May is a big month for art and design in New York City, with many exhibitions and events taking place throughout the boroughs. The largest and most popular festivals include Frieze New York (Thursday-Sunday) followed by TEFAF New York (May 10-14), NYCxDesign Festival (May 16-23) and, for major design enthusiasts, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (May 21). ).
But galleries and galleries aren’t the only places to see great design in the city. Beauty lovers visiting the city after a year’s absence will find an abundance of eye candy in neighborhoods like TriBeCa, Chelsea, and the Lower East Side. An interesting design can be found in hotels, restaurants, new cultural institutions and even retail establishments. The 10 points below don’t fit into one stylish category – some are over-the-top, others excessive or brutal. But one thing is certain: they will spark discussion and debate.
Warren Street Hotel
Fans of extremes are drawn to the Firmdale Hotel properties spread across London and New York. The brand’s newest hotel, the Warren Street Hotel, recently opened in TriBeCa, with a blue-gray facade, a bright yellow rooftop box, and interiors by the company’s co-founder and creative director, Kit Kemp. Kemp is known for her more colorful style characterized by layers upon layers of patterns, colours, objects and art, as evidenced by Firmdale’s two other London-based hotels, the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo and the Whitby Hotel. In the eastern city center.
Kemp describes the interiors at Warren Street as “bold but not frenetic.” Like its sister hotels in New York, the Warren Street Hotel has unique rooms (no two are alike), windows with views of the neighborhood (and neighbors!) and a restaurant and lobby bar. 86 Warren Street, Firmdalehotels.com
Fifth Settlement Hotel
Located on the corner of 28th Street and Fifth Avenue, Fifth Avenue is a mix of old and new. The old is a stately building designed by McKim, Mead & White dating back to the early 1900s, formerly home to Second National Bank, which now houses the hotel lobby, Portrait Bar, Café Carmellini, and some guest rooms. New is a 24-story tower devoted entirely to guest rooms. Martin Brudnizki Design Studio was tapped for the vibrant interiors. Brudnizki is a master of blending different periods and styles, resulting in spaces that, as a press release said, “embrace bohemian romance, Gilded Age glamor, and contemporary intrigue.” 1 West 28th Street, thefifthavenuehotel.com
Sichi Bar & Grill
Last summer, Cecchi’s Bar and Grill debuted in the former West Village location of Café Loup, a much-loved neighborhood spot. It’s owned by Michael Cici Azzolina, a fixture in the New York dining scene (having worked at River Café, Raoul’s, and Le Coucou), which he details in his recent memoir, Your Table Is Ready.“. The restaurant was designed by Becky Carter, who repurposed and refurbished some pieces from Café Loup including chairs, tables, a large marble host stand and a chrome cash register. She said every design decision was filtered through a cutting-edge “attractiveness” lens, from the vintage light fixtures to the hanging screens that resemble juggling balls to the graceful banquettes and murals painted by artist Jean-Pierre Villafane. 105 West 13th Street, cecchis.nyc
There hasn’t been a new restaurant at the Chelsea Hotel since El Quijote opened in 1930. That changed last summer when the Chelsea Café opened in the former location of the Capitol Fishing Tackle Company, replacing Sean McPherson, the hotel’s co-owner and designer. , described as the “slightly otherworldly” and “tacky” aesthetic of the famous landmark, which was once home to such notables as Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan and Patti Smith.
The restaurant is an instant mix of old and new, as seen in the main dining room, which features a restored skylight and pendant lamps salvaged from the now-defunct Lord & Taylor store on Fifth Avenue. Elsewhere, there are antique chandeliers, a zinc bar, faux greenery and artwork that has been owned by the hotel for decades. 218 West 23rd Street, cafechelseanyc.com
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue — a designated National Historic Landmark — underwent a massive, nearly four-year renovation by architect Peter Marino with interior architecture by Studio OMA, led by Shohei Shigematsu.
Now standing at 10 stories, which includes a new three-story glass addition perched above, the redesigned building (named “The Landmark”) spans 110,000 square feet and includes a five-story winding staircase that nods to Elsa Peretti’s designs. ; Blue Box Café by Chef Daniel Boulud; and dedicated museum and exhibition spaces on floors 8 and 9 (currently displaying 70 contemporary works of art by 26 artists from Peter Marino’s private collection, including works by Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel and Rashid Johnson). Integrated throughout the building are works by other famous artists, including Anna Weyant and Daniel Arsham. 727 Fifth Avenue, tiffany.com
Essex
When it opened last summer, Essx filled a major gap in the city’s multi-brand retail scene. Three fashion industry veterans, Laura Baker, Abby Baines, and Yoel Zagelbaum, had a breakthrough moment during the pandemic, creating Essx, a 7,000-square-foot store on an unexpected stretch of Essex Street. A simplistic and interesting neon sign in the window draws passersby into the even space, which makes strategic use of simple geometric shapes for display.
Created by local architecture firm Leong Leong with designer Yossi Shetrit, the store is filled with clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories from well-known brands such as Wales Bonner, Comme des Garçons, Simone Rocha and Maison Margiela, as well as up-and-comings, all organized by “vibe.” “. 140 Essex Street, essxnyc.com
I failed
A cast-iron building built in 1871 is home to the Khaite brand’s first-ever retail store, located on a cobblestone street in SoHo just down the block from its original design studio. The building’s original architect was Henry Fernbach, and over the years it housed furriers, clothing factories and a parