524 West 19th Street - Metal Shutter Houses - by Shigeru Ban

[Jasonik]

"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)

www.shigerubanarchitects.com (http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com)

http://www.dma-ny.com/

http://newyorkmetro.com/realestate/features/2016/map060529_risingwest_560.jpg (http://nymag.com/realestate/features/2016/17153/)
Is it on the high line between #12-Gehry and #13-Seldorf?

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/1781/524w19th01cat0.th.jpg (http://img453.imageshack.us/my.php?image=524w19th01cat0.jpg)

The little white building (524 W19th) between 520 West Chelsea and IAC has been demolished.

Waiting to see what Shigeru Ban puts up behind the Bamboo Curtain.

There's a website, Metal Shutter Houses (http://www.metalshutterhouses.com/), but no info.

[lofter1]

DOB Shows New Building Application (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=4&allisn=0001309644&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=)(s) for 524 - 526 West 19th Street:

Partially Approved: 9.05.07
Stories: 11
Dwellings: 9
Height: 120'
Gross SF: 33,183
Lot Size: 50' x 92'

[lofter1]

Shigeru Ban (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Ban) designed the Nomadic Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadic_Museum) which was set up on Pier 54 (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=43120&postcount=13) in 2005 ...

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/02/27/nyregion/27hard.large1.jpg
Putting final touches on the Nomadic Museum. "I guess it's some sort of minimalism," a dock builder said.

[czsz]

^ Was cool while it was there. It moved on to San Francisco the last time I checked. Wouldn't be a terrible idea for a container museum to quit its nomadism and settle down in the area...

[BrooklynRider]

That was a cathedral. So peaceful inside.

[lofter1]

Yep ^^^

524 West 19th ...

Shutters in West Chelsea Let Condos Open Wide

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/19/garden/20currents.3.jpg

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/09/19/garden/20070920CURRENTS_index.html)
JULIE V. IOVINE
September 20, 2007

ARCHITECTURE

Shigeru Ban, the Paris-based Japanese architect, seems to favor architecture that provides a raw experience. Two years ago, New Yorkers lined up to hike through shipping containers he stacked on a Hudson River pier as a mobile art cathedral for Gregory Colbert’s majestic animal photography. And who can forget his Tokyo apartment with its exterior walls made of flapping white curtains?

Now Mr. Ban has returned to Manhattan’s West Side with a design for a condominium on 19th Street near 11th Avenue that can be thrown open entirely to the elements. The Metal Shutter Houses are nine duplex apartments (ranging in size from a 1,950-square-foot three-bedroom to a 3,180-square-foot four-bedroom penthouse with three terraces, encased in perforated metal shutters that operate exactly like the rolling grates of the Chelsea galleries and Korean delis that inspired them.

Duplex owners will be able to mechanically adjust their own shutters, and inside each apartment, a 20-foot window wall will pivot open, left, getting these few Manhattanites as close to California living as they might possibly dream of being. That feeling will no doubt be reinforced by Frank Gehry’s IAC headquarters just feet away on the lot next door. The Metal Shutter Houses, at 524 West 19th Street, are scheduled for completion in fall 2008.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/19/garden/20currents.2.jpg

(C) NY TIMES

[lofter1]

The showroom for Metal Shutter Houses (http://www.metalshutterhouses.com/) has not yet opened but they are making their presence known over on West 19th Street ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/524W19_01a.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/524W19_01c.jpg

***

[MidtownGuy]

^very cool fencing. what a great way to attract buzz.

[BrooklynRider]

Wow! I love it. Rather simple and yet so innovative.

[sfenn1117]

^It will be fun to watch the tower in all different forms, from a beautiful summer evening all open to a raging blizzard all bunkered down. This street is setting up to be incredible.

