Archinect has received new photos of 611 West 56th Street, the first state-side building by Portuguese architect and 1992 Pritzker Prize winner, Álvaro Siza.
Currently under construction in Manhattan, the 37-story luxury condo tower is being jointly developed by Sumaida + Khurana (the group behind Tadao Ando's first New York City project at 152 Elizabeth Street) and LENY.
In a recent NYT interview, the 86-year-old Siza shared his response to winning this commission. "I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to build in Manhattan. Now, at my age, I thought I had lost the opportunity. I was very happy to be invited and thought, 'Well, let’s see if I still have energy for this project.'"
"Located at 823 11th Avenue at the corner of 56th Street in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, 611 West 56th Street measures 172,000 SF, over 450 feet tall and to be 37 stories," explains the project description. "The building will include approximately 80 residences ranging from one- to four-bedrooms and penthouses."
The interiors are designed by Gabellini Sheppard Associates who were also in charge of Ando's 152 Elizabeth Street interior spaces. Take a look at the showroom photos in the image gallery below.
It's wacky the way the developers won't let these world class architects like Siza design the interiors of these things. Buyers are supposed to be attracted to Siza's name, but the rooms they will actually inhabit are designed by others. A true Siza fan should buy a cheaper place in one of the surrounding dumb box buildings so you can see Siza's facade every day outside your window.
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yikes. they essentially bought the copyright to use his name for their luxury development to increase press hype and justify monstrous rent.
the logical conclusion of starchitecture is leasing one's identity to for use by others, just as many high-end fashion brands have done.
legacy architecture firms like KPF or SOM have existed in this way for a long time. corporations using the original founders' names for quality assurance and brand recognizability, long after they have passed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We're seeing more personal branding in such developments. Even David Childs of SOM gets credits as "xx Hudson Yards ... brought to you by SOM/David Childs".
Well what do you think architecture is about? It isn't like we are hired as generic builders; we are hired to do something no one else can do.
"we are hired to do something no one else can" ... and exactly what would that be?
Pritzker-caliber designers are (well, should be) hired to do something no other architect can do. Honestly, any middling corporate firm worth their salt could have designed this. It's a fine building, but there is absolutely nothing remarkable or unique about it.
It's wacky the way the developers won't let these world class architects like Siza design the interiors of these things. Buyers are supposed to be attracted to Siza's name, but the rooms they will actually inhabit are designed by others. A true Siza fan should buy a cheaper place in one of the surrounding dumb box buildings so you can see Siza's facade every day outside your window.
This looks like something FX or Handel could do.
Yes, right now it looks uncomfortably similar to the junky glass boxes and brick piles surrounding it. Maybe it will get better when they put the stone cladding on it.
I propose an Architect blackout of starchitect-branded luxury condo towers in Manhattan. They're all extremely similar and painfully bland.
As others have noted - the developers paid a premium for the names, not the designs.
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