by: Linda G. Miller
Jack Shainman Gallery Opens Tribeca Flagship
Gallerists Jack Shainman and Carlos Vega had a vision for three vacant floors in the historic Clock Tower Building at 46 Lafayette Street in Tribeca and became owners and stewards of the landmarked space in 2022. The scale of the building is in keeping with Jack Shainman Gallery’s mission to mount large exhibitions that match the ambitions of its artists. After a Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)-approved restoration, their 20,000-square-foot flagship gallery just opened with Nick Cave’s Amalgams and Graphts. Anchoring the exhibition is a series of three large bronze sculptures titled Amalgams, accompanied by the artist’s Graphts, a series of mixed media assemblages. The exhibition, which is on view now through March 15, is sited in the gallery’s primary exhibition space, a massive Beaux-Arts Bank Hall featuring an original ornate coffered 29-foot-high ceiling, sweeping staircases, towering white marble columns, and a wall of arched windows. Finished in 1898, the building, also known as the New York Life Insurance Company Building, was designed by Stephen Decatur Hatch and later Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White, who oversaw its completion after Hatch’s death mid project. The building remained the headquarters of The New York Life Insurance Company until 1928 and was subsequently leased and occupied by various organizations. Originally designed as a block-long Italian Renaissance Revival building, the banking hall is a double-height space clad in marble, which originally had teller screens that divided the public passage from an array of furnished office spaces. In 1923, a mezzanine was built along all four sides of the hall, providing additional floor area for office uses. This was supported by new reinforcing structure at the rears of the existing marble columns, as well as new cast-iron columns at the east and west ends of the hall. In 2014, the LPC approved a comprehensive project to convert the building to residential use, as well as an ambitious restoration of the banking hall and adjacent interiors for future commercial use. In addition to purchasing the bank hall, the gallery’s acquisition includes two adjacent residences that are now an office and additional accessible gallery space, and a ground floor showroom where passersby can view a smaller Cave sculpture. Under the direction of Vega, the gallery hired Malaga, Spain–based design architect Gloria Vega Martin and preservation specialists Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, plus veteran project manager Walter Biggs, to transform the bank hall into an art gallery that is accessible to the public. The space became a designated New York City landmark in 1987 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.
MTA Announces 14th Street Station Accessibility Improvements
With the addition of nine new elevators, five platform upgrades, and redesigned ADA boarding areas, the 14th Street Subway Station is now fully accessible. Managed by the MTA Construction and Development (MTA C&D), the mega-project was led by design-build contractor Citnalta-Forte (a joint venture between Citnalta Construction Corporation and Forte Construction Corporation) and a collaboration between designers Urbahn Architects and Gannett Fleming TranSystems. The subway complex stretches along 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, with some sections being over 100 years old and deteriorated. The 14th Street Station is one of the busiest in the city, serving six subway lines and almost 131,000 riders on a given weekday, so the project team had to carefully phase the work to provide continuous, uninterrupted access to the platforms at all times and ensure that the station could remain open throughout the renovations. Bedrock had to be excavated down to 40 feet to install the new elevators in a densely developed area with an extensive network of underground infrastructure lines. In addition to accessibility improvements, the team enlarged the mezzanines, added a new concession and an accessible agent booth with a lower transaction window, installed new lighting and tiles, repaired concrete, steel and paint defects, and refinished platforms featuring ADA boarding areas for an improved customer experience. The entire complex now has 25 new and 39 renovated stairways which transport passengers from the street level to the mezzanines and from the mezzanines to the platforms or directly from the street to the platforms. The project team coordinated the installation of six new large-scale artwork pieces throughout the station complex. The suite of six mosaics titled “Wild Things” by the Brooklyn-based Fred Tomaselli, draws from the artist’s own bird watching experiences and focuses on species including woodpeckers, cardinals, orioles and falcons. Urbahn Architects served as the architectural lead partner and the architect for the Sixth Avenue portion of the project, while Gannett Fleming TranSystems was the architect for the Seventh Avenue portion and the structural engineer for the Sixth Avenue portion, as well as the elevator consultant and infrastructure and controls designer.
SO-IL Designs New MLK Library in Cleveland, OH
In his immortal 1963 speech, Martin Luther King, Jr., said “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” SO – IL’s design for the new 37,700-square-foot Martin Luther King Jr. branch of the Cleveland Public Library in the University Circle section of the city takes cues from Dr. King’s expressed hope that one day, people of all races will be able to sit down at the table as equals. Centered in the daylight-filled, double-height grand room is the library’s core feature: an architecturally-scaled table that has practical and symbolic applications. Extending from a performance stage and flexible-use space at its center, the table’s edge adaptively responds to each facade and facilitates different functions for different users. A mezzanine ring floats above, offering elevated views into the performance space and accommodating quieter study areas and special collections. The two-story facility features flexible spaces for community meetings, dedicated spaces for children and teens, private meeting rooms, a 24-hour book locker, a business bar, exhibit spaces, and more. Words associated with Dr. King such as “dream,” “peace,” and “hope,” have been inscribed on pillars and though they look more like a geometric pattern at first, lines on decorative tiles spell out “MLK.” A facade of alternating solid and glazed angled panels wraps the building like a curtain, soft and fabric-like in appearance, yet strong and resilient. It diffuses the perimeter, providing calibrated protection from direct daylight, and offers a degree of privacy for the library’s interior. A voluminous canopy further shelters the surrounding grounds to ensure the library does not stop at its enclosure but extends beyond to celebrate civic life. In 2018, Cleveland Public Library launched a design competition to honor the legacy of Dr. King and replace the existing MLK branch that was built in 1970 and served as place where knowledge, culture, and diversity thrive. SO – IL, in collaboration with Cleveland’s JKurtz, won the competition and the opening of the library on January 25, marks the culmination of years of planning, community input, and dedication to honor the legacy of Dr. King. The library is also part of a much larger project called Circle Square that is remaking two city blocks with apartments, including 207 loft-like units above the library and a hotel on the site of the former MLK library. Since it originally opened in 1970, the Cleveland Public Library’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch has been more than just a library. Situated in the heart of University Circle, this branch has served as a symbol of Dr. King’s legacy, a place where diversity is celebrated, and a community space where knowledge and culture thrive.