[NoyokA]

I don't really get this project. Obviously the metal shudders will be up in the spring and summer, but what as sfenn mentioned during a blizzard or cold weather (7 months of the year) or when it’s raining, or whenever its not 70 degrees and partly cloudy. Won’t people have to put up these metal shudders and subsequently get totally blocked out from the outside world? I’m all for light and transparency as I’ve made my opinions known about a million times on the NYTIMES thread. I could never rent an apartment with out sufficient light and air, infact renting an apartment without a window is illegal, I could be wrong but these residents will be without adequate light and air for a good part of the year. I don’t get the project because if I had the option of metal shudders I would never put them down, subsequently losing a large part of living space, or you could compromise more space for no view whatsoever, the only reason metal shudders exist elsewhere in the first place is for security reasons which isn’t a concern here. Glass Shutter Houses would have on the other hand been a great idea. Sometimes I wish certain architects wouldn’t try to be innovative for the sake of being innovative, this is most definitely one of those instances.

[fioco]

It's not either/or but both/and.

From the article quoted above:

"Duplex owners will be able to mechanically adjust their own shutters, and inside each apartment, a 20-foot window wall will pivot open. . ."
Handy in fierce windstorms, the shutters will also help you connect with your inner-Queens-small-business-entrepreneur, as well as handily protect your castle during the three months you're at your Tuscany Villa, and -of course- catching up with Fabrizio.

[Jasonik]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/19/garden/20currents.2.jpg

On the right the fenestration is vaguely apparent through the shutters, which may in fact be a type of architectural mesh (http://www.cambridgearchitectural.com/). There may even be an insect screen component to the shutters. Don't underestimate Ban.

[Jasonik]

SHUTTER TO THINK

By KATHERINE DYKSTRA

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012007/photos/re049.jpg
METAL-WORTHY: Metal Shutter House
living rooms, capable of opening on both
sides, have radiant heat flooring.

November 1, 2007 -- When your new boutique condo project is surrounded by serious starchitecture, including buildings by Frank Gehry, Annabelle Selldorf and Jean Nouvel, how do you make it stand out? Easy. Hire an architect who's used to thinking out of the box - and then let him.
That was the idea behind commissioning Japan's Shigeru Ban to design the nine-unit, 11-story building on far West 19th Street now known as Metal Shutter Houses. He used as inspiration the garage-style doors seen on many a nearby Chelsea art gallery.

"The industrial buildings in the area have metal shutters," says Ban. "I tried to use something contextual, multifunctional."

Mechanized metal shutters, made of horizontal perforated slats, make up much of the building's fa‡ade. When the shutter is closed, the resident is able to see out, but the city cannot see in. Press a button and the shutter rolls up into the ceiling, not unlike a garage door, though with considerably more finesse. Behind the shutters, the terrace is separated from double-height living rooms by windows, which are also motorized and able to fold up into the living room, making the exterior and interior one.

Klemens Gasser, the developer of the project along with Spiritos Properties (collectively known as HEEA Development), initially purchased the property in 1998 to house an art gallery. At the time, far West 19th Street was almost completely industrial, not to mention more or less deserted.

But in the intervening years, it has evolved into one of the most architecturally avant-garde blocks in the city, with the Gehry-designed IAC Headquarters, Selldorf's 520 W. Chelsea and Nouvel's 100 11th Ave. In addition, Tamarkin Co. is designing and developing an 11-story condo with 22 duplexes on the corner of 19th Street and 10th Avenue. The design includes four penthouses that will reside in a wavy structure that tops a rectangular base. The lesson being, edgy architecture begets edgy architecture.

"If I had to choose between doing something on the Upper East Side or in Chelsea, I'd choose Chelsea because of the interesting context," says Ban, who admits to having another project in the works in New York but is reticent to reveal its whereabouts. We can assume it's not on the Upper East Side.

Metal Shutter House units include four three-bedroom, 1,950-square-foot duplexes with terraces; four 2,700-square-foot four-bedroom duplexes with terraces; and one four-bedroom duplex penthouse measuring 3,319 square feet with 1,963 square feet of outdoor space, which includes a private roof deck.

Units start at $3.6 million, or about $1,850 a square foot; pricey when compared with other projects in the area: 459 W. 18th St., a Delle Valle building, is averaging $1,338 a square foot, and 520 W. Chelsea is seeing $1,600 a foot and up.

