100 11th: Jean Nouvel's "Vision Machine

[Derek2k3]

100 11th
100-110 Eleventh Avenue / 535-541 West 19th Street
21 stories 250 feet (DoB)

Architect: Atelier Jean Nouvel
Executive Architect: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, LLP
Developer: Cape Advisors Inc/Craig Wood
Associate Developer: Alf Naman Real Estate Advisors

Residential Condominium
143,289 Sq. Ft. 72 units
Under Construction: Fall 2006 - Fall 2008

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/


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Construction Begins On Architect Jean Nouvel’s “Vision Machine” Along Manhattan’s West Side

NEW YORK, NY In 1987, maverick French architect Jean Nouvel burst onto the international scene with a new headquarters for the Arab World Institute in Paris, one of President François Mitterrand’s Grands Projets. With mechanized oculi and veils of glass and steel, the building was hailed as an unconventional masterpiece that encouraged people to not only accept modern architecture in a historic setting, but to be thrilled by it. Over ensuing years Nouvel has woven art, history, cultural references and new building technologies into provocative architectural contrasts between inside and outside, intimacy and the urban network, and has become renowned as one of the most original designers of his generation.
In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Arab World Institute, construction has begun in New York City on Nouvel’s latest glass and steel landmark, a direct material and conceptual descendant of his Paris tour de force: 100 11th will be a 23-story tower described by its architect as “a vision machine” at the intersection of 19th Street and the West Side Highway, along the Hudson River in Manhattan. It will feature the most highly-engineered and technologically advanced curtain wall ever constructed in New York City — a gently curving, glittering mosaic of nearly 1,700
different-sized panes of colorless glass, each set at a unique angle and torque, sheathing one of the most meticulously customized, high performance residential addresses in the nation. The building’s dazzling Mondrian-like window pattern will frame splendid views from within the tower while producing an exterior texture that serves as a poetic analog for the vibrancy, density and changeability of New York.


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100 11th Avenue, designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel with Beyer Blinder Belle, will also feature a radical innovation at its base, where Nouvel has placed an additional seven-story street wall of mullioned glass 15 feet from the building’s façade to reflect fleeting images of life beyond the building while creating a semi-enclosed atrium unprecedented in New York City. Within the atrium, suspended gardens of ornamental
vegetation and trees will appear to float in mid-air; private indoor and outdoor terraces will extend from residences; and an open-air dining patio for the lobby restaurant.

Containing 72 residences, 100 11th will stand on the north corner of its intersection, facing Frank Gehry’s newly completed headquarters
for the IAC/InterActive Corporation across the street and the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex across the avenue, in the heart of a neighborhood now considered one of the world’s foremost contemporary arts districts. The homes within 100 11th will range in size from 890 square feet to 4,675 square feet, and will include one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments, and five unique penthouses. The building’s top floor will comprise a single grand residence with a full-roof private terrace featuring
what Nouvel has dubbed “outdoor rooms.” Prices for the properties will range from $1.6 million to $22 million.

Renowned design and preservation architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, LLP, of New York City, is serving as executive architect for the building, under the direction of partner John H. Beyer. The building, which will be LEED certified, has been developed by Cape Advisors Inc., New York. Associate developer is Alf Naman Real Estate Advisors of New York City. General contractor for 100 11th is Gotham Construction Corporation, Inc. Exclusive sales and marketing agent for the project is Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group.

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The Building

Declaring, “Each new situation requires a new architecture,” Jean Nouvel has ambushed conventional tower design by forming the building’s mass along a curve that traces the entire breadth of its site. This gesture maximizes both street frontage and views from within the building, insuring that all of the residences at 100 11th have full access to south and west views and light. From the smallest to the largest, every single residence in the building will enjoy a sweep of uninterrupted floor-to-ceiling window wall — from 35 to 175 linear feet — on the main façade.

Every angle and structural detail at 100 11th has been designed to create visual excitement for the both those living within the tower and passers-by on the street. The main south curtain wall is comprised of approximately 1,647 completely different colorless windowpanes organized within enormous steel-framed “megapanels” that range from 11 to 16 feet tall and as wide as 37 feet across. Each windowpane inside these megapanels is tilted at a different angle and in a different direction — up, down, in, out - bearing a slightly different degree of transparency according to a system meticulously developed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel and inspired in part by the renowned stained-glass window cycles of the 13th century Gothic cathedral of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. The result of Nouvel’s system is a composition with a structural purpose in the service of the architect’s primary goal: framing views within residences while producing a poetic public statement about the inherent beauty of the fragmented, varied, ever-changing life of New York City and its island relationship to water and sky.

By contrast, the north and east façades of 100 11th will be clad in black brick that references the masonry characteristic of West Chelsea’s industrial architecture. These façades will also contain a complex and beautiful pattern of different-sized punched windows framing dramatic views from inside. On the north façade, the building will also express motion within: Elevator shafts will contain random LED lighting and full-scale punched windows, so that passengers in glass-walled cabs can see city vistas as they ascend at 450 feet per minute, while twinkling light patterns are visible from elsewhere in the neighborhood.Residents of 100 11th will enter the building through a door on 19th Street and a transitional vestibule, into a dramatic lobby space with 20 foot-high ceilings. Like the south façade, this space traces the full breadth of the site. Within this main lobby, bright exterior reflections will give way to a contemplative atmosphere of low, soft lighting via fixtures custom designed by Jean Nouvel. Enormous, single-pane punched windows of different textures and degrees of transparency will face the building’s private multi-tiered slope garden on the north side of the building, bringing nature indoors.The lobby will also include stations for a 24-hour doorman and concierge, with custom millwork desks designed by Jean Nouvel; access to a ground-floor restaurant and dining patio; private residents’ mail room, package and refrigerated storage room; private residents’ automatic bank teller; access to the garden; and a private elevator landing serving the residences above and the gym, spa and pool area below.

At 70 feet long, the building’s mirror-canopied pool will be one of the longest in Manhattan. The majority of the pool is sheltered within the building’s structure, with 24 feet extending into a landscaped outdoor space (the lower tier of the garden). A state-of-the-art glass partition has been customized by Nouvel to enclose the indoor portion of the pool so that residents can enjoy it all year, regardless of weather. A fitness center includes spa facilities (steam room, sauna, and individual changing cabanas with showers) and a private residents’ lounge that looks out over the lower level of the garden. Adjacent to the lounge and fitness area will be a private screening room for residents.


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The Loggia

At 100 11th, Nouvel has conceived one of the most creative and revolutionary solutions to the challenges of low-floor dwelling ever seen in New York City. At a distance of 15 feet from the building’s south façade, he has placed a free-standing “screen” of densely mullioned glass — a near repeat of the main façade’s steel-framed mosaic pattern — rising seven stories. The space created between the tower’s multifaceted glass curtain wall and this street wall screen forms a semi-enclosed atrium
called “The Loggia,” containing a complex structural steel grid.

The grid will contain a world unto itself, a space unlike any other in New York City, to be shared exclusively by the residents of the building’s Loggia Residences on first seven floors. Here, every apartment enjoys a unique floor plan. Terraces — some enclosed and others open to the space — grace various apartments in the atrium. Fully grown trees and beds of ornamental plantings will be placed within the grid in an imaginative system of containers that appear to float in mid-air. Loggia terraces are all designed as year-round, indoor-outdoor spaces, with floor to ceiling glass on at least three sides and in-floor radiant heat.

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The Residences

According to Beyer Blinder Belle partner John H. Beyer, “Jean Nouvel has a unique understanding of the way light and water work together to create constantly oscillating effects of reflection and shadow, and a special talent for using daylight as an architectural material.” At 100 11th, these special skills will be fully experienced withinthe residences of the building, where spatial organization and material applications are entirely in the service of views and the pleasure of natural light that changes over the course of days and seasons.

Every apartment within 100 11th will boast a completely different pattern of powder-coated steel window mullions — a unique “fingerprint” — framing views and providing operable windows. Along these window walls, floors will be finished with an extra layer of nearly imperceptible transparent gloss that will boost incoming sunlight into rooms. Mechanized shade systems, customized by Nouvel, will allow residents to modulate and control the flow of daylight into spaces and further frame specific views.

