i know you have to read it backwards, but you'll understand.
that's how turned around i felt once i put it all together.
i know, i know.
i'm not buying anything in new york.
yet.
ever.
because here's what i learned this past week in the city:
this is a building by an architecture firmthat has just been selected to build GOOGLE's campus,
and i think you can see why.
there's an amazing agression in american architecture these days, particularly in this city, where you see a real fearlessness in design combined with a desire to mix impact with the urban environment, a dialog of sorts. this building in particular is amazing in that it early on acknowledged the explosion of the meatpacking district, where the warehouse old would meet the brand new modernity of retail and restaurant and club. the building virtually predicted the hood.
or, a few blocks away, this:
the "high line" building is literally built above and around an abandoned elevated train line, which the city will be turning into a park. you can see here how the building almost cradles the line beneath it, which will eventually be greened, and turn the floating glass chevron above it into one of the most unique views in the city.
then (see, we're getting to the sign, promise)
richard walked me down bond street,
a little street between soho and the bowery that is just developing.
this is 40 bond:
yep. stunning, right? it's pretty much sold out already, and while it's obviously a high end building, the stories in it are amazing. first, the grille and facade were inspired by new york industrialism and grafitti. you can see it. but let's go closer, shall we?
these? oh these are some strange anodized composite gates. to each individual ground level townhome. yep. that's your private entrance. and one, under construction, gave us a glimpse into the back private garden. just in case you needed it.
oh, look UP:
yes, that's custom blown glass cladding the infrastructure, which gives the building it's greenish liquid feel, and lets it shimmer day and night.
the final straw?
there WAS one apartment left. it was in the back, no real view, and only 1200 square feet. now that's a good size for new york, but let's say you wanted it.
got 5.5 million?
i'm just going to buy a cardboard box and retire early. . .
4 comments:
oof. tell me about it. though we don't play the high-stakes game of Manhattan real estate, even our bedraggled little scrap of heaven here in Brooklyn has a slightly manic feel to it... everytime we talk about selling our house and moving, we're paralyzed by the notion that once we leave the city, whether for the country or another city we're out of the game, that the situation here will continue to spiral out of control and that, having stepped off the merry-go-round, we will never, ever, ever be able to get back on. And this is, as I said, in Brooklyn! If the outer boroughs can inspire such heart-sickening panic, I cannot imagine the stakes once one sits at the table in Manhattan... we look at listings sometimes and think, "Well, if we sold the house in Brooklyn, and the house upstate, and sold two out of the three children, and I drove a cab every night, and we took in laundry and mending, maybe we could swing a JR 1BR in a converted cargo container up in Inwood." Tough old town, this is at times, but it has its compensations.
yrs,
jaime
I can afford 2 sq. feet of the apt. if you're willing to foot the rest of the bill.
I'll try to stay in my corner...
gorgeous. i like the soon-to-work-for-google building the best.
My apartment in the West Village is a tiny 450 square feet!!! And THAT would set me back a cool million and a half at least if I bought it. No way would I buy in this city. It's ridiculous!
TSH!
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