And while the penthouse at 520 W. Chelsea sold for almost $9 million, "a record for that area," says Shaun Osher, president of CORE Group Marketing, which is selling the building. Though it might not hold the record for long. The penthouse at Metal Shutter Houses is on the market for $10.5 million.

"We've already had great interest in the penthouse," says sales director Madeline Hult of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing. "Two people in the last couple days."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012007/realestate/shutter_to_think_232942.htm

[Jasonik]

Metal Shutter Mania: Ban's Bamboo and a Sales Office Too!
Friday, January 18, 2008, by Joey (http://curbed.com/archives/2008/01/18/metal_shutter_mania_bans_bamboo_and_a_sales_office _too.php#more)

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_metal1.jpg
[Photos: Will Femia (http://testofwill.blogspot.com/)]

Architect Shigeru Ban's small collection of bodegas/luxury apartments (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/20/shigeru_bans_metal_shutter_houses_revealed.php) known as the Metal Shutter Houses continue to sell like little bancakes, but what of the West Chelsea construction site? Progress is slow (has ground even broken?), but the area is wrapped in bamboo in lieu of advertisement-dotted plywood, so that's something. We're sure Annabelle Selldorf's 520 West Chelsea (http://curbed.com/archives/2006/11/14/development_du_jour_520_west_chelsea.php) and Frank Gehry's IAC building are eagerly awaiting their shiny new neighbor. As for the Metal Shutter sales office at 515 West 19th Street, it's surprisingly low-tech. In fact, it may be downright charming!

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_metal2.jpg

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_metal3.jpg

· Metal Shutter Mania: Ban's Boxes on Display, Selling (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/12/11/metal_shutter_mania_bans_boxes_on_display_selling. php) [Curbed]
· Ban's Heavy Metal Now for Sale (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/10/26/bans_heavy_metal_now_for_sale.php) [Curbed]
· Ban Me! Pricing for Shigeru's Shutters Set (http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/24/ban_me_pricing_for_shigerus_shutters_set.php) [Curbed]

[Alonzo-ny]

I was lucky enough to attend a fantastic lecture by Shigeru Ban last night at Cooper Union. I found it utterly inspiring, his simple designs and simple descriptions blow out of the water any of the average architects ridiculous overblown descriptions of their designs. Its a pity this guy doesnt build more here in NY.

[Kris]

December 30, 2007
Window Shopping
Open to the Elements
By SUZANNE SLESIN

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/12/30/realestate/30wind.xlarge1.jpg
AIRY SPACES A model of the Metal Shutter Houses in West Chelsea, designed by Shigeru Ban. The metal shutters are retractable.

A DESIGN-SAVVY friend called. She had an appointment in the just-opened sales office of the Metal Shutter Houses, an 11-story condominium designed by the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, in what is now West Chelsea.

I’m a big fan of Mr. Ban’s work. I love the way he uses ordinary materials to create sublime spaces. I have dreamed about living in the house in Tokyo he designed with its cloudlike billowing curtains. I was eager to see what he would come up with for a luxury building in Manhattan.

Mr. Ban’s project, at 524 West 19th Street, is being developed by Jeff Spiritos, the president of HEEA Development L.L.C., and Klemens Gasser, a Chelsea art dealer. It was still a hole in the ground when we visited, the site shoehorned between the IAC headquarters building by Frank Gehry (love that cool iceberg) and another glass-and-steel building by Annabelle Seldorf. The two buildings give that block of 19th Street a lunar feeling, which was heightened by the gray light of late autumn.

I hurried across the street to find my friend already looking at floor plans in the sales office. If I had been a serious buyer I would have been, too. The office had only been open a few days, but the units were going fast.

Inside, Madeline Hult, a sales director at the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, was turning on the video that demonstrated the condo’s star turn: the series of retractable perforated metal shutters and big windows that allow the apartments to be wide open to the elements.