The palette of apartment interiors is pale and materials have been chosen to achieve maximum luminosity, with an overall look inspired by the sleek minimalism of the neighborhood’s many contemporary art galleries. Serene refuges for living with views and art, the apartments are highly disciplined, super-customized, luxurious combinations of white terrazzo flooring, white plaster walls, pale steel window framing, and a palette of carefully selected white and stainless steel materials in discreet kitchensand baths custom designed by Nouvel. Walls feature pocket doors and large-scale pivot doors that allow for increased flow of light and air between spaces.

Interior architectural details have been conceived to amplify the light that pours into every residence: Angled beams taper as they recede into the rooms, encouraging the flow of light. The finishes on floors are more reflective in areas close to windows to boost illumination. Carefully crafted fixture plans include niche lighting, indirect lighting, and exposed light sources, all custom designed by Jean Nouvel.

Open curved and rectilinear spaces throughout the residences were conceived to allow for the broadest possible variety of furniture configurations that take advantage of light and views.

Kitchens flow spatially into open living areas, and are designed with luxury fixtures custom designed by Jean Nouvel to achieve the highest level of design excellence and to compliment art and furniture. These generously proportioned environments, composed of stainless steel, etched and clear glass, white terrazzo and custom lighting, encompass three “zones”: a pantry, a food preparation area with custom designed islands containing detachable rolling storage carts, and a cooking area with top line appliances. Similarly, bathrooms at 100 11th are studies in luxury customization, with pale, gleaming materials palettes (Nouvel-conceived geometric compositions of Corian, spandrel glass, fritted glass, porcelain, painted plaster and mirrors) developed for aesthetic continuity with the rest of the residence. Fixtures have been custom designed by Jean Nouvel for Jado.

“The task of the architect is to encompass everything about the site, starting from the concrete conditions and the sensory impressions created by those, to memories of the place, through empathy to vision,” Nouvel has said. At 100 11th, the architect has translated this notion into extraordinary residences in a building with deep urban meaning, luminosity, and the high-technology innovations that have become his trademark in the two decades since his Arab World Institute opened to the public.

The sales and design center for 100 11th is located two blocks north of the building site, at 547 West 21st Street, between Tenth Avenue and the West Side Highway.



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Links:

100 11th Website (http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/)

Atelier Jean Nouvel (http://www.jeannouvel.com)

Emporis Listing (http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=269074)

New Building Permit (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=2&allisn=0001259578&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=)

PropertyShark Listing (http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/nyc/Reports/showsection.html?propkey=9738)

Google Maps: 100 Eleventh Avenue (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=100+11th+Avenue&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=33.29802,67.851563&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=40.747111,-74.007876&spn=0.007771,0.016565&om=1&iwloc=addr)

Brownfield Cleanup Program: 535 West 19th Street Re-Development Site (http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/enb2006/20061004/not2.html)


Articles:

Real Estate Weekly
$22m mezz loan for Nouvel luxury condos.
October 11, 2006 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3601/is_9_53/ai_n16807801)

NY Post
FAR WEST CHELSEA TURNS INTO CITY'S MOST EYE-CATCHING AREA
By KATHERINE DYKSTRA
Published: January 11, 2007 (http://www.nypost.com/seven/01112007/realestate/modern_art_realestate_katherine_dykstra.htm?page=0 )

CityRealty
Unusual facades at Jean Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Avenue
January 11, 2007 (http://www.cityrealty.com/new_developments)

Chelsea Now
When Chelseas collide, ‘Venus’ is shadowed
Volume One, Issue 20, February 9- 15, 2007 (http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_20/whenchelseascollide.html)

New York Times
After a 37-Year Run, a Roadside Venus to Be Veiled
February 11, 2007 (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/nyregion/thecity/11venu.html?ex=1176177600&en=f3a815641d2bfdff&ei=5070)

The Real Deal
Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Avenue: Through a glass, brightly
By Steve Cutler
April 2007 (http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/APRIL_2007/1175115282.php)

Triple Mint
100 11th Avenue - Jean Nouvel
April 2007 (http://www.triplemint.com/triplemint/2007/03/100_11th_avenue.html#more)

arcspace
100 11th Avenue
April 2, 2007 (http://www.arcspace.com/architects/nouvel/100/100.html)

New York Times
Seductive Machines for City Living
By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
Published: April 2, 2007 (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/arts/design/02nouv.html)

Gawker
Even The Window Façades In Chelsea Aren't Straight
April 2, 2007 (http://gawker.com/news/architecture/even-the-window-faades-in-chelsea-arent-straight-248912.php?mail2=true)

NY Sun
Jean Nouvel's ‘Vision' Rising in Chelsea
By DAVID FREEDLANDER
April 5, 2007 (http://www.nysun.com/article/51896)

[pianoman11686]

There's just something about a Derek thread...it's so official! Thanks, Derek!

[tmac9wr]

That building looks gorgeous! A legitimate work of art, hopefully it will look as good as it's renderings.

[infoshare]

There's just something about a Derek thread...it's so official! Thanks, Derek!

Yes, that post is a great thread starter: both informative and instructive. This one has really hit the ground running..:D

[finnman69]

It's so anti-urban. So anti-NYC. So faddish. I even think it's quite ugly.

Nouvel got it so right with 40 Mercer. This makes me shake my head.

[pianoman11686]

Gehry's IAC is also anti-urban. But that doesn't keep it from being a great building.

The context is the West Side highway in a formerly industrial part of Chelsea. If this were SoHo, I'd agree with you, but I see nothing wrong with this building. It certainly is eye-catching.

[Stern]

The context of IAC and 100 11th are both decidedly on the waterfront, which is great. If 100 11th was proposed for the site of 40 Mercer and vice-versa I don’t think I would be a very big fan of either, at there current sites I am of both. IAC is influenced by gusts of wind in a ships sails. 100 11th goes deeper and is far more profound, it is inspired by the dazzling qualities of water itself. Like 17 State Street it has the properties of a great body of water, reflection and encompassing qualities, but it goes beyond it with a truly unique facade that I am surprised no architect has ever noticed and proposed for a building in a waterfront context, it is just such a perfect match, as the sun rises or the sun sets it creates spectacular reflections on the water, little bits and pieces of glass reflect on the waterfront and its dazzling, I’m sure anyone who has ever walked on the Jersey shore looking towards Manhattan or on Queens West looking toward Manhattan knows what I’m talking about on certain almost magical nights. The effect which is dazzling and almost surreal, transcends here into a built form, the brilliance which is reflected onto the waterfront is put back in a tangible permanent built fixture. Furthermore I cannot wait to see the reflections 100 11th will cast on the waterfront come sunset, but that said the built form will very likely outshine the beauty of its own reflections, a claim that few if any buildings in New York can claim, and that just goes to further show how great a building this will be.

[ramvid01]

The context of IAC and 100 11th are both decidedly on the waterfront, which is great. If 100 11th was proposed for the site of 40 Mercer and vice-versa I don’t think I would be a very big fan of either, at there current sites I am of both. IAC is influenced by gusts of wind in a ships sails. 100 11th goes deeper and is far more profound, it is inspired by the dazzling qualities of water itself. Like 17 State Street it has the properties of a great body of water, reflection and encompassing qualities, but it goes beyond it with a truly unique facade that I am surprised no architect has ever noticed and proposed for a building in a waterfront context, it is just such a perfect match, as the sun rises or the sun sets it creates spectacular reflections on the water, little bits and pieces of glass reflect on the waterfront and its dazzling, I’m sure anyone who has ever walked on the Jersey shore looking towards Manhattan or on Queens West looking toward Manhattan knows what I’m talking about on certain almost magical nights. The effect which is dazzling and almost surreal, transcends here into a built form, the brilliance which is reflected onto the waterfront is put back in a tangible permanent built fixture. Furthermore I cannot wait to see the reflections 100 11th will cast on the waterfront come sunset, but that said the built form will very likely outshine the beauty of its own reflections, a claim that few if any buildings in New York can claim, and that just goes to further show how great a building this will be.

I never thought about that dazzling effect, but I must say that I agree and can see where your coming from. But my question is, is that what Nouvel's intention was or does he just like mirrors.

[Citytect]

The context of IAC and 100 11th are both decidedly on the waterfront, which is great.

