B Townhouse | Nicolas Schuybroek | 2025 | 美国
A house on the Upper East Side, once owned by renowned art collector Larry Gagosian and renovated several decades ago by architect Francois de Mesnil, had over the years attracted somewhat of a tantalisingly iconic status on the cultural scene of New York City. A curious collision of spatial luxury, modernism and faded 90s glamour, the former coach house boasted three generous levels of 300 square meters each, an arched facade window resembling that of Pierre Chareau’s Glass House, and a tiled ground floor swimming pool.Its transformation – for another art collector – began by imagining an updated opening ‘moment’ worthy of its social mystique, replacing a previously narrow and unremarkable experience of stepping inside. A square antechamber with terrazzo floors, displays a rare pair of Chareau sconces and artworks by On Kawara and Jeny Holzer, a stretch ceiling emitting a blur of zenithal light. Its composition, informed by the work of Carlo Scarpa, marks the start of a dynamic interior sequence across the ground floor.
Double travertine doors slide open to reveal a new sculptural travertine staircase leading up to the living spaces. Yet first, a more absorbing dark corridor of black marble channels into a gallery-style entertaining space for dinners and parties. Materials and furniture cast a playful, dynamic atmosphere: a bold tin bar, a white Pierre Paulin ‘Alpha’ sofa set, furniture by Scarpa himself, and integrated architectural elements by Jean Prouvé. This culminates in a small reading room, an escapist cocoon with deep, dusty grey-coloured plaster walls.This narrative of ‘moments’, collectible design and architectural integrations continues throughout the house. Minimal interior architecture of travertine, 45cm wide black douglas fir flooring and clay-plastered walls are broken up by the geometry of skylights and floor inserts carving out a newly vertical flow of light. The plan was hollowed out, transforming interior relationships to the facade window, and expanded with a new penthouse level with a master suite and rooftop terrace, all carefully concealed from the street in alignment with local planning rules.
On the first floor, closed off volumes for functions such as the kitchen and pantry, elevator, staircase and fireplace are grouped around the core, leaving the space beyond for living. Three large-scale paintings by Rashid Johnson and custom raw metal shelving system frames Jean Royère sofas. While the kitchen, built in tin, is newly connected with a wall of glass doors to a terrace of travertine planters and a sculpture by Simon Lee.
The upper floors, with the bedrooms and penthouse master suite, have a slightly warmer material palette. The master bathroom is clad – entirely, from double sinks to the tub and walls – in white marble with a water-jet finish giving a soft, yet matte surface texture. It's a minimal, tactile pocket that catches the soft north-east light. Sliding doors lead to ‘his and hers’ dressing rooms clad in pale, bone-coloured suede fabric, so soft and subtle that it’s hard to see where the clay plaster walls meet the suede. A small study off the bedroom catches the south-west light, with a Prouvé desk and library enclave, while pocket doors open onto the terrace.
The design is a deep transformation from its former identity, whilst still commanding an allure and dynamism worthy of its status and location. The facade still performs as a gateway from the street into another entirely consuming sensory zone, yet this time, it is woven with psychologically-shifting pockets of core quietness, which, rising up and away from the attractions and demands of the city, become ever more cocooning and calming, leaving the hard-driving and beautiful tension of New York City behind.
项目名称：B Townhouse
项目城市：New York City
项目国家：USA
项目周期：2020 — 2025
项目类型：Residential
项目摄影：Adrian Gaut
- 转自：Nicolas Schuybroek
- 图片©Nicolas Schuybroek
- 编辑：序赞网
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