Love it, I thought. But I was also wary of power failures, and couldn’t help but wonder how practical it was to have those windows in a city with good weather only half of the year. But soon, my friend and I were being swept away by the sheer ingenuity of the scheme and the opening and closing, appearing and disappearing metal shutters in an extraordinary architectural ballet.

We were in a trance as Ms. Hult was describing walls that slipped away to disappear behind cabinets, 20-foot ceilings, staircases with glass banisters, radiant heat in the floors and the all-white kitchens and bathrooms sculptured out of Corian.

The project, in which Mr. Ban collaborated with the New York architect Dean Maltz, is, at least for me, a fantasy of modern living: a pure and yet high-tech space that can be open to the air and views. On the inside, nothing will interrupt the smoothness of the surfaces.

“Shigeru does not like to show air-conditioning ducts,” Ms. Hult said. Come to think of it, neither do I.

But actually living up to living here was another issue. The sky-high prices were, of course, a restraint. But strangely, so were the elegance, clarity and transparency of the spaces. I’m way too messy and too much of a collector; I’d sully the perfection of the rooms. On the other hand, maybe I was just being defensive.

Of the original eight units only two are still available: Unit 6 has 4,644 square feet and is a full-floor duplex with four bedrooms, five bathrooms, a library, a dining room and five private outdoor spaces. It has a price tag of $10.25 million. Unit 7 has 1,949 square feet of space with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and three outdoor spaces for $4.1 million.

The prices take one’s breath away, but my friend was still interested. She’s worried that she could only move in with a few pieces of clothing, and that her grandchildren would have to leave their toys at home.

But maybe if all goes well, she’ll invite me over.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

[SilentPandaesq]

The prices take one’s breath away, but my friend was still interested. She’s worried that she could only move in with a few pieces of clothing, and that her grandchildren would have to leave their toys at home.

Ohh....to have that be my main concern.

[Front_Porch]

I will never forget showing a $6 MM Richard Meier unit to a buyer who was like, "I love it, if only I could rip all this white stuff out."

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Alonzo-ny]

I will never forget showing a $6 MM Richard Meier unit to a buyer who was like, "I love it, if only I could rip all this white stuff out."

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Off topic but ive never come across this before. What is MM as in $6MM. Surely million requires only one M after the number?

[TSQ]

Off topic but ive never come across this before. What is MM as in $6MM. Surely million requires only one M after the number?

In this case, its roman numerals - M is one thousand, so 6 MM is 6 thousand thousand, or 6 million.

[lofter1]

Thanks for that http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif

Again I learn something NEW at WNY.

And didn't even need to google to do so ;)

[Alonzo-ny]

Aha, but isnt that confusing?

[lofter1]

Not ^ once you know it.

[Alonzo-ny]

Plus one M is quicker.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Two M's is two thousand. 6 MM is 12,000.
I thought an M with a line over it is one million.

[Alonzo-ny]

Whenever I read any news story its always blah blah $4m blah balh

[NYatKNIGHT]

Agreed. You usually see K or M, thousand or million.

[Front_Porch]

In the interests of speed and clarity, I bow to the group ruling:

M= million
K= thousand

a K -- no, make that a KM -- thanks for sorting this out, guys.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

[Peteynyc1]

http://curbed.com/uploads/2008_1_metal2.jpg
The sales office would make a great little duplex townhome in my opinion. I may even take that over the metal shutter unit.

[BrooklynRider]

The Metal Shutter Houses will rise between Gehry's IAC and this new residential building...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/1211.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/810/metalshutter01car6.th.jpg (http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=metalshutter01car6.jpg)

[kz1000ps]

Zippy, I'll see you and raise you ten.

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/4504/img8189dz9.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

Metal Shutter Houses out of the ground.

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/9676/metalshutter02czh0.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=metalshutter02czh0.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2046/metalshutter03cxr0.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=metalshutter03cxr0.jpg)

[meesalikeu]

good to see it's out of the ground i hadn't noticed but was wondering. i'm curious as to how much further along this one is. i need to get over there with my camera - maybe this week.

looking back over the thread i noticed that the heat is via radiant heat thru the floors. i lived in a old deco era apt once that had that feature. it circulated hot water in pipes that ran under the floor. it was nice walking on a warm floor and its a wonderfully comfortable way to heat a room vs steam or vents blowing warm air around.