No, I have to agree with pianoman. The context is the Westside Highway not the waterfront. Especially considering both buildings are or will be across from Chelsea Piers. The designs were influenced by the nearby river, but that's not the context. Though I think the architects wish it really was the context.

I like Nouvel's building.

[Stern]

No, I have to agree with pianoman. The context is the Westside Highway not the waterfront. Especially considering both buildings are or will be across from Chelsea Piers. The designs were influenced by the nearby river, but that's not the context. Though I think the architects wish it really was the context.

I like Nouvel's building.

Both buildings were designed to face the Hudson waterfront, not the Westside Highway or the Chelsea Piers. The highway and the piers only mildly detract from the architects vision.

[MidtownGuy]

Solution. Demolish Chelsea Piers.

[Stern]

Just making a note here, the rendering posted of the building in the skyline is somewhat innacurate as everything is stretched. Look at One Penn Plaza and the ESB as reference.

[Stern]

Solution. Demolish Chelsea Piers.

Excellent idea. I've never understood what people think is so great about Chelsea Piers, its blocks off the Waterfront, its architecture is ugly, and it doesn't provides a service to anyone other than the rich as everything it offers is excessively overpriced. Its owner is somehow seen as a visionary though, all I see is a cheap monopolistic product with no money or interest invested in design and site context. Yet the mastermind behind Chelsea Piers was put in charge of rebuilding the World Trade Center site, I guess the fact that LMDC failed so miserably as an agency shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone then.

[zarzapan]

Solution. Demolish Chelsea Piers.

Hear, hear. That's my one complaint about the aesthetics of 100 11th: that it overlooks Chelsea Piers.

[stache]

A sweetheart deal at the time, it was meant to jumpstart the neighborhood into a more vanilla, upper middle class type place. The idea seems to have worked.

[MidtownGuy]

Sweetheart deal indeed. Betts has some VERY high up connections.

Too bad we can't get rid of the unsightly suture now that the neighborhood has renewed.

[Front_Porch]

The new Nouvel building doesn't have a lot of corners (ok, I'm a stick-in-the-mud) but I do like the fact that they'll show you a preview of what your window arrangement is going to be. The attention to detail is a nice contrast to new buildings where they aren't even bothering to give you closet rods or towel bars.

Plus, the floors are terrazzo, so we shouldn't have to hear about any warping/scratching.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Fabrizio]

Tell me I'm crazy, but when I look at that facade.... the inticate lacy design... I see the Alwyn court on 7th and 58th. What other building in NYC could you compare it too? (You want some up-dated French Regency too.)

[Front_Porch]

I like the Allwyn Court comparison a lot.

The idea of a "floating tree" somehow reminds me of walking through the underside of Lever House.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Fabrizio]

I don't understand how anyone can call this "anti-urban". It looks and sounds so sophisticated.

Street wall maintained...tied into the street. And my gosh the builders aren't afraid of food! I image the "open-air dining patio for the lobby restaurant" will be open to the public. It's also described as being on the "ground floor".

I also see nothing about the usual parking garage.

[finnman69]

Gehry's IAC is also anti-urban. But that doesn't keep it from being a great building.

The context is the West Side highway in a formerly industrial part of Chelsea. If this were SoHo, I'd agree with you, but I see nothing wrong with this building. It certainly is eye-catching.


Gehry's building was really starting to grow on me, especially as a stand alone object. I think the setbacks and scale of massing of IAC is much more appropriate than Nouvel's scaleless fishscales. Nouvel's building will ruin the effect of Gehry's unique building. The context is not just the back face of Chelsea Piers and the river, but it's an urban edge of the Chelsea neighborhood. A changing neighborhood that is gritty, but a neighborhood with scale and context. This building ignores that edge completely. Also, it's not a standalone block site like the IAC,it's a corner site. Gehry's IAC redefines the edge via it's sail like forms, but the massing maintains the edge.

This look has been done before, and I am just not a fan of it. It's hyperactive ritalin addicted faddertecture. Nouvel is most successful when his buildings interact and react to their sites, such as the Arab Institute, the Cartier Foundation, and 40 Mercer here in NYC. This building could be anywhere, and that's why it's inappropriate and un-NY. While the formal investigation of a modular deconstructed curtianwall is fascinating, the questions remains, should you build it? And should it built to look like this? Just one of the problems with computers and technology is it allows you to create forms and assemblies that in reality is poor design and bad architecture. If there is anything that I find potentially interesting about Nouvel's building it's the logia space. It reminds me of the modular multilevel spatial investigations Paul Rudolph excelled at. But the curtainwall skin I find offensive.

Here's another recent project with the same type of angled, modular glazing. This is an office building in Seoul by Barkow Leibenger. I like much of their other work, but find this to be grotesque. Do we really want to see this on the river? At least Nouvel appeaars to be expressing the window frames instead of butt glazing the joints which is a much superior detail.


http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n35/finnman69/architecture/DMCSeoul.jpg
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[Fabrizio]

"scaleless" ? the building sits on a 7 story base.... has a cornice line. And despite the window treatment, the individual floors seem to be visible. That is not "scaleless".

The above building is something else entirely, I don't see the comparison. Here the glass is tinsely, unfortunately highly mirrored. It's a straight-up-and-down box. And: the window frames on the Nouvel building create a texture. But even so....the Seoul building is not so bad at all.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ais-online.de/6/pdcnewsitem/00/66/44/Hochhaus_digital_city.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ais-online.de/6/pdcnewsitem/00/66/44/index_6.html&h=591&w=522&sz=59&hl=it&start=8&um=1&tbnid=vmfkhV_K2bLfmM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBarkow%2BLeibinger%2Bseoul%26ndsp%3D2 1%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dit%26client%3Dsafar i%26rls%3Dit-it%26sa%3DN

[ZippyTheChimp]

Still drilling caissons.
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8231/10011th01cby2.th.jpg (http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th01cby2.jpg)

[pianoman11686]

Gehry's building was really starting to grow on me, especially as a stand alone object.

That's exactly my point. Gehry's building is a stand-alone icon, an anomaly in its context. It's also anti-urban, but that doesn't keep it from being a great building. (Although I also agree with many of the points Fabrizio made about Nouvel's design.)

I think the setbacks and scale of massing of IAC is much more appropriate than Nouvel's scaleless fishscales.

The setback in Gehry's building was mandated by the zoning.

Nouvel's building will ruin the effect of Gehry's unique building.

Why? What proof do you have of this?

The context is not just the back face of Chelsea Piers and the river, but it's an urban edge of the Chelsea neighborhood. A changing neighborhood that is gritty, but a neighborhood with scale and context. This building ignores that edge completely.

People said similar things about Time Warner before it was finished. A few years later, that project has redefined its context, for the better, in many people's opinions. So will this project.

Also, it's not a standalone block site like the IAC,it's a corner site.

Huh? IAC also sits on a corner, doesn't it?

I understand if you don't like the facade, but I see nothing wrong with the building's structural plan. A curving facade is one of the best ways to make a corner building more sympathetic to its context.

[Citytect]

Both buildings were designed to face the Hudson waterfront, not the Westside Highway or the Chelsea Piers. The highway and the piers only mildly detract from the architects vision.

That doesn't have much to do with 'context' though. That's all I'm saying. The context is not the waterfront.

[kz1000ps]

This look has been done before, and I am just not a fan of it. It's hyperactive ritalin addicted faddertecture.

I am in complete and utter agreement with you here. It think this building looks nice in the renderings, and it has the potential to turn out quite well, but I don't see much relation between the design and its site. I'd say the exact same thing about "Blue" -- nice, but what does it have to do with anything, other than being so of-the-moment?

[Stern]

That doesn't have much to do with 'context' though. That's all I'm saying. The context is not the waterfront.

That's like saying the United Nations context is the FDR.

[finnman69]

[QUOTE=Fabrizio;159164]"scaleless" ? the building sits on a 7 story base.... has a cornice line. And despite the window treatment, the individual floors seem to be visible. That is not "scaleless".

QUOTE]

scaleless

the massing is way out of place for the neighborhood

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/234/451406720_5b7804f8d1_o.jpg

I think the IAC and Nouvel's building together are a bizarre combination that wnd up fighting each other for attention.

