Visit to Manhattan – New York City, New York
We started at the Starrett–Lehigh Building. This 19-story building at 601 West 26th Street, occupies the full block between Eleventh Avenue, 26th Street, Twelfth Avenue, and 27th Street, in the Chelsea neighborhood.
Built between 1930 and 1931 by the Starrett Corporation and the Lehigh Valley Railroad (LV), who formed a joint venture to develop a freight terminal and warehouse to replace the railroad’s previous freight terminal. The structure was designed by the firm of Cory & Cory, with Yasuo Matsui as the associate architect and the firm of Purdy & Henderson as the consulting structural engineers. The Starrett–Lehigh Building has largely been used as an office building since the late 1990s.
The building’s facade has alternating bands of steel strip windows, brickwork, polygonal corners, and large setbacks. The interior has large concrete floor plates, with a total volume of 26 million cubic feet (740,000 m3) and a rentable floor area of 1.8 million square feet (170,000 m2). There was a rail yard and driveways at ground level, as well as three freight elevators that carried trucks to delivery bays on the upper levels. Widely acclaimed on its completion, the Starrett–Lehigh Building was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art’s 1932 “Modern Architecture: International Exhibition”, and its design was imitated by other structures. Although the exterior remains intact, the railroad tracks have been removed, and many of the old freight-delivery areas have been converted into amenity spaces. (Wikipedia)
While roller doors over windows are not great for creating a sense of safety and vibrancy at street level, sometimes they can have visual interest as evident in this example.
This project to encourage people to place their hands beside each other, and to “Remove hands when no longer strangers” by Living Exercises is an excellent way to build weak ties.
Some classic New York City building views were on display while walking the High Line. From the traditional with the water tanks on rooftops, to the more modern towers with cantilevered and recessed curtain walls, there is rich architectural fabric seemingly around every corner and in every direction.
Seemingly a minor feature, these barriers and interpretive sign for a Pin Oak tree are a way to both protect the tree but also to better connect people with it. They also incorporate art to create some visual interest and an interesting walk. A quote from Martin Luther reads:
For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
Another sign has the quote from Kiki Smith, “Words are not enough.”
Both the sign and tree appear to be been placed by the advocacy organization “root for trees.”
At the time of our visit the High Line, Section 1 ended near its origin in the Chelsea neighborhood, and Section 2 was still under construction and inaccessible behind a temporary construction fence.
This urban garden example called the “Good Food Garden” was a collaborative project between “Share Our Strength” and “Teich Garden Systems.” Fully enclosed, it allows for pollinators and even birds to get in, while protecting from the street. Small gardens like this have the potential to spur food production and teach people about food systems in an urban setting.
A few final photos show where the High Line ends. Also, some of the architectural spaces created here and in the neighboring.
The Perry West Towers to the left are in West Greenwich Village New York. In 2000, architect Richard Meier was asked to created his first New York apartment building. After all of the initial apartments were bought due to their high-style design, other developers hired Meier to build an even larger tower next to the first two. This spurred further residential construction all throughout the neighborhood.
The following description of the project comes from the builder:
Mr. Meier’s buildings stand peerlessly along the West Side Highway at Perry Street. These buildings are clad in insulating laminated glass and white metal panels with shadowboxes at the curtain wall expressing the individual floor plates. The apartments afford unobstructed panoramic views of Manhattan, the Hudson River and the New Jersey riverfront through floor to ceiling glass curtain walls.
The buildings embrace the newly renovated Hudson River Park, a network of green and paved open spaces providing a promenade for walkers, joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers all the way from Battery Park City to 59th Street.
J. R. Daly and Sons Involvement
J.R. Daly and Sons was not only a partner in the development, but we secured the financing for the construction. It was a $30 Million Construction Loan that got the partners ready to hire Richard Meier, and it was our suggestion to create Condominiums out of the two towers, instead of a hotel.