[lofter1]

Here's how it looked a week ago, on Saturday December 6 ...

*

[scumonkey]

Making up for lost time!:eek::D

[meesalikeu]

these arew from today:


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20two/P1160317.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20two/P1160318.jpg http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20two/P1160319.jpg

[BrooklynRider]

No big changes since last photo...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009067.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009067.jpg)

[ablarc]

Mezzo, mezzo.

Somewhat boring, right?

One trick pony?

[Derek2k3]

I never understood all the hype that went into the building next to it, 520 West Chelsea. It's an ugly glass box with a corrugated metal base. Same applies to 46 Bond Street.

[scumonkey]

46 bond....did you mean 48 ?

[Alonzo-ny]

One trick pony?

Shigeru Ban? Absolutely not.

[Derek2k3]

46 bond....did you mean 48 ?

We're both right. You just officially.

[lofter1]

I never understood all the hype that went into the building next to it, 520 West Chelsea. It's an ugly glass box with a corrugated metal base. Same applies to 46 Bond Street.
Agree that the metal panels on the base of 48 Bond creates an effect that is less than terrific.

However, the street level at Selldorf's 520 W 19th is not clad in corrugated metal, but rather trimmed with very nice black-glazed terra cotta tiles from a mold that creates a continuous wave (possibly giving the impression of galvinized metal roofing that has been painted glossy black) plus a nice rounded stack of similarly glazed tiles to form a column. It looks good.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_06c.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_03d.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_03f.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_03g.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_03k.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_078.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/520W19_081.jpg

520 W. 19th

[ me at 20,000 :D ]

[scumonkey]

Lofter finely drops his load! :D;):D

[Jasonik]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f370/meesalikeu2/number%20two/P1180189-1.jpg
From the highline, courtesy of meesalikeu (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=287083&postcount=310).

[ZippyTheChimp]

Terra Cotta trim aside, 520 W 19th just isn't impressive at all.

[lofter1]

I find it very odd that they are chopping up the spaces at MSH into narrow confines. They did the same next door at 520, where rooms facing 19th Street look to be about 15' wide.

The lower floors (single height) are getting metal studs installed and now they appear to be fairly tight. They are also splittling the wide spaces of the upper floors into "rooms" that will be taller than they are wide, when it would seem that those spaces on the the north side facing 19th Street should be about volume -- loft like. Why not keep the smaller "rooms" at the "rear" on the south side?

But what do I know?

If Shigeru Ban cares to post a reply it would be most greatly appreciated :cool:

From this week:

*

[Jasonik]

The "narrow" 14 foot wide "rooms" on the right are the West Houses - front to back duplexes with double-height (20') living rooms.

The East Houses with two bays on the left will have 14'x28' (20' ceilinged) living rooms.

On floor 6-7, East-West House occupies all three bays and has a 14'x46'9" !! living room - with the ubiquitous 20' ceiling.

Floor plans at http://www.metalshutterhouses.com/

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/19/garden/20currents.2.jpg

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/12/30/realestate/30wind.xlarge1.jpg

Btw, Ban is a Cooper Union alum. He can probably be found around town giving lectures from time to time. I saw him @ the GSD a few years ago - smart and likable with an incredible sense of humor. Here he is [video 79:09] (http://www.archleague.org/index-dynamic.php?show=805) at the Architectural League of NY (Jan.2008).

[Alonzo-ny]

I believe I was at the lecture linked. He is a really great architect to hear speak. His explanations of his buildings are perfect, concise and without the BS and pretension that plagues alot of the industry. He is one of the best.

[lofter1]

Thanks for the clarification. A 14' x 14' room with 20' ceilings might feel odd when inside -- although having a big wall of glass on one end should remedy that.

To my eye the lower floors appear to have more standard height floors.

Info from the website shows that this one is completely sold out. It will be interesting to see what happens when closing time rolls around.

