Shigeru Ban's Metal Shutter Houses Revealed
Thursday, September 20, 2007, by Joey
[Renderings courtesy of dbox]
Ask and ye shall receive ... a link to CityRealty, where renderings of Japanese architecture icon Shigeru Ban's Metal Shutter Houses in West Chelsea have gone live. This perspective is almost identical, albeit a little zoomed out, to the view of the construction site we tacked on at the end of our investigation into the project. To the left is Annabelle Selldorf's 520 West Chelsea, and to the right is Frank Gehry's IAC headquarters. And smack in the middle is West 19th Street's latest mindfuck. Our tipster was right about the roll-down metal walls for the exposures, which look halfway past bodega and halfway to—gulp—the Brownstone East Village. While we ponder the repercussions of that, here are some details: 11-stories and nine duplexes ranging from 1,950sqft to a 3,180sqft penthouse with three terraces. Occupancy is expected in late 2008. Pricing? If you have to ask...
· Shigeru Ban joins Gehry and Nouvel on West 19th Street [CityRealty]
· What is Shigeru Ban Up To in West Chelsea? [Curbed]
· Metal Shutter Houses [Official Site]
Is it just me or does this building bear a close resemblance to those cheap pre-fab corrugated metal sheds? Why don't we just stack a bunch of them on top of each other and save construction costs?
Why? Everyone is not going to have there shutters open and closed at the same time, it will look horrendous, purposterous, rediculous.
P.S.
Please remove the ass from the ad on the right, or replace it with Vida Guerra's ass.
Hey anonymous at 4:29. "it will look horrendous, purposterous, rediculous." Did you even get past the 4th grade?
I suppose the next surge will be vacant condos in NYC. This will be one of them. The shuttered brownstone condos in the EV are still up for grabs. Gross.
I suppose the next surge will be vacant condos in NYC. This will be one of them. The shuttered brownstone condos in the EV are still up for grabs. This isn't exactly hurricane territory.
I kinda like it. They should make the shutters so that they can only be raised half-way or full-way for consistency. Of course, if I'm paying $15mil for a place here, I'd want to be able to move my shutters wherever the hell I want.
This project is absolutely amazing. Imagine what this building would look like at night. By the way Anonymous, I think the constant shifting pattern of open and closed perforated metal shutters is a quality not a deficit. This building will have a life all its own, the shutters changing position, the glass walls open or closed, the sunlight glinting off and passing through the perforated metal. I am sure this will be a far better building than its boring neighbor to the east and highly underachieving neighbor to the west. And nycitybear, I can't tell who is a bigger ass, you or the one in the ad to the right.
you guys use the phrase 'mindfuck' way too liberally....
is a joke really.
Pricing? I have to ask...
How much p.s.f. (about)? Anybody?
This building will be a welcome improvement to a block that is certainly less-than-desirable if not a slum. Unfortunately, the only time the shutters will be closed is when people are out of town. The apartments will function like giant ovens and the people will be baked. It is nice to see architecture that isn't afraid to step into modern times.
Shigeru Ban knows a thing or two - this will be pretty good. I wish he had reacted a bit more unconventionally to the unique conditions of New York City (the form of the building is nothing revolutionary) but hopefully the details and systems (such as the shutters) will make it something special.
And #1, this is a guy who has built buildings out of cardboard and houses out of furniture. Part of the idea is to take a cheap material and elevate it to something beautiful.
oh snap Zing #3! you totally nailed him on his spelling. are you a comedian? uh oh please dont nail me on my failure to capitalize the first letter in my sentence. who knows what kind of zinger you could come up with.
You idiots are just jealous you can't afford to live in this building.
Peasants. Get out of Manhattan. Why can't you lower-class people just go to New Jersey or something?
External shutters have long been used in many european and japanese buildings, they work really well in cutting off the sunlight as well as leaving the heat gain outside the building. Depending on the type of materials u used (they could be perferated, wood, metal rods... they could have varying degrees of transparencies.) its a great start in applying shutters to north american buildings, hopefully in the future i will see more of that in the state!
External shutters have long been used in many european and japanese buildings, they work really well in cutting off the sunlight as well as leaving the heat gain outside the building. Depending on the type of materials u used (they could be perferated, wood, metal rods... they could have varying degrees of transparencies.) its a great start in applying shutters to north american buildings, hopefully in the future i will see more of that in the state!
interesting idea. I wonder what the sound of the doors opening and closing would be like in other units? Would one hear a garage door sound at 1 am when a neighbor opens the door? Also, one could get some bird action!
External shutters have long been used in many european and japanese buildings, they work really well in cutting off the sunlight as well as leaving the heat gain outside the building. Depending on the type of materials u used (they could be perferated, wood, metal rods... they could have varying degrees of transparencies.) its a great start in applying shutters to north american buildings, hopefully in the future i will see more of that in the state!
Demon spawn of a garage and a suburban office park.
Read the fine print.
The owners get to personalize their shutters with their own graffiti.
Why shouldn't rampant bad spelling be criticized in these forums? If you're careless in the ways that you write, chances are good that your thinking is pretty sloppy, too.
It looks terrible with all the shutters closed.
This building is interesting because it exposes cultural differences in the perception of privacy. It will be interesting to see how he details the metal-he can do amazing things with materials: the japan expo pavilion is a great example.
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