KPF to Design Historic Chicago-inspired Towers at Fulton Market
The Chicago Plan Commission recently approved Kohn Pedersen Fox’s (KPF) design for 1325 West Fulton Street, an 859,000-square-foot, multi-tower, multi-phase, full-block development located within the Fulton Market District. The neighborhood, once occupied by industry and warehouses, is now a hub for corporate headquarters, hotels, entertainment, and retail. The residential project consists of three red brick high-rises linked at the podium level and separated by publicly accessible pocket parks. Double-height brick arches hand-set at podium levels and precast above, create a dialogue between the building and the surrounding neighborhood. Between each tower, the pocket parks form inviting entryways and break up the development’s massing to introduce a pedestrian-oriented scale. Inside, each room is centered on an inverted bay window, expressed on the exterior through a brick arch, while oversized loggias present opportunities for outdoor living and skyline views. The first tower and five-story shared podium, to be built in the first phase of development, will rise 29 floors and house 80 residential units, a 95-vehicle parking garage, and a suite of luxury amenities including a pool and dog run. Chicago-based ParkFowler Plus is the project’s architect-of-record.
Dattner Architects Redevelops Historic Empire State Dairy Site
Dattner Architects is awaiting the replacement of restored ceramic tiles from the two polychromatic mosaics depicting pastoral scenes on the façade of what was the Empire State Dairy to complete its new mixed-use project in the East New York section of Brooklyn. Taking advantages of the rezoning of East New York, the project preserves the exterior façade and adaptively reuses the dairy building while maximizing affordable housing units and retail space. Behind the dairy building is a new roughly u-shaped 14-story residential tower with stepped massing on the sides and front. The façade is made up of a grid of intersecting sections of brown brick, white panels, and black panels. The 274,000-square-foot addition yields 320 units of housing including 77 inclusionary units. The building’s amenities include a gym, movie theater, playground, community center, rooftop and outdoor terraces, dog park, parking, and bike storage. The former dairy production facility was originally completed in 1915 by architects Theobald Engelhardt and Otto Strack and was in operation until the mid-20th century. The building known for its Vienna Secession architectural style, was designated a New York City landmark in 2017 after years of advocacy by local preservationists. The Ascend Public Charter School, a middle school designed by Murphy Burnham Buttrick (MBB), now occupies 75% of the former dairy. Its 40,000-square-foot school is on three above-grade floors and one below for a sunken gymnasium. The space was received as a Whitebox following Dattner’s gut-out and reconstruction of the building’s structure and core. Early involvement in the project allowed them to design the full interior fit-out to best support Ascend’s programmatic needs and pedagogy. The varying fenestration rhythm of the historic Empire State Dairy Company buildings lends character to each classroom.
GRT Architects Designs Third It’s Bagels Shop in London’s Soho
Following the success of It’s Bagels shops in Primrose Hill and then in Notting Hill, GRT Architects has created a third outpost in Soho for mini-chain that specializes in the New York classic for Londoners. The eatery is owned by ex-pat fashion photographer Dan Martensen who, lacking a place to buy and eat a proper bagel, asked his friends to design him one. The architects transformed a derelict, graffiti-covered ground floor space into a 500-square-foot eatery. The architects created a twist on the classic checkerboard floor in powder blue and cream, playing with the scale of the tiles and bringing the pattern up as a baseboard. Walls are wood-clad in a manner that will be familiar to anyone who has enjoyed a slice on a paper plate. Back-lit lightboxes ring the ceiling of the small shop, advertising the goods available for sale. Outside, the shop keeps a low profile but is promoted by a colorful hand-painted sign band. New locations are being scouted, for future shops that may sell more and different New York culinary classics.
In Case You Missed It
The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, The Shed, the Central Park Conservancy, and Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced a comprehensive, multi-platform commemoration of The Gates, the landmark 2005 public art installation in New York City by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude on view February 12 through March 23. The 20th anniversary of The Gates will be celebrated with an exhibition at The Shed in Hudson Yards and an interactive augmented reality experience in Central Park, powered by Bloomberg Connects.
A video showing plans for the new Manhattan Detention Center (MDC) was released. A design by Los Angeles-based architectural firm Tutor Perini and O&G Industries reveals a 16-story facility set to rise at 124-125 White Street as part of the city’s plan to replace Rikers Island with four borough-based jails.
Allied Works has been selected to design a new art museum for Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. The design forms a pivotal component of the reconfiguration of the north side of the school’s campus and will become part of a new “arts agora” in unison with four other existing adjacent buildings.
After expressing their sympathies, the Landmarks Preservation Commission agreed to allow the owners of the townhouse on Perry Street in the Village as seen in Sex and the City, to erect an iron gate to protect residents from intruders that have plagued them for years.