In the News

Back to the Future

Fanfare heralds the opening of the TWA Hotel

Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Center at JFK, which epitomized the Jet Age, was dedicated in 1962 and reopened to the public last week as the highly anticipated TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport. Rendered obsolete by changes in the aviation industry, the terminal was closed in 2001 and stood vacant for nearly two decades. Since 1994, Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB) has played a central role in creating a second life for the building—first as an advocate to save it from demolition, later working with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to stabilize the building, and finally as project and preservation architect, restoring and transforming the structure for MCR Development. Flanking the terminal are two new wings, totaling 216,000 square feet containing a total of 512 hotel rooms that are designed to evoke a mid-century modern lifestyle. Lubrano Ciavarra is the design architect for the hotel buildings, working with BBB on their execution. Stonehill Taylor provided the interior design for the guest rooms and lobbies. Located 29 feet below grade directly east of the Flight Center is a conference center, designed by INC Architecture & Design, that contains a 7,000-square-foot sub-dividable banquet hall and multiple meeting rooms ranging from 120-square-feet to 1,100-square-feet on two levels. The project preserves the integrity of the original Flight Center while reactivating it as a destination for locals and travelers alike. The hotel rooms, restaurants, retail, conference center, ballroom, and rooftop pool—plus a fully restored Lockheed Constellation airliner parked on the tarmac that now a serves as a lounge—capture the design and spirit of the 60’s. A collection of aviation and architectural artifacts arranged around the Flight Center and conference center, curated by the New-York Historical Society, add to the historical references.

Au Courant, but Classically Gotham

CetraRuddy-designed Rose Hill residences under construction

Nestled between Murray Hill, Gramercy Park, Kips Bay, Flatiron District, and NoMad is the small but historic neighborhood called Rose Hill. Currently under construction, an eponymous 45-story luxury condominium tower at 30 East 29th Street will put the area prominently on the map. Designed by CetraRuddy, Rose Hill’s 230,000-square-foot Art Deco inspired building features bronzed metal, chevron-patterned vertical elements, and setbacks that are activated as outdoor terraces for shared use and for private use. Upon completion, decorative lighting will illuminate the tower’s base and crown. An additional 123 residential units range in size from studios to four-bedroom apartments including several penthouses, many with flex room spaces that can be customized based on the resident’s needs and altered as their needs change. The building boasts three floors of amenity space including “The Blue Room,” a lobby-level private bar/lounge, and an “observatory” resident lounge that occupies the entire 37th floor, a wellness center with a 50-foot pool, a gym, squash court, and sauna, a bike room with workshop space, and a landscaped garden courtyard. The tower is being developed by Rockefeller Group and marks their first ground up residential project in New York City.

Three’s Never a Crowd

Breaking ground on ARO’s Dia:Chelsea renovation

Dia Art Foundation recently broke ground on the upgrade and expansion of Dia:Chelsea, which is expected to reopen in fall 2020. Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the 32,500-square-foot project, with 20,000 square feet of street-level exhibition and programming space, respects the material and spatial integrity of Dia’s three contiguous buildings—a six-story building and two one-story buildings. A new brickwork facade will extend across the three structures, preserving each as a distinct element within the unified composition, and creating an extended, 200-foot-long facade. Plans call for visitors to enter through glass doors into a newly renovated lobby that will include a bookstore and reading room, as well as flexible public program space that can accommodate up to 150 people. The top two floors of the building will include new educational facilities, as well as administrative and curatorial offices. Two exhibition spaces will be connected to the lobby by staggered doorways that cut through their adjoining walls. The first gallery, located in a former marble factory, will retain its exposed brick walls and will reference its original, industrial garage gate with an oversized metal-panel door, enabling the handling and installation of large-scale work within the gallery and offering the opportunity for street-facing programming. The adjoining gallery will retain its distinctive wooden vaulted roof, its white walls, and its tall glass doors. In each exhibition space, newly upgraded and insulated skylights will allow natural light in. ARO is also overseeing the upgrade and expansion of the Dia Art Foundation’s other locations in Beacon, NY and in Soho as part of a comprehensive, multi-year plan. In Soho, Dia is reclaiming a 2,500-square-foot gallery loft space and is also installing climate control in its nearby installations by Walter De Maria so they can remain open year-round.

Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.

Asbury Ocean Club by Handel Architects to open summer 2019

Once called the Jewel of the Jersey Shore, Asbury Park continues to make a comeback with the opening of The Asbury Ocean Club this summer. Designed by Handel Architects, the 17-story beachfront project is anchored by a four-story podium containing a 54-room boutique hotel. 130 condo residences, ranging from one-to-three bedrooms, occupy a tower on the north half of the site. Each unit has an ocean-view wraparound terrace and floor-to-ceiling windows. Hotel guests and residents will share indoor-outdoor amenity spaces on the fourth floor, which will include a terrace with a pool overlooking the ocean, a bar and grill, a garden pavilion, and an outdoor lounge. Other amenities will include a fitness center, a yoga room with a meditation terrace, a spa, children’s facilities, entertainment and meeting spaces, a 17-seat cinema screening room, a library and game room, an event room, and storage rooms. A private members-only beach club with a pool, cabanas, bar and grill, restrooms, and changing facilities will be built nearby and open in 2020. Anda Andrei Design is the creative lead/design director and Melillo + Bauer Associates serves as the landscape architect for the project. The Asbury Ocean Club is the one of iStar’s recent projects in the area, which also include the renovation of the Asbury Lanes bowling alley, to which iStar added a concert venue christened by local boy, Bruce Springsteen.

Taking It to the Streets

Parsons students’ Street Seats now open for sitting

For the fourth consecutive year, the Parsons School of Constructed Environments, in collaboration with the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), has developed a Street Seats pop-up for the corner of 13th Street and Fifth Avenue. The installation, which provides a space for the community to sit, socialize, and observe street life, was designed by a team of 19 students. Seats and tables of varying heights, made of rot-resistant red western cedar, provide the public with views of the surrounding environment. The red canvas that outfits the seats and tables had previously wrapped The New School’s water tower. Strategically placed LED lights powered by solar panels create a halo, highlighting the plantings and recycled canvas. The day’s energy is stored in batteries located on site and is released at night through the energy-efficient LED strips. A broad variety of grasses, plants, and flowers, including early goldenrod, smooth blue aster, and echinacea, provide changes in color throughout the growing season. Come and sit a spell—now through November.

This Just In

Brown University in Providence, RI, dedicated the Toshiko Mori Architect-designed Stephen Robert Hall which expands the footprint of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs by adding 23,000 square feet. The new building is connected by a glass pedestrian bridge to the institute’s adjacent home base.

The NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), in partnership with the Hudson Square Business Improvement District (BID), have selected a joint consultancy team to make streetscape improvements that will redesign Hudson Street between West Houston and Canal Streets. The team will enhance pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic safety, transforming Hudson Street into a grand boulevard with greater connectivity. Prima Paving will lead the design-build team and will be responsible for overseeing related construction. Sam Schwartz will lead engineering, design, agency approvals, and public outreach. Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA) will oversee landscape architecture and urban design.

Superior Restoration Products has completed work on the One Wall Street’s Red Room. Designed in 1931 by muralist Hildreth Meière, the walls and ceilings of the room are covered in orange and gold glass tile mosaic. The room served as a banking hall for the Ralph Walker-designed building and will now become a retail space when SLCE Architects’ office to residential condo conversion is complete in 2020.

Interior Design and ICFF announced the winners and honorees in the fourth annual NYCxDESIGN Awards. The awards celebrate talent across major areas of design such as architecture, interiors, furnishings, lighting, and technology.

Selldorf Architects is designing the upcoming Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone exhibition at The Jewish Museum. Three decades of Feinstein’s work in sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, and video will be on view from November 1, 2019 – March 22, 2020.

The NYC Department of City Planning, Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space, and The Municipal Art Society of New York selected a new POPS logo. Titled Have a Seat, the logo is created by New York City-based graphic designer Emma Reed and will be displayed at POPS—signaling they are open to the public—beginning in early 2020.