Urban Fractal Tower, New York

Long 16-inch (40cm) bricks, made from light grey sandy clay and ins­pi­red by the colours of the Hudson River, were spe­cially desi­gned to fit in with the spi­rit of the place. Our approach is based on a pre­fe­rence for simple mate­rial that has under­gone noble treat­ment, the absence of orna­men­ta­tion and a quest for the essen­tial. It’s a clean vision of shape and of mate­rials which makes a buil­ding that is in rea­lity reso­lu­tely contem­po­rary. We have adhe­red to the neigh­bou­rhood tra­di­tion to a cer­tain degree. Yes, this is an indus­trial part of the city but it is also a place for artists. It blends tra­di­tion and inno­va­tion. We’ve construc­ted a buil­ding that is rela­ti­vely clas­si­cal, but we didn’t want an indus­trial brick buil­ding so typi­cal of the 19th cen­tury. This is what also gives this tower its sin­gu­lar design, as if it were big­ger than it really is. 

The apart­ments are desi­gned so that their large ope­nings cap­ture the view, the light, the wind and the reflec­tion of the Hudson, which make this loca­tion so spe­cial. In order to ensure that all of the apart­ments enjoy natu­ral light and sun, inclu­ding those facing directly onto other buil­dings, the archi­tec­tu­ral chal­lenge was to mul­ti­ply the construc­tion angles to pro­vide them with two views, at least one of which onto the Hudson. It also see­med essen­tial for the apart­ments on the higher floors with their magni­ficent views to take advan­tage of both sides of the buil­ding. So the facades were construc­ted using a typi­cally New York method on a basic repe­ti­tive ​“grid” but the pro­por­tion of glass facades is remar­kable, accoun­ting for 60% of the sur­face of the tower.