[MidtownGuy]

Those apartments are amazing. What a dream like space, all opened to the outside. Totally drool worthy! I don't even know what to say about the penthouse except...Wow.

[kz1000ps]

From the Highline:

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/5210/img2058uim.jpg

Also, here's a project at 9th Ave and I believe 20th Street:

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/4775/img2064k.jpg

[lofter1]

The front is getting the rails installed for the big sliding doors & glass is going in on the south facade ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_1.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_2.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_6.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_3.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_4.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/High%20Line/ShigeruBan0907_5.jpg

*

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/324/metalshutter04c.th.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/my.php?image=metalshutter04c.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3296/metalshutter05c.th.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter05c.jpg/) http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2510/metalshutter06c.th.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter06c.jpg/) http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9080/metalshutter07c.th.jpg (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter07c.jpg/) http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3506/metalshutter08c.th.jpg (http://img176.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter08c.jpg/)

Interesting concept, but underwhelming.

[Citytect]

Yikes. Underwhelming to say the least.

[lofter1]

It looks like the sliding doors are perforated and will allow light to come through. So it should be more interesting at night (if anyone is home and has the lights on).

Since these are on the north side of the building -- and therefore in shadow most of the time (other than early morning and very late evening in the summer) I'd think that many of the sliding doors will remain up during the day.

[lofter1]

Seems it will look pretty much like the render -- just less glossy.

Without the horizontal bands between floors and the glass fronts on the balconies, for now it appears taller and slimmer ...

Wonder if they will plant any trees on the sidewalks here (none are now present in front of IAC or the Selldorf project next door)?




http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/19/garden/20currents.2.jpg



The second floor units are ridiculously exposed.

http://img41.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter07c.jpg/ (http://img41.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter07c.jpg/)

*

[Alonzo-ny]

Good architecture doesn't need to be all bells and whistles.

[Jasonik]

I wonder if condo association rules prohibit commissioned graffiti murals on the face of one's shutter(s)?

http://www.woostercollective.com/2007/04/24/milanyeah.jpg
"Maybe one day we'll be on that wall" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Impossible"

[ZippyTheChimp]

It looks like the sliding doors are perforated and will allow light to come through.Bamboo shades; thus the construction fence.

http://www.interiormall.com/images/cat/window/Roll-Up.jpg

[Merry]

Holy Shigeru! West Chelsea's Metal Shutter Houses Exposed!

September 29, 2009, by Joey
http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2518/3966784734_f0a4d97bca_o.jpg

http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2518/3966784734_c93d4452b0_s.jpg (http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2518/3966784734_f0a4d97bca_o.jpg) http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2563/3966006297_49e96d51a1_s.jpg (http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2563/3966006297_d1509834e5_o.jpg) http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2565/3966784976_f16290a429_s.jpg (http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2565/3966784976_ccc473953d_o.jpg) http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2527/3966785942_639d638e81_s.jpg (http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2527/3966785942_a05d31df5f_o.jpg) http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2505/3966006107_7d6bb8f25d_s.jpg (http://cdn0.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2505/3966006107_6aaab7c93b_o.jpg)
(click thumbnails to enlarge)

He came, he saw, he shuttered. Japanese starchitect (and Cooper Union alum!) Shigeru Ban's high-end take on bodegas rich people can sleep in has been unveiled in the West Chelsea Starchitecture District, after recently teasing us with a reveal (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/09/11/west_chelseas_metal_shutter_houses_getting_metal_s hutters.php). Peep the MSH archives for renderings and a trip down memory lane, when building seven-unit buildings priced at $3,000/sf made total sense. That's Gehry's IAC and Selldorf's 520 West Chelsea on either side. Maybe the mechanized shutters are meant to keep High Liners' prying eyes out?

Metal Shutter Houses coverage (http://curbed.com/tags/metal-shutter-houses) [Curbed]
Metal Shutter Houses (http://www.metalshutterhouses.com/) [Official Site]

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/09/29/holy_shigeru_west_chelseas_metal_shutter_houses_ex posed.php

[Tectonic]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2751/4142242082_4e60037b65_b.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4341/metalshutter09c.th.jpg (http://img714.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter09c.jpg/)


In late afternoon, the Nouvel building bounces weird reflections onto IAC.
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9574/metalshutter10c.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter10c.jpg/)

[Jasonik]

Nice.

