Building Hunt

There has been so much new construction in nyc these past years, some neighborhoods have completely transformed. My sister has lived on the Lower East Side since back when it was scary. But a recent walk down Bowery left her in a quiet rage over the countless bland new buildings crowding out the low rise tenements. I wanted to find some new buildings that were more than glass boxes, maybe not as awesome as the Chrysler building but still noteworthy.

This is Jean Nouvel's residential building on the West Side Highway. 

It is across the street from Frank Gehry's IAC building.

I love the two buildings together, although I do not think it was planned. Developers seem to imagine their buildings in some kind of vacuum with no other architecture to clash with their visions.

This may be a bit of a project. I had wanted to get a picture of 7 World Trade Center. It is like a ghost building always melting into the background. Here it is on the left, the new Freedom Tower is rising behind it. This view doesn't do justice to its slim lines. I could not get a good view of Gehry's Beekman building either. I think I have to try from the Brooklyn Bridge.

While I was hunting, I came across two apartment buildings that were not horrible. This building on Tenth Avenue is saved by having recessed upper floors. The undulating balconies are fun.

This building on Norfolk Street has diagonal lines breaking up the horizontal bands.

The milky glass offers some sort of privacy. There is an interior courtyard or atrium barely visible through the glass (not in this picture though!).


I will post more buildings as I find them.