Frida Escobedo’s first American residential commission has been revealed as a block-scale condominium project in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The designer of the new Modern and Contemporary Art Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (in which she has set up a working studio) will deliver the new Bergen development at 209,000 square feet for client Avdoo & Partners by 2025. 

It will stand as the second building project in the New York market for Escobedo following her collaboration with Handel on the new National Black Theatre mixed-use development in Harlem.

Escobedo had gained notoriety in Mexico for residential projects, including Mar Tirreno 86, which will now inform her latest design, calling for 105 units configurable in 53 different types and ranging from studios to five bedrooms. The facade of the building is angled such that it maximizes natural light from an east-west direction, with porous openings made along the street level to produce a rhythmic effect comprising scale, materiality, and color.

Workstead, a Brooklyn-based studio, will deliver the interiors for the residences alongside Taller Frida Escobedo. The project will include a park space for residents that's designed by DXA Studio and Patrick Cullina. GF55 is the architect-of-record for the building. The building itself will be formed by two wings connected to a central "Glass House" amenities volume. A total of 75% of the units will have access to private outdoor terraces. 

"We’re inspired by Frida’s strong design vision for Bergen," said Shlomi Avdoo, principal and founder of Avdoo & Partners, in a project announcement. "She’s envisioned an elegant addition to the neighborhood that is rooted in her keen sensibility of material and scale."

Escobedo, who turns 45 this year, was previously the youngest-ever designer of the Serpentine Pavilion and has also completed retail projects in Chicago, Brooklyn, and Miami in the past decade. She last spoke to Vogue about her plans for the Met's reimaging in March of 2023. 

Downtown Brooklyn has become a petri dish for luxury residential development of recent vintage, led by SHoP's new record-setting 9 DeKalb Avenue which just entered foreclosure.