VIA
No, it's not LA, but too damn beautiful not to talk about.
Iconic architect Frank Gehry’s groundbreaking project is finally complete. The first foray into large-scale residential architecture – New York by Gehry at 8 Spruce Spruce Street in Manhattan – stands 870 feet tall (The Empire State Building is 1250 feet), with 76 stories, making it the tallest residential block in the Western hemisphere. Although other residential buildings across the ocean dwarf Gehry’s, New York still retains the distinction of a functional landmark designed by one of the world’s greatest living architects.
A staggering amount of detail went into the vast number of decisions that had to be made to complete the structure. Even the doorknobs are hand-designed by Gehry. The hallway lighting, by L’Observatoire Int’l, the same company that lit the High Line, goes north to south and illuminates apartment doorways from above moving east to west. The exterior lighting along the east and north facades lights the building like ancient sites or monuments, the Pyramids or the the Eiffel Tower using shadows to glorify the tower’s subtle turns. Gehry chose every interior material,including the Douglas Fir kitchen cabinets and even the amenity spaces were designed by him. The bleacher cushions in the screening room are inspired by the curtain wall’s shape. He’s everywhere you look.
The complex incorporates 23,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, including street-level retail, a public elementary school and space for a hospital, as well as the 903-unit luxury residential tower that is supported by comprehensive concierge services that rival experiences found only in world-class hotels and resorts. Gehry’s distinctive aesthetic is carried across the interior residential and amenity spaces with custom furnishings and installations.The apartments feature innovative bay windows that shift in position from floor to floor and are individually tailored for each unit, giving residents the opportunity to, as Gehry himself describes, ” to step into space.”
Having just released the Couture Collection, larger two- and three-bedroom apartments for rent from the 40th to 76th floors, Forest City reports the building as 40% leased. Prices on the upper floors start at $3,600 for an alcove studio, $4,100 for one-bedrooms, and $7,200 for two-bedrooms. In early August, more than 80 residents moved in, each receiving a light-blue Tiffany box with a custom-made key chain of Gehry’s famous torq.
ADDITIONAL IMAGES AFTER THE JUMP . . .