[Fabrizio]

"a bizarre combination that wnd up fighting each other for attention"

As much as sails fight for attention with the water:

http://www.ayresfineart.com/gallery/marine/PC281.jpg

-----

As scaless as this?

[TREPYE]

"scaleless" ? the building sits on a 7 story base.... has a cornice line. And despite the window treatment, the individual floors seem to be visible. That is not "scaleless".

QUOTE]

scaleless

the massing is way out of place for the neighborhood

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/234/451406720_5b7804f8d1_o.jpg

I think the IAC and Nouvel's building together are a bizarre combination that wnd up fighting each other for attention.

Well hey, unlike 90% of residental projects a little aesthetic upshowing of each other is more than welcomed on my behalf. A bit of a nitpick IMO.

[Citytect]

That's like saying the United Nations context is the FDR.

Look, I'm not going to continue going back and forth with you about this. The UN sits off the street grid in a parklike environment and there is not a another building between it and the water. Not the same context as this building. You disagree. Let's move on.

[lofter1]

Hmmmm ...

Who will try to get the last word in on this one :confused:

:cool:

[Stern]

Hmmmm ...

Who will try to get the last word in on this one :confused:

:cool:

It was dropped. Why are you trying to make trouble?

[lofter1]

When someone says "I'm not going to continue going back and forth with you about this" and then does exactly that it hardly seems like it was dropped.

Not making trouble. Just observing behavior.

[BrooklynRider]

The score is: love - 15. Your serve, Stern.

[Stern]

I only care to discuss the building's architecture.

[zarzapan]

Here's another recent project with the same type of angled, modular glazing. This is an office building in Seoul by Barkow Leibenger. I like much of their other work, but find this to be grotesque. Do we really want to see this on the river? At least Nouvel appeaars to be expressing the window frames instead of butt glazing the joints which is a much superior detail.


Hm, even though there are clear similarities between the Seoul building and 100 11th, I really like 100 11th and I really don't like the Seoul building. I think it is partly the frames but more importantly the fact that the arrangement of sizes, shapes, and angles on 100 11th looks far more random to me and that's just more appealing.

[BrooklynRider]

The context of IAC and 100 11th are both decidedly on the waterfront, which is great. If 100 11th was proposed for the site of 40 Mercer and vice-versa I don’t think I would be a very big fan of either, at there current sites I am of both. IAC is influenced by gusts of wind in a ships sails. 100 11th goes deeper and is far more profound, it is inspired by the dazzling qualities of water itself. Like 17 State Street it has the properties of a great body of water, reflection and encompassing qualities, but it goes beyond it with a truly unique facade that I am surprised no architect has ever noticed and proposed for a building in a waterfront context, it is just such a perfect match, as the sun rises or the sun sets it creates spectacular reflections on the water, little bits and pieces of glass reflect on the waterfront and its dazzling, I’m sure anyone who has ever walked on the Jersey shore looking towards Manhattan or on Queens West looking toward Manhattan knows what I’m talking about on certain almost magical nights. The effect which is dazzling and almost surreal, transcends here into a built form, the brilliance which is reflected onto the waterfront is put back in a tangible permanent built fixture. Furthermore I cannot wait to see the reflections 100 11th will cast on the waterfront come sunset, but that said the built form will very likely outshine the beauty of its own reflections, a claim that few if any buildings in New York can claim, and that just goes to further show how great a building this will be.


I agree with you here and also need to say "bravo!" on a great piece of writing.

[Front_Porch]

The materials look truly, truly great, and there was wonderful care put into details like polishing the strip of terrazzo nearest the windows.

I would have killed one of the baths in the 3.5-bath floorplan in favor of more closets, but that's just me.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[finnman69]

Hm, even though there are clear similarities between the Seoul building and 100 11th, I really like 100 11th and I really don't like the Seoul building. I think it is partly the frames but more importantly the fact that the arrangement of sizes, shapes, and angles on 100 11th looks far more random to me and that's just more appealing.


I think it looks like Fred Sanford's junkyard, and they built a building with a bunch of leftowver windows.

I feel both are gimmicky. I also think both are also interchangable, they could be located anywhere. Random is right. Just random.


I liked this description of the IAC 100 11th interaction from the IAC thread:

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=159096&postcount=481

The soon-to-open IAC/InterActiveCorp headquarters in New York is primarily being hailed as Frank Gehry’s first building in the city, but it is so much more. Sited on the Far West Side in Chelsea, the ten-story billowing glass structure, which resembles a crystalline snow globe by day and a Creamsicle by night, is a flagship building for the booming Internet company.Yet it is also a catalyst to further development in the area that will sooner rather than later transform the neighborhood it was designed to complement. Right now, that neighborhood includes truck garages and storage warehouses, a women’s prison, and, lately, a few chic galleries. But they serve the IAC building well as a gritty brick backdrop against which its milky white slopes can swell and stand out.

The setting that shows this dynamic gem off to best advantage is changing fast. Across narrow 19th Street, excavation is underway for Jean Nouvel’s 20- story condo that, in renderings, appears to be encrusted in giant mirrored Post-it notes. Immediately behind the Gehry building, 520 West Chelsea, an 11-story condo by Annabelle Selldorf, is rising with just enough space between the two, purportedly, to squeeze in a condo-cumgallery in the near future by Shigeru Ban. Other apartments by Robert A. M. Stern and Neil Denari are also in the works well within visual encroachment range. Such an embarrassment of riches makes one wonder if a new zoning rule stipulating only one icon per block ought to be put into effect.

[zarzapan]

CHELSEA—On the heels of last night's kick off party (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/05/17/get_to_know_your_new_west_chelsea_landmarks.php) at Jean Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Avenue (http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/03/30/nouvels_blinding_vision_of_the_new_chelsea_waterfr ont.php), we have an early report of brisk sales. A special Curbed correspondent writes, "I have shown the building to a customer of mine. The sales office features an incredible 12 foot high and maybe 20 ft long mock up of the windows that will be used...my understanding is that with signed contracts and contracts out, they are practically 50% sold already." [CurbedWire Inbox]

[BrooklynRider]

Yawn! Sales figures after a kick-off party. Whoopie - a press release gets reprinted by curbed - that site is a mouthpiece for brokers and liars.

No, REALLY.

[finnman69]

Hm, even though there are clear similarities between the Seoul building and 100 11th, I really like 100 11th and I really don't like the Seoul building. I think it is partly the frames but more importantly the fact that the arrangement of sizes, shapes, and angles on 100 11th looks far more random to me and that's just more appealing.


It's Ritalin addicted faddertecture. It looks like the building drank 6 Red Bulls and is tweaking out of control. The opposite of sophisticated.

[lofter1]

LOL ^^^

"tweaking out of control"

Perhaps it's an homage to the way things used to be late at night along that stretch of the West Side Hiway :cool:

[pianoman11686]

From http://cityrealty.com/new_developments:

More details on 100 Eleventh Avenue 05-JUN-07

http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1181072852_11av100cs.jpg

New renderings and details of the planned 23-story residential condominium tower designed by Ateliers Jean Nouvel and Beyer Blinder Belle at 100 Eleventh Avenue across 19th Street from the new IAC/Interactive Corporation Building designed by Frank O. Gehry are now available.

Bathrooms will have touch-sensitive fixtures by Jado that include computerized water flow and temperature sensors. The bathrooms will have Kohler tubs and water closets, and fritted glass and Corian surfaces.

Apartments will have operable windows oriented to the south and west and along those window walls floors will be finished with an extra layer of "nearly imperceptible transparent gloss, to boost incoming sunlight into rooms." One rendering on the building's website indicated that some rooms facing the Hudson River will have multiple hanging scrims in front of the windows.

The website also claims that "the building's mirror-canopied pool is designed so that residents may swim comfortably indoors or outdoors, depending upon the weather," adding that "a state-of-the-art glass partition has been customized to enclose the indoor portion of the pool during winter months or inclement weather, so that the indoor portion remains fully operative and warm at all times."

"By raising the restaurant and other public functions of the ground floor to 4' above grade and sculpting a concrete base, Nouvel has created a perfect balance between pedestrian activity and the lively atmosphere of interiors," the website proclaimed.

