New York by Gehry
Gehry Partners, LLP

Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP

At 870 feet tall, New York by Gehry is the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere and a singular addition to the iconic Manhattan skyline.

The 76-story apartment tower, clad in flat and undulating stainless steel panels, is located on a 44,000 square foot site between Spruce Street on the North and Beekman Street on the South.

Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP

Photo Keith Mendenhall

At the base of the tower is a simple four story brick podium, housing a public school, which was designed to be in the spirit of the neighboring buildings.


Photo Kristen Richards ArchNewsNow

There are through block plazas on both the East and West side of the building. The West Plaza creates a landscaped setting for a porte cochere that gives car and pedestrian access to the residential lobby. 

Gehry began by using the classical proportions of New York City towers and the traditional setback rules which have created the tall wedding cake designs typical in the city. He used these guidelines to create the initial massing of the building.


Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP

He then developed the design to accommodate bay windows which the client requested in each unit.  Rather than align the bay windows vertically, he moved them slightly from floor-to-floor and adjusted their sizes from unit-to-unit. Through many studies of this Gehry realized that the bays created the impression of fabric draping over the building, so the design was developed to accentuate this effect. Gehry refers to this as "Bernini folds," a reference to the 17th century Italian sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.


Photo: Keith Mendenhall

Seven sides of the tower have this configuration, while the south side of the tower is sheared into a flat plane that contrasts the curvature of the other facades and strengthens the sculptural composition. The flat side is essential to the power of the building.


Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP

Due to the undulating facade each floor of the tower and each residential unit on the seven undulating sides have a different configuration. Gehry Partners designed the apartment interiors to take best advantage of these unique conditions, with large windows framing views and creating window seats on some of the large window sills that are created by the movement of the wall from floor to floor. The bay windows also afford residents the opportunity to step out past the plane of the exterior wall in what Gehry calls "stepping into space" and to have the feeling of being suspended over the whole of Manhattan.

The apartments range in size from 450 square foot studios to 1700 square foot 3 bedroom apartments at the top of the tower. Gehry Partners has planned these units to maximize the efficiency of the plans while creating homes with beautiful finishes and light filled rooms.  An enclosed swimming pool and other residential amenities are on the roof of the podium.


Photo courtesy New York by Gehry

For interior views and more information please visit:
New York by Gehry

Sketch courtesy Gehry partners LLP
Sketch

Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP
Model

Photo courtesy Gehry partners LLP
Model studies