[lofter1]

I had high hopes for Metal Shutter Houses, but seeing it lately -- by both day and night -- the roll down doors are a disappointment.

Looks like a storage facility :cool:

Haven't been inside, so maybe they create a more interesting effect from that POV.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Metal Shutter Warehouse.

A bit of a disappointment, like the Selldorf building next door; but the entire street ensemble works well.

Have to wonder why a north facing building needs gauzy screens.

[Alonzo-ny]

From those pictures it looks only ok. Definitely better than a warehouse. It is simple like most of Ban's work. Not his best.

[BrooklynRider]

I walked by yesterday. I like it. I also like the slot windows on the western facade.

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/7097/metalshutter11c.th.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter11c.jpg/) http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4903/metalshutter12c.th.jpg (http://img101.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter12c.jpg/) http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4076/metalshutter13c.th.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/i/metalshutter13c.jpg/)

[lofter1]

The PH here reportedly is in contract (http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/146455-condo-524-west-19th-street-chelsea-new-york) for $10,500,000

StreetEasy (http://streeteasy.com/nyc/building/metal-shutter-houses) shows two other units have sold.

[scumonkey]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb276/scumonkey/IMGP1408.jpg

[infoshare]

That ‘shutter’ concept is brilliant: innovative architectural design – beautiful AND functional.

Speaking of ‘shutters’ – thanks for the amazing photograph below: in addition to the artfull photographic compostion, something looks different about that shot. I am guessing: very high-end digital camera. Nice.

[Merry]

"The view from the bathroom" - woah (and LOL)!


Shigeru Ban in New York

Mark Lamster

http://observersroom.designobserver.com/media/images/image007.jpg http://observersroom.designobserver.com/media/images/image009.jpg

In a few short years, Nineteenth Street between Tenth and Eleventh avenues has become a block-long showroom for contemporary architecture in New York. The western end has its starchitectural Scylla and Charybdis in Frank Gehry's IAC building and Jean Nouvel's mosaic-windowed condo tower, 100 Eleventh. At the east end is DS+R's reconfigured High-Line, and now in mid-block, between the Gehry and a crisp modern block by Anabelle Selldorf, is Shigeru Ban's recently completed Shutter House condo.

Neil Denari's nearby HL23 has commanded a lot more ink than Ban's building—it hangs out over the High Line on Twenty-Third, begging for attention, and its protracted tale of construction, combined with Denari's slim portfolio and big LA reputation, have generated heat. Ban's building is better. Unlike HL23, which is merely a stack of floor plates, the Shutter Houses were conceived in section, each apartment being a complex set of duplex spaces running from front to rear. The building gets its name from the rolling metal shutters on its front facade, inspired by the industrial pull-down security gates familiar in the area, which shield ample terraces from the elements and prying eyes. Behind those screens, double-height windows create remarkably airy spaces with views looking across what's left of industrial Chelsea and out toward midtown.

I am admittedly not the world's number one fan of Japanese minimalist chic, and some of Ban's decisions here I found perplexing. The lobby—and this is a problem with many upscale modern condos—is utterly sterile and banal, and no place for a guest to wait. The cantilevered balconies at the rear of the building are actually set on a slight angle, for drainage, and the result is that they feel flimsy and vertiginous, as do some of the interior spaces. Most creepy are master bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows that afford those working at the extremely proximate IAC with a show.

http://observersroom.designobserver.com/media/images/iac.JPG
The view from the bathroom.