The project claims to "feature the most highly-engineered and technologically advanced curtain wall ever constructed in New York City - a gently curving, glittering mosaic of nearly 1,700 different-sized panes of colorless glass, each set at a unique angle and torque, sheathing one of the most meticulously customized, high performance residential addresses in the nation."

The developers are West Chelsea Development Partners LLC, a venture of Alf Naman Real Estate Advisors and Cape Advisors, of which Craig D. Wood is a principal. Nouvel is the architect of 40 Mercer Street, which is nearing completion in SoHo and is notable for its large sliding windows, and of the Arab World Institute and the new Quai Branly Museum, both in Paris.

The building, which will be LEED certified, is scheduled for occupancy late fall 2008.

A one-bedroom apartment with 890 square feet is priced at about $1,980,000 and a 3-bedroom unit with three-and-a-half baths and 1,950 square feet is priced at about $4,190,000.

[lofter1]

In that rendering ^^^ this one looks much wider than prior renderings -- which, given the size of the building site, is a more accurate view than the tall & thin things we've been shown before.

[Derek2k3]

The new renderings CityRealty mentions are on the building's website.
http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/

[zarzapan]

Much as I admire this building, I do have to admit the window placement in this bathroom rendering is really weird. The one window that starts at the floor and ends well short of the ceiling seems to be perfectly positioned for the bather to get out of the tub and announce "Hello world! Check out my hanging scrims!"

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/data/img/residences07.jpg

Also I'm not sure about what kind of material they're planning to make the bathroom drawers out of. Frosted glass? Looks sorta cheap and plasticky in this rendering, although with all the high-end finishes they're using in this building I would find that hard to believe.

[lofter1]

Looks like this will be the preferred choice :

http://www.premiersunrealty.com/elina/SALE/images/plasticdrawers.jpg (http://www.premiersunrealty.com/elina/SALE/images/plasticdrawers.jpg)

[lofter1]

These two different views seem like two entirely different buildings:

From the Northwest by day ...

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/_img/building-img-building.jpg

From the Southwest by night:

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/_img/about-img-night.jpg

Nice to see all these images side by side ...

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/_img/about-img-daylight.jpg

These shades are just plain bizarre ...

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/data/img/residences03.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

hanging scrims!"
LOL.

They should hire you to write the marketing brochure.

I think we're going to argue about this building until it reveals itself - like IAC.

[zarzapan]

Yeah, the different perspective renderings help to explain how the effect will change as you move around the exterior. I'm really looking forward to seeing this go up.

I like the multiple "hanging scrims" and think they make a very interesting complement to the windows but I wonder how the heck something like that would work in practice. Motorized? Then you would need a remote with about 30 different buttons to adjust 'em. If you have to pull them manually you have a different problem, given the height of the ceilings. If on the other hand you could not adjust them it would be silly.

[pianoman11686]

6/23:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r260/pianoman11686/SA700046.jpg

[Front_Porch]

My favorite thing about this building, and it's really clear in this set of renderings, is the way the travertine is polished near the windows.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[hey19932]

Has this started rising yet?

[zarzapan]

Last I saw there was just a backhoe scratching around on the site.

[lofter1]

Lots of foundation work / deep pile driving needed on this site (orignally marshland before it was filled in to become piers and waterfront) ...

[BrooklynRider]

The questionable part of this project are those two sides we don't see in the renderings.

[kz1000ps]

Per the rendering below it looks like it'll be a 22-story version of Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame Du Haut, specifically the south facade: http://figure-ground.com/travel/image.php?ronchamp/0002

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/_img/building-img-building.jpg

[infoshare]

Last I saw there was just a backhoe scratching around on the site.

I walked by the site (without my camera) recently. The excavation work has begun and they are now to about 20 feet deep on the excavation.

[Jasonik]

Have we heard anything new about Shigeru Ban?

"With his New York partner, Dean Maltz, Ban is designing a condominium tower next to Frank Gehry’s new IAC headquarters building beside the West Side Highway in Manhattan." (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20shigeru-t.html?ex=1337486400&en=f03a266323e56270&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)

I just starting a thread about it so put any info here (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14927).

[hey19932]

Glad to hear construction is progressing! for a while I thought that this project was dead becuase of the lack of attention it got for the last couple of months

[DarrylStrawberry]

Rising quickly...taken from brooklyn

[Derek2k3]

I think that's the Caledonia. Thanks for all the shots by the way.

[DarrylStrawberry]

I thought it might be...I think you're right.

[infoshare]

At this point there is only excavation work going on at the site. If you do want a glimpse of the finished product: go to the showroom (http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/contact.php) ,you can view a large (about 30' X15' feet) mockup of the curtain wall.

[ablarc]

^ More interesting variations on the Modernist theme of curtain wall. Will this one leak?

[infoshare]

^ More interesting variations on the Modernist theme of curtain wall. Will this one leak?

Not if they make sure to use only good glass (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=184121&postcount=64). :)

[Derek2k3]

Now that I take a closer look, I think it's The Standard. The Caledonia crane is already down.

[infoshare]

As I was walking past the 100 11th sales office and I was surprised to see that the showrooms’ front window is actually a garage-door type of partition that opens up to the sidewalk; it was a great opportunity for me to view the scale model and full sized mock-up of the curtain wall.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/3708/img0002mt5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/1692/img0004qd2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[lofter1]

They're still digging the hole here ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/IAC_07a9.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/10011th_01e.jpg

***

[aural iNK]

I've always been curious how the north and east sides of the building will look, so I decided to stop by the showroom for a look. Nice to see windows here, but I'm still undecided about all that black.

[fioco]

Among its peers in this starchitecture-elite neighborhood, the Vision's BLACK will turn the competition pale in comparison. In the very early morning as dawn awakens and in the early evening dusk as sun sets, the windows will twinkle like stars as their inhabitants move about. Down south on the Island, the Beaver stares and glares with contempt and envy . . . its cheap OZ flecks a fool's gold against the superior machinations of this Vision Machine!

[212]

Made me laugh, and I agree. The back of the building looks like a painting of NYC at night. Can't wait to see it done.

[lofter1]

In the shot of the model below the surface looks silvery ---

Bu you say it's gonna be black?

Me confused :confused:

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/3708/img0002mt5.jpg (http://imageshack.us/)

[zarzapan]

Is the answer maybe that the curved window-mosaic side will be silvery and the flat sides will be black?

[Citytect]

Wow! I like the black backside more than the glassy front. Wonder what material they'll use.

[macreator]

I love the window arrangement on the backside! This is residential architecture at its best.

[TREPYE]

How Mondrian! Its delightful to see a bit of artistical intellect in architectural design.;)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/451406714_d308132ab5_o.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/72/Mondrian_CompRYB.jpg/569px-Mondrian_CompRYB.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/72/Mondrian_CompRYB.jpg)

[Jasonik]

48. Because a Single Block in Chelsea Is Becoming an Architectural Wonderland

http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2007/071224loveny_48_560.jpg
Illustration by Bryan Christie Design

Until a few years ago, West 19th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues was best known as the heart of West Chelsea’s parking-lot district, a windy, nondescript strip that ducked beneath the rusting High Line and terminated at the West Side Highway. A few art galleries and the Kitchen gave it a certain grunge glamour. Now, driven by the High Line at one end of the block, inspired by the presence of a Frank Gehry office building at the other, and invigorated by the financial premium attached to marquee architects, developers are transforming these few dozen feet of sidewalk into a living anthology of contemporary design. Within a couple of years, condos by Annabelle Selldorf, Shigeru Ban, and Jean Nouvel will cluster together here, marking the epicenter of Chelsea’s coming metamorphosis. No other city block in America will have such a concentration of high-end architecture. That’s partly because a year before it opens, the High Line’s elevated park is being billed as the amenity to end all amenities, and partly because the whole point of hiring a star to design an apartment building is to keep New York’s luxury-real-estate market on an outer orbit of its own. The architectural efflorescence of West 19th Street depends on the wealthy’s wanting to live in a new building the rest of us can only take pictures of, in a neighborhood just funky enough to make them feel like pioneers.

