Archinect - News

The architect of New York’s ‘loft movement’ has some lessons for would-be conversion architects today

2024-07-08T18:53:00-04:00

Today, the ideas Mr. Lombardi pioneered nearly 50 years ago are serving as a template for addressing twin problems: the city’s enormous office glut and its growing housing crisis. Mr. Lombardi, now 84 and still running a 16-person firm, is part of a wave of architects and developers now undertaking the mammoth work of converting financially distressed office buildings into multifamily housing.

A lengthy Times profile on the legendary New York conversion architect Joseph Pell Lombardi traces his early career efforts in SoHo and the Financial District to the contemporary challenges posed by office buildings and the impetus to remake them into housing in spite of the difficult parameters and feasibility of such designs.

One tenant of his crowning late-70s Liberty Tower conversion said: “He painted a picture of the neighborhood as a residential mecca, which no one else could see at the time.” Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Tang Architects adds: “His foresight inspired a lot of architects. He showed what was possible.”

At least 64 building owners have 'expressed interest' in the city's new Office Conversion Accelerator since the program was launched last summer. According to a RentCafe data analysis, 5,215 units are currently in the city's project pipeline after the local market experienced an 18% growth from the preceding calendar year.

New York City Planning Commission approves Soho/Noho rezoning proposal, clearing the way for more housing

2021-10-22T17:47:00-04:00

The future of Soho and Noho is now up to the City Council. The City Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a high-profile proposal to rezone the neighborhoods, largely to allow for more residential and ground-floor retail. The proposal covers 56 blocks in the neighborhoods, largely zoned for manufacturing use — despite the area’s reputation as a prime retail destination.

In support of the plan, City Planning Commission Chair Anita Laremont said: “The plan significantly advances New York City’s equity and inclusivity goals, helps to address our severe and ongoing housing crisis and serves to speed New York City's economic recovery.”

According to The Gothamist, the rezoning, which aims to address growing housing needs, could see the construction of up to 3,500 new apartments, including as many as 900 subsidized units through New York’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing requirement. This is the latest rezoning Mayor Bill de Blasio is attempting to push through following the NYC Planning Commission’s approval of the Gowanus rezoning proposal in September.

Previously on Archinect: New York City Planning Commission approves Gowanus Rezoning proposal

Concerns surrounding the proposal include fears that the rezoning could lead to too much commercial development and does not provide enough protection for historic districts. Additionally, opponents argue that i...

The Judd Foundation's 101 Spring Street building is among the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation's first Climate Initiative grant recipients

2021-08-04T13:10:00-04:00

The Judd Foundation is getting a boost thanks to a first-of-its-kind grant from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s new Climate Initiative that will help the 25-year-old institution achieve its ambitious sustainable conservation goals over the next decade.

The foundation, located in the historic 101 Spring Street building, will put the grant money toward commissioning a study of its New York office’s energy use and mechanical systems. The Judd Foundation has been committed to maintaining both it and the organization’s Marfa campus at a great cost since the artist’s death in 1994 at age 65.

Donald Judd moved to the cast-iron building in 1968 as a budding minimalist sculptor and helped marshall in the image of SoHo as an arts district comparable to Montmartre or London’s Square Mile. Judd eventually came to disdain the commercialism created in the neighborhood created by the influx of the professionalized art world, which had begun its second wave transformation into a shopping cent...

A closer look inside Renzo Piano's newly completed residential tower in Manhattan

2019-12-10T18:55:00-05:00

A few weeks after Renzo Piano completed the high-end 565 Broome SoHo, more photos of the Italian architect's first residential project in New York City have been revealed. The luxury condominium building was developed by real estate firms Bizzi & Partners Development, Aronov Development, and Halpern Real Estate Ventures, and Parisian practice Rena Dumas Architecture Interieure (RDAI) was in charge of the interiors. Renzo Piano Building Workshop collaborated with SLCE Architects.

Photo: Adrian Gaut / Edge Reps.

According to Renzo Piano, the design of the 17,000-square-foot tower was “shaped by light,” which led him to create conjoined glass structures with curved corners and an exterior of “low-iron” reflective glass. Inside, the building contains 115 light-filled residential units—ranging from studios to four-bedroom condos—that maximize views of the city. For the interiors, RDAI wanted to deliver a cohesive design that pr...

Inside Renzo Piano’s first residential tower in New York City

2019-11-25T14:30:00-05:00

Known for his work on The New York Times Building, the Whitney Museum, and the Morgan Library expansion, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano has completed his first residential building in NYC at 565 Broome Street. The Soho tower has 115 residences, ranging from studios to four-bedroom condos. Uber’s Travis Kalanick and tennis star Novak Djokovic have already scooped up units in the building, where sales launched last September.

Dwell on Design New York returns to SoHo, Oct. 2-4. Register now!

2015-09-19T10:00:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Dwell on Design New York.

Now in its second year, the 2015 Dwell on Design New York tradeshow will inhabit the Skylight Clarkson Square in the heart of SoHo, NYC on October 2-4. Join 5,000 members of the design community as Dwell upends the standard 'trade show' format to create a unique forum on the future of design.

New York City is a design laboratory — one that constantly reinvents its landscape while embracing new ideas and possibilities. Curated by the editors of Dwell magazine, Dwell on Design NY (DODNY) shares that ethos by constructing a forum for unique ideas and a fresh point of view. Dwell on Design NY will dive deep with commercial designers, architects, manufacturers, makers, and you. Together, we’ll evaluate design, solve problems, and innovate using research, technology, and ingenuity.

At the core of this discourse lies the concept of authentic design and its far-reaching position in the modern furniture cosmos. Additionally, Dwell editor...