It is, generally, hard for me to get excited about another new condo for the exorbitantly wealthy. Ban, however, is famously a good citizen, and this project hardly seems like a work of cynical profiteering or formalistic toying about. It would be nice if more buildings in this city, and not at just the very high-end, reflected so much creativity in the construction of spaces and in their reckoning with their urban heritage.

http://observersroom.designobserver.com/marklamster/post/shigeru-ban-in-new-york/29058/

[Merry]

Big Deal | Restoring a Vision

By SARAH KERSHAW

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/08/07/realestate/Deal-A/Deal-A-blog480.jpg

The penthouse at the Metal Shutter Houses (http://metalshutterhouses.com/), a condominium designed by the architect Shigeru Ban and located at an epicenter of modern architecture, on 19th Street in West Chelsea, was snapped up immediately after it went on the market in 2007.

That was not unusual during the real estate boom. Many apartments, particularly those in buildings designed by celebrity architects, were sold sight unseen. To the left of the Ban building is a condo by Annabelle Selldorf; across the street is one by Jean Nouvel; and Frank Gehry’s IAC building is so close one could almost touch it from the terraces.

Developers often needed only to show buyers a floor plan to secure a signed contract. And with the sale of the other seven duplexes in the condominium, it seemed the Metal Shutter Houses would avoid the financial wreckage that lay ahead in the 2008 housing market crash. The buyer, however, pulled out after signing a contract on the penthouse, which was listed for $10.5 million, and the deal fell apart in early 2010. (Developers would not identify the buyer or disclose what he had agreed to pay.)

Before the closing the buyer had already remodeled the three-bedroom four-bathroom apartment, which has about 3,300 square feet inside and almost 2,000 square feet on terraces, balconies and a roof deck. The remodeling lent a decidedly traditional aesthetic to the minimalist space. This was not exactly reflective of Mr. Ban’s clean, high-tech style, which draws on traditional Japanese architecture and the International Style of Modernism.

So after the deal fell apart, Mr. Ban, who is based in Tokyo but has offices in Paris and New York, came to Manhattan and spent several months redesigning the penthouse with Dean Maltz, the architect who runs Shigeru Ban Architects America.

The two architects restored the penthouse’s original details and added some new ones. They replaced, for example, a wood-burning fireplace with a colorfully decorated flue that rises from the hearth to the 20-foot ceiling — in the middle of the stark, white-walled space between the living room and the dining room, Mr. Maltz said. They replaced hanging light fixtures in the kitchen with the original recessed halogen lighting and removed extensive paneling.

The penthouse went back on the market in June, with an asking price of $12.95 million, and went into contract on July 23, according to Streeteasy.com (http://streeteasy.com/). Neither brokers with the Corcoran Group handling the listing nor the developers would disclose the sale price or the identity of the new buyer, and the developers also declined to say how much had been spent on the renovation.
Mr. Maltz said that after the architects looked at the penthouse with fresh eyes, the changes they had made, among them adding a spiral staircase, “exceeded our original vision” of the design.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/08/07/realestate/07Deal-B/Deal-B-articleInline.jpg

The exterior has drawn much of the attention. The building has motorized, perforated shutters that residents can raise and lower, thereby constantly changing the look of the facade, or what Mr. Ban calls the removable skin of the building. When the shutters and giant windows open, they create Mr. Ban’s intended effect of living in a space that exists somewhere between indoors and outdoors.

The 11-story building replaced a two-story space that had an art gallery on the first floor and a home for the gallery owner on the second. It was developed by the art dealer Klemens Gasser and Jeff Spiritos, the principal of Spiritos Properties and a partner in HEEA Development. They commissioned Mr. Ban, who is also known for designing emergency refuges in global crisis areas like Haiti and Rwanda, and who created thick paper walls and curtains for privacy in the shelters that were set up after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March. (Paper is one of Mr. Ban’s signature materials; he makes it durable by rolling it into logs.)

The metal shutters were inspired by the rolling gates of the galleries and delis around West Chelsea. But Mr. Spiritos said that when the building first went on the market, the windows that open almost an entire wall of an apartment to the elements raised a few eyebrows.

“People thought we were crazy to try this,” he said, adding that the developers were warned of potential lawsuits over water leaks and winter air blasting through the windows. “But we’ve been through two winters so far.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/big-deal-restoring-a-vision/