Gehry’s IAC Building—the one that made the street safe for fancy architecture—stands at one end, its white glass walls billowing like a lace curtain, with the Hudson just beyond. Its immediate next-door neighbor on the south side of 19th Street will be Ban’s Metal Shutter Houses, an eleven-story multimillionaire’s enclave by an architect who made his reputation designing shelter for the traumatized and poor. When residents are in an expansive mood, they can flick a switch and an entire glass wall at either end of the living room will roll upward like a garage door, opening their abode to the elements. In lockdown mode, the glass walls swing shut and a perforated metal screen rolls down, rather like a fabric shade or a store shutter. Call it bodega chic.

Happily, the 19th Street architects have found no need to reinvent the city from scratch: Chelsea is not Dubai. Ban’s shutters recall the neighborhood’s warehouse past; right next door, Selldorf reinterprets an old New York tradition with modernist flair. Her 520 West Chelsea wears a suit of curved terra-cotta tiles glazed in midnight blue—the kind of material we tend to associate with bathrooms now but that 80 years ago speckled this gray city with shiny white façades and flecks of brilliant color. Terra-cotta, with its combination of smoothness, texture, and deep hues, is making a modernist comeback, thanks to Selldorf as well as to Brad Cloepfil, who is just now covering the shrouded 2 Columbus Circle with glazed iridescent tiles.

Both Ban’s and Selldorf’s creations, which would be stars anywhere else, may get overshadowed by their more brazen neighbor across the street: Nouvel’s 100 Eleventh Avenue. At 23 stories, it’s tall for this area, and two of its façades will get a sequined look that could even divert the eye from Gehry. Instead of facing the building with a sheer glass curtain wall, Nouvel has specified windows of odd sizes, set at angles to catch the sunlight in assorted ways. Especially in the evening, the façade might evoke different memories of New York, as its shiny squares reflect the sunset like a disco ball. If Nouvel can make fine architecture out of a cheesy association, more power to him.

http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2007/42071/

[ZippyTheChimp]

Difficult foundation work - they had to span the excavation with support to keep the adjoining building wall from blowing out.

[lofter1]

The architectural efflorescence of West 19th Street depends on the wealthy’s wanting to live in a new building the rest of us can only take pictures of ...

ya creep ... why doncha rub it in a little deeper :mad:

[stache]

I would hardly call living at 19th and West being a pioneer.

[infoshare]

Excerpt taken from article posted below - http://nymag.com/news/articles/reaso...ny/2007/42071/
"and invigorated by the financial premium attached to marquee architects, developers are transforming these few dozen feet of sidewalk into a living anthology of contemporary design."

Marquee Architects; a good option to the snarky "Starchitect" neologism. ;)

[hey19932]

How far along is this one?

[Colm]

Still not out of the ground. As Zippy pointed out, it is difficult foundation work. Massive temporary shoring of the adjacent building and the time consuming process of installing a secant wall in what is essentially the Hudson River.

[alonzo-ny]

I just passed this, the foundation is coming along.

[Skylimitone]

Great looking building!

[Skylimitone]

I hope to follow this one every step of the way:

https://community.emporis.com/images/6/2008/03/604082.jpg

https://community.emporis.com/images/6/2008/03/604084.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

Out of the ground.

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/2036/10011th02cmr8.th.jpg (http://img389.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th02cmr8.jpg) http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/941/10011th03cwh3.th.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th03cwh3.jpg) http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/6273/10011th04cno1.th.jpg (http://img502.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th04cno1.jpg) http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8730/10011th05cbt2.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th05cbt2.jpg)

[alonzo-ny]

You can almost see the horribly detailed base of Gehry's building.

[philvia]

You can almost see the horribly detailed base of Gehry's building.


the glass is beautiful... i dont think it needs any detailing.

[alonzo-ny]

I dont think you know what I mean. Detailing being how the glass and other components are connected. Not fancy patterns on the surface.

[kz1000ps]

5/24:

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/909/img8168hp8.jpg

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1784/img8182vo6.jpg

[alonzo-ny]

Im looking forward to this one going up.

[antinimby]

So if you worked at IAC and bought a unit here, then you'd just have to work across the street to get to work.

[NYC4Life]

And we thought NY's commute time was long :cool:

[lofter1]

Jean Nouvel's Vision Rises on West 19th Street

CURBED (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/10/jean_nouvels_vision_rises_on_west_19th_street.php)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
by Pete

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th15.JPG
Jean Nouvel's killer project is on the rise in Chelsea.

The hottest starchitect (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/05/14/starchitect_power_nouvels_moma_tower_wins_over_lpc .php) in the universe, this year's Pritzker Prize winner
Jean Nouvel and creator of the jaw droppingly awesome Tower Verre on
West 53rd, has another killer project (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/03/30/nouvels_blinding_vision_of_the_new_chelsea_waterfr ont.php) on the rise at 100 Eleventh Avenue
in West Chelsea. The first couple of floors of the futuristic Vision Machine
(or Mashine (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/07/12/jean_nouvels_vision_mashine_is_huge_in_russia.php) for our ruble-spending friends) have been poured and the
concrete is beginning to pile up on West 19th Street between the High Line
and the Hudson River. The 23-story tower will be the shining beacon at
the end of this project-filled block, which promises to be the frontrunner
for Block of the Year for 2008. Across the street is a groundbreaker from
fellow starchy Frank Gehry, the billowing IAC headquarters (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/08/08/on_art_and_starchitecture_in_far_west_chelsea.php) . The same
block will soon house condo-ites aplenty in the 26-unit big 'n boxy
520 West Chelsea (http://curbed.com/archives/2006/11/14/development_du_jour_520_west_chelsea.php) from Selldorf Architects and the now-it's-a-big-hole
but one-day-will-be a stack o' metal boxes (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/02/20/construction_watch_metal_shutter_mania_surfacing.p hp) from Shigeru Ban. Smart kids
have already started saving their pennies.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th12.JPG
Nouvel's curve rounds the corner on West 19th Street.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th16.JPG
Renders of the finished 100 Eleventh Avenue from Ateliers Jean Nouvel.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th3.JPG
Gehry's IAC building billows across the street.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th6.JPG
The mural "Venus" by Knox Martin will be mostly hidden by 100 Eleventh.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th7.JPG
Selldorf Architect's 520 West Chelsea rises across from Nouvel's Vision.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th8.JPG
Black terracotta detail on the facade of 520 West Chelsea.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th9.JPG
Shigeru Ban's Metal Boxes is now but a hole in the ground.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th1.JPG
Cranes and Art in West Chelsea.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th11.JPG
100 Eleventh Avenue rising at the corner of West 19th.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th13.JPG
Nouvel's site as seen from the Chelsea Piers across the West Side Hiway.

· Starchitect Power! Nouvel's MoMA Tower Wins Over LPC (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/05/14/starchitect_power_nouvels_moma_tower_wins_over_lpc .php)[Curbed]
· On Art and Starchitecture in Far West Chelsea (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/08/08/on_art_and_starchitecture_in_far_west_chelsea.php) [Curbed]
· Development Du Jour: 520 West Chelsea (http://curbed.com/archives/2006/11/14/development_du_jour_520_west_chelsea.php) [Curbed]

***

[lofter1]

Dig this ...


... this year's Pritzker Prize winner Jean Nouvel and creator of the jaw droppingly awesome Tower Verre on West 53rd ...


From Curbed Comments:
Sorry, but the intellectually-bankrupt 53rd Street project is anything but "jaw droppingly awesome."
Comment #5, left at 06/10/08 01:13 PM
"intellectually bankrupt" :confused:

[ZippyTheChimp]

Going up fast now.

Won't be long before we ahh or bah.

[Skylimitone]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I really like the concept.

[antinimby]

I'm a bit confused by what we are seeing so far. The concrete structure we see in these pics show that there is a curved section on the base but the renderings show otherwise.

Might the design have been tweaked a little? (not that I mind the added curved section, as I find that to be even better)

http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/_img/about-img-night.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th12.JPG
Nouvel's curve rounds the corner on West 19th Street.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_05_Nouvel19th11.JPG

[alonzo-ny]

I think the curve you're seeing u/c now will be enclosed by what you can see in the rendering.

[lofter1]

An enclosed glass box atrium on the corner?

[alonzo-ny]

Yes Ive seen something to that effect in renders.

[infoshare]

On the website it is also referred to as the Atrium.

