near the former abstract expressionist painter's studio on Long Island and features wide-open interiors brightened with natural light. Boasting a striking linear wooden skin that lets the elements filter through, the power of this design can be best appreciated when the light lines inside play with the spaces throughout the day.
Learn more about this playful wooden house