Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.

The shape-shifting form of 166 Perry Street is Asymptote Architecture’s direct but supple response to their site’s proximity to the Hudson River corridor, with its park and glistening water, as well as the busy thoroughfare of West Street and the now famous pair of high Modernist residential buildings next door. The angular geometry of the 166 Perry Street glass wall façade—described by its designers alternately as a “cascade,” “waterfall,” and “fractured crystal”—captures and reflects the surrounding atmosphere, resulting in an everchanging perception of the building’s architecture in the context of the cobble stone streets and historic atmosphere of the West Village.

Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.

Asymptote’s intention, according to Hani Rashid, is to “make something that will reflect both the streets and the sky and become a flickering spectacle for those walking or driving nearby, especially along the West Side Highway… something playful that draws from and reflects the finer grain of the neighborhood, and provokes emotional and intellectual, as well as visual, responses.”At the street level, the façade of 166 Perry Street is sheathed in a perforated white metal scrim with computer generated, laser-cut circular openings. This scrim provides texture and interest to passersby while insuring privacy for the lobby and the maisonettes housed on the ground floor. At the entrance of 166 Perry Street these panels give way to a recessed space outfitted with two mechanized single-pane blue glass doors leading onto a lobby. The lobby is a soft-edged, glowing capsule of space outfitted with artfully designed cove lighting and pale custom features and finishes: white lacquered walls with an integrated, built-in seating area upholstered in silver leather; a pale blue lacquered concierge desk; polished white concrete flooring with inset brushed aluminum panels, leading to the elevator bank; and a discreet area for mail and package storage. In the lobby, Asymptote uses paleness and an emphasis upon luxurious surfaces to create a transition from the life of the sidewalk and introduce the characteristics that will define interiors upstairs.

Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.

Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.

Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.

Image: Asymptote Architecture © All rights reserved

© Asymptote Architecture . Pubblicata il 21 Novembre 2007.