Excerpt from the website (http://www.nouvelchelsea.com/spaces.php):

"View up and into Loggia level, from the patio of the ground floor restaurant. Within a framework of glass, steel, and concrete, a six-story vertical garden blooms. From planting boxes built into the structure, trees soar upward, plants cascade down the walls, and herbs lend their scent to the atmosphere."

[alonzo-ny]

I wondered the other day, are many people (buyers particularly) aware this building abuts a correctional facility?

[lofter1]

Don't know ^

But the 300 "guests" at Bayview Correctional Facility (http://chelseanow.com/cn_28/bayviewprison.html) will be the ones to get the short end of the stick -- they'll lose some of their terrific vistas once the Nouvel tower rises ...

Bayview

A vertical institution (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/bayview.html)
Most prisons are flat affairs. They take what space they need by reaching out horizontally, typically occupying 40 to 50 acres of rural land. Not Bayview. This combination general confinement and work release facility for women achieves its space by stretching skyward: its "acreage" is vertical. It is an urban institution, contained entirely within the walls of an eight-story building at the corner of West 20th Street and 11th Avenue in downtown Manhattan's West Chelsea district.

Traditional prisons have grounds and yards outside their buildings; Bayview has city sidewalks. The sidewalks are of course out-of-bounds to the inmates, for whom the only "outside" is the roof. That is where Bayview's incarcerated smokers go, with the grim resolve of mailmen: neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay them from their appointed puffs.

The roof is good for more than smoking. One side is equipped with a wrap-around, chain-link enclosure, like a bird cage, to prevent volleyballs from disappearing over the side, while the other side is used by inmates who just want to enjoy the flower garden, fresh air and exhilarating sights. This is not called "Bayview" for nothing. The Hudson River is just across 11th Avenue and the roof is an ideal perch for viewing the Tall Ships when they are in town. On a clear day, you can see the Statue of Liberty down river ...
The river and piers are the reason Bayview was built. It was constructed in 1931 as the Seamen's House YMCA, a place for merchant sailors to stay while their ships were docked at the piers. The original use can still be detected in the hotel-style lobby and in the seafaring scenes depicted in the stained glass windows of the chapel ...

[alonzo-ny]

The roof is good for more than smoking. One side is equipped with a wrap-around, chain-link enclosure, like a bird cage, to prevent volleyballs from disappearing over the side, while the other side is used by inmates who just want to enjoy the flower garden, fresh air and exhilarating sights. This is not called "Bayview" for nothing. The Hudson River is just across 11th Avenue and the roof is an ideal perch for viewing the Tall Ships when they are in town. On a clear day, you can see the Statue of Liberty down river ...
The river and piers are the reason Bayview was built. It was constructed in 1931 as the Seamen's House YMCA, a place for merchant sailors to stay while their ships were docked at the piers. The original use can still be detected in the hotel-style lobby and in the seafaring scenes depicted in the stained glass windows of the chapel ...

Sounds positively delightful!

[lofter1]

Back in the golden days when this area was totally crazy until all hours of the night it was not unusual to hear lots of verbal ruckus coming from the upper windows of Bayview.

Maybe the ladies were being kept awake by the revving of motorcycles on the streets below :confused:

This, of course, was back when NYC had a nasty edge that has all but disappeared. Nobody talked about real estate back then. :cool:

[nykid17]

Wasnt gunna catch this building b/c it was POURING today. But then the sun came out, so i turned around and made my way for Chelsea...coming out nicely.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/2619495019_38279e5842_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/2619495023_c8dea07738.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2619495031_8a7b286d4c.jpg?v=0

[ablarc]

This, of course, was back when NYC had a nasty edge that has all but disappeared.
Coming back?: http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=237792#post237792


* * *

Btw, is this the ladies' prison that once operated out of a Deco high-rise in the Village, next to Jefferson Market, where the park is now? Those ladies hurled expletives upon hapless passersby from between their windows' bars.

[antinimby]

Those don't sound like "ladies" to me. :cool:

[ablarc]

The cooler breeds bad habits.

[antinimby]

Or does the bad habits get you into the cooler?

The chicken or the egg... ;)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Those ladies hurled expletives upon hapless passersby from between their windows' bars.The ladies are getting a new playpen. They'll be able to hurl expletives at the north-facing residents.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/7492/10011th08ckq3.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th08ckq3.jpg)


It's going up fast.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/9369/10011th06cfn0.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th06cfn0.jpg) http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/1818/10011th07cvr1.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th07cvr1.jpg)

[Skylimitone]

Seems like they're pouring 2 floors at once :o

Glass by Labor Day?

[ablarc]

Peace in our time?

[lofter1]

The ladies are getting a new playpen. They'll be able to hurl expletives at the north-facing residents.



Duly noted over at CURBED ...

Nouvel's New Neighbors: Caged Women

CURBED (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/07/15/nouvels_new_neighbors_caged_women.php#reader_comme nts)
July 15, 2008

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_07_NouvelCaged2.JPG
Welders busy working on the new blue cage atop the Bayview Correctional Facility.

The shell for Jean Nouvel's new Vision Machine continues to rise (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/10/jean_nouvels_vision_rises_on_west_19th_street.php) on
Eleventh Avenue, and it has now reached the top of its neighbor to the north.
That one is an 8-story deco-adorned pile of bricks better known as the
Bayview Correctional Facility, and it houses a hundred or so of our
less-fortunate female citizens. Some folks might not be aware (http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_28/bayviewprison.html) that this
medium security prison sits cheek by jowl with Jean's vision in glass, whose
glitzy condos will soon tower above Bayview's roof-top "recreation" areas (http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/bayview.html)
where both inmates and staff go to smoke a cig, smell the flowers and
enjoy the views of the High Line and Chelsea Piers. But apparently somebody
has taken notice. Perhaps the proximity of money and misery made them
nervous and so they ordered up a whole new set of bars and cages. Or
maybe it's just time for a bit of remodeling, now that the neighborhood is
getting so posh. Either way, this is yet another example of what makes
NYC so great: citizens of all stripes living close and getting along. And how
grand it is to see that Knox Martin's mural "Venus" hasn't been fully eclipsed (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/01/29/will_nouvels_100_eleventh_eclipse_venus.php)
and can still be seen where Nouvel's fantastic Vision meets the reality of
Bayview Correctional. A bit of new and old side by side, and both the
better for it.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_07_NouvelCaged4.JPG
The newly caged-in rooftop area seen from 19th Street.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_07_NouvelCaged5.JPG
Previously Bayview's western rooftop, at left, appears open to the sky.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_07_NouvelCaged6.JPG
Knox Martin's Venus before Nouvel's Vision began to rise.

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_07_NouvelCaged1.JPG
Venus, partially obscured, with Knox now added.

· Jean Nouvel's Vision Rises on West 19th Street (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/06/10/jean_nouvels_vision_rises_on_west_19th_street.php) [Curbed]
· Will Nouvel's 100 Eleventh Eclipse Venus? (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/01/29/will_nouvels_100_eleventh_eclipse_venus.php) [Curbed]
· Bayview prison:A Chelsea neighbor often unnoticed (http://www.chelseanow.com/cn_28/bayviewprison.html) [Chelsea Now]

100 11th

[RandySavage]

This one is close to topped out as well. No cladding as of yet.

[lofter1]

Topped Out?

It's going up 21 stories.

If near the top then that would mean they've added 12+ stories in the past month ...

[antinimby]

Yeah, it's about half way up.

[RandySavage]

Not to be argumentative but I walked past today and it looks just like the rendering but without cladding. Around 20 stories.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I walked by on July 20th. They were ready to pour the 11th floor.

[scumonkey]

I was just there and they are now up to 15....I counted 3 times ;)

[RandySavage]

guess i'm wrong. to my eye it looked taller.

[scumonkey]

from today
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/east-side.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/southside.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/crane-3.jpg

[ablarc]

Strait-laced structure, tessellated surface.

