CultureNOW | A Celebration of Culture & Community

Architect Morris Adjmi talks about The High Line Building. 450 West 14th Street was one of the primary architectural features along the first phase of the High Line’s development. Utilizing brick, steel, stainless grating balconies, and factory-sash windows, the design reflects the industrial aesthetic of the High Line and the Meat Packing District. This historic Art Deco meatpacking plant straddling the former rail bed has been restored and modernized, creating a solid base that sits in juxtaposition to the new glass and steel tower that floats above it. The building reflects the sustainability principles put forth by the creators of the High Line in utilizing green building technologies and is presently awaiting LEED-Gold certification from the USGBC.

Architect Morris Adjmi talks about Scholastic, Inc. building. The world headquarters of the educational publisher Scholastic Inc. provides new office and retail space in a ten-story building on the edge of SoHo. Designed in collaboration with Aldo Rossi, and posthumously completed, the Scholastic Building honors the architectural traditions of its landmarked SoHo neighborhood in a contemporary architectural vocabulary. The building’s Broadway façade, in steel, terra-cotta and stone, takes its inspiration from the classical organization of the elegant 19th-century facades that line the street. A second façade, equal in scale and dimension, expresses a more utilitarian and industrial character of Mercer Street that it faces.

Architect Morris Adjmi talks about The Sterling Mason building. This 115,000-square-foot project in Manhattan’s historic Tribeca neighboorhood features 37 luxury condominiums. The 1915 brick and terracotta warehouse at the corner of Laight and Washington Streets has been restored and paired with an aluminum-clad identical twin, as though a photographic negative of the older structure. The center of the seven-story building was removed to create a landscaped courtyard, giving most units both street and interior views.

Architect Morris Adjmi talks about 837 Washington Street building. Sitting atop a two-story Art Deco-era industrial depot, this 52,000-square-foot commercial building is distinguished by its dramatically twisted steel exoskeleton that creates small wedges planted with greenery outside each full-height window. The design pays homage to the post-industrial garden of the neighboring High Line and calls attention to the angular offset of its site, where disparate Manhattan street grids intersect.

Ming Fay on his mural Shad Crossing in the Delancey-Essex St. subway station, and the station's transformation from a dark and confusing labyrinth to an easy-to-navigate crossing. The Orchard St. neighborhood has experienced a similar transformation.

Ming Fay talks about the second half of his mosaic project for the Delancey-Essex St. subway station and the history of the Orchard St. neighborhood. The mosaic is made from glass and was produced in Munich, Germany.

Frano Violich, Principal at Kennedy & Violich Architecture, discusses the overview of East 34th Street. In 2000, the architects looked at the master plan that included 6 different ferry landings from Yankee Stadium to the Battery Maritime Building but the focus of the whole project was 34th St. An inter-modal public Ferry Terminal at E 34th St with ferry boat docking facilities, waterfront improvements and amenities is under construction as part of the comprehensive East River Ferry Project in Manhattan. The project expands regional waterway causes by accommodating high speed Ferry service to La Guardia Airport, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. 

The Ferry Terminal design encourages public use of the waterfront through pedestrian, train, bike, and vehicular connections from the City to the Riverfront. It offers commuters an alternate and sustainable means of transportation within Manhattan, and serves as a public safety corridor in times of emergency.

The design of the 34th Street Ferry Terminal takes a non nostalgic attitude toward the NYC Riverfront. Pier 34 is redesigned and expanded to provide passengers with ticketing and waiting facilities and public access to three high speed ferry berths. KVA secured grant monies from New York State agencies for off-grid sustainable energy generation including hi-torque urban wind turbines and solar-powered solid state lighting. The architecture integrates information from New York City’s existing and underutilized maritime GPS to provide electronic way finding signage, intelligent real-time transportation scheduling (ITS), wireless public messaging and information access systems for commuters and waterfront residents.

Jeffrey Murphy of Murphy Burnham & Buttrick Architects discusses the conservation and renovation of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The project has been ongoing for the past nine years, and the architects have involved over 21 consultants, the clergy, and the cardinal. The multifaceted restoration included replacing stone, plaster, stained glass, as well as expanding the footprint, replacing building systems, and digging wells for a geothermal system. 

Robert Garneau, a NY-based architect, discusses 'Pivot', a pre-war studio revamped into a modern adaptable space containing a secret bedroom. The brief called for hosting 10 for dinner, sleeping 6, a home office, a private study, and an efficient kitchen for a client that loves to entertain, all within a modest 400 sf studio apartment. The project emphasizes open space while overlaying multi-functionality, transforming in response to different needs.

Extensive custom cabinetry creates various spatial experiences depending on use ranging from serene white walls to lush wood interiors. A pivoting wall cabinet divides the apartment in two where either space can be used independently when needed, revealing a wall-bed with an open-able window/niche. An expanding hydraulic table can be used for work or extended into the main space when hosting guests for dinner; it can also rise up at the push of a button for additional kitchen counter space. The shower is curb-less and overlaps a double sink, allowing more than one person to use the bathroom at a time. The entrance closet doors have built-in shelving as well as a hanging rod that illuminates when the door is opened.

Investing in multi-purpose cabinetry is a natural progression that blurs the distinction between architecture and furniture creating a seamless combination of various functions. Pivot re-imagines the studio apartment by creating a new type of space for urban living that is flexible, sustainable and invigorating.

Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Senior Curator at Madison Square Park Conservancy, discusses the Prismatic Park artwork. Three sculptures, fabricated from painted wood and prismatic glass, create a stage-like setting where choreographers, dancers, musicians and poets, in collaboration with McElheny, present curated performances throughout the exhibition period.