[American Gaming Guru]

REAL ESTATE



Lavish New York City Condo Project
Contends With Lenders' New Demands

By ALEX FRANGOS
August 20, 2008; Page C1

To see how difficult the condominium-development market has become, consider the plight of 100 Eleventh Ave., which was designed to be one of the hottest addresses in New York.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-AR972_CONDO_20080819185437.jpgKurt Wilberding/The Wall Street Journal Developers Craig Wood and Curtis Bashaw have seen their condo development 100 Eleventh Ave. in Manhattan hit some bumps.
Developers Craig Wood and Curtis Bashaw hired cutting-edge French architect Jean Nouvel to design a 23-story building that features a shimmering facade with thousands of unusually shaped windows looking out on the Hudson River. High-end buyers such as Blackstone Group's incoming chief financial officer, Laurence Tosi, and fashion photographer Mario Testino plunked down deposits to purchase apartments, according to documents and people familiar with the project. The pick seemed like a coup when Mr. Nouvel won the Pritzker Prize this year, the top award in modern architecture.
But like many other real-estate developers, Messrs. Wood and Bashaw have learned that there are no sure things in the current credit climate. Some $50 million over budget and nearly a year behind schedule, their company, Cape Advisors Inc., is under the gun to refinance its construction loan in the midst of pouring concrete, or it risks the possibility of having to halt work next month, according to several people familiar with the project.
A Cape spokeswoman says that there is "huge interest" from potential investors. The developers could strike a deal with new investors as early as Friday, according to two people familiar with the deal. But that unnamed capital source is expected to get a 25% return, slashing into profits Cape hoped to see from the project, these people say.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CC455_100_11_20080819201843.jpg (javascript:OpenG('http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-flash08.html?project=100_11thAve'))
The developer's predicament comes at a time when the biggest condominium construction lenders of the boom times -- like iStar Financial (http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=sfi) Inc. and Corus Bankshares (http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=CORS) Inc. -- are under the gun themselves, facing skyrocketing defaults and plummeting stock prices. In this eat-or-be-eaten world, lenders are squeezing developers like Cape Advisors that have stumbled, several people familiar with the market say.
Indeed, iStar Financial is forcing the developers to refinance a $110 million first-mortgage construction loan with much higher rates, according to people familiar with the project. IStar is asking that the interest rate go from three points above the London interbank offered rate, a common benchmark interest rate, to six points above Libor. The bank is also asking for a $6 million fee to reprocess the loan.
An iStar spokesman, Andrew Backman, declined to comment on this specific project, but in a statement said in general the lender works with troubled borrowers to "find an appropriate resolution for any issues," and that may include "an appropriate extension fee and a new 'market interest rate' which will compensate us for these concessions."
Messrs. Wood and Bashaw declined to comment. People close to the company play down the problems and note that the project has presold 70% of its units for $190 million, or $2,300 a square foot, considered high even in New York.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-AR974_CONDO2_20080819165501.jpgGetty Images The project's lead architect, Pritker Prize winner Jean Nouvel.
Making matters worse, however, the Manhattan real-estate market, once seen as an island separated from the national housing decline, has shown signs of weakness. Inventory of condos and co-ops are up 37% in July from the year before, according to Miller Samuel Inc., a market-research firm. Jonathan Miller, Miller Samuel's chief executive, says market prices are "moving sideways," and he is concerned about how the market will perform in 2009.
But internal project documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal paint a troubled picture. Cape Advisors, like many real-estate developers, failed to keep costs down amid construction problems and sprung for even more lavish fixtures and finishing touches midway through development. Units that lack full river views and that face a women's prison are proving a tough sell.
Cost overruns were "less relevant when sales prices were going up every week and Wall Street bonuses going up and the pool of buyers growing," says Ronnie Levine, a managing director at Meridian Capital Group, a brokerage that arranges financing for real-estate projects. But in today's credit-constrained environment, even a high-profile project in the less hard-hit Manhattan market is struggling to raise cash.
Cape Advisors acquired the small plot of land in December 2005 for $47 million. It sits next to architect Frank Gehry's swooping IAC/InterActiveCorp's headquarters building and among trendy art galleries. Most apartments will have Hudson River views; the women's prison is on the other side.
Well-heeled buyers include R. Martin Chavez, a partner at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., who is slated to purchase the top floor for $20 million. A limited-liability company attached to shipping heir Michael Recanati purchased eight apartments over two floors to join into a single $24.5 million manse, according to the documents.
Insiders also took pieces, including three brokers with the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, the brokerage handling the building. A spokesman for Mr. Recanati declined to comment. Mr. Chavez didn't return calls. Blackstone's Mr. Tosi didn't return requests for comment. A spokesman for Mr. Testino, the photographer, declined to comment.
But the documents show how costs escalated quickly. Foundation work found mudlike pudding instead of bedrock, causing a 10-month delay. The cost of concrete swelled from a budgeted $8.3 million to $14.3 million. The developers upped the ante on the interior design, tripling the price for flooring to $3.1 million.
Mr. Nouvel's intricate facade proved complicated and is currently being assembled in China and expected to cost $14 million, $1 million more than budgeted. The marketing budget increased from $1 million to $4 million. Because of design changes Mr. Nouvel is now expected to charge $1.3 million instead of $600,000. The fee for the local architects, Beyer Blinder Belle, went from $700,000 to $2.7 million. Mr. Nouvel, the lead architect, declined to comment.
In total, the budget has swelled to $205 million from $151 million, and the target opening of Dec. 1, 2008, has been pushed back six to nine months. As costs mounted, Cape Advisors in the spring tried to raise money by replacing its $110 million construction loan from iStar Financial with a $126 million loan from condo specialist lender Corus Bank (http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=CORS). But the Corus deal didn't gel, forcing Cape to look for more equity from outside investors. Cape has put in $19 million in cash as equity in the project, according to documents. Representatives for Corus declined to comment.
Buyers, who had once expected to take ownership by year's end, now aren't slated to move in until summer 2009. Their deposits are in escrow. The sales contract will make it difficult to pull out without litigation. However, if delays push the closings into 2010, the buyers could have greater recourse to pull their deposits, according to people familiar with the project.
Write to Alex Frangos at alex.frangos@wsj.com (alex.frangos@wsj.com)

[meesalikeu]

i have been hearing about this, what a mess.

it doesn't sound like they will, but i just hope they don't cut corners and change the facade.

[Derek2k3]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/2789873100_0ab2871ced_o.jpg
pmarella (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmarella/)

[Skylimitone]

Anxiously waiting for the glass on this one.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Facade going up, but not the sections we're waiting for.

Multi-tone gray brick

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/292/10011th09cse5.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th09cse5.jpg)

[Skylimitone]

Yeah, that the 'yawn!' side.

[meesalikeu]

i wonder if the jailhouse view apts are less expensive? :D

[lofter1]

I haven't seen prices, but I bet anything above the 8th Floor (no matter the direction they face) will see a big increase over the units from Floor 7 down.

[meesalikeu]

i noticed we have been lacking 'vision' for over a month :D, so here you go. these were mostly taken on a south to north walk in front of chelsea piers today -- 10/5/08:

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/7c3128e0.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/353f10e2.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/eefce800.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/c029d6d1.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/bbc8b4a6.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/9f1bec92.jpghttp://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/3b44cd6f.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/539a6d2b.jpghttp://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/2af95bc2.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/8522b411.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/9dfc6fa8.jpghttp://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/16976cbf.jpg
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/091a0cec.jpghttp://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20one/a445ca46.jpg

[NYC4Life]

Great update. The curvature on this one reminds me of 11 Times Square.

[kz1000ps]

Sheesh, let's see some glass already!

[lofter1]

Don't hold your breath. If you look closely at the curved facade (over which all the crazy glass will go) you'll see that the cleats which will hold that glass have not yet been affixed to the concrete.

[lofter1]

Something interesting has appeared on the south side of this tower -- seemingly it's part of the hardware for attaching the facade to the concrete (it's also visible in meesalikeu's previous pics) ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1331.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1332.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1328.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_139.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1312.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1313.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/541W19_Nouvel_1321.jpg

100 eleventh

[BrooklynRider]

~~Tantalizing~~

[meesalikeu]

ooh. sweet, sweet mystery. good eye!

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2184/10011th19csj6.th.jpg (http://img406.imageshack.us/my.php?image=10011th19csj6.jpg)

Lots of clips, but no glass.

The random window openings remind me of Batman Comics.

[Shadly]

They need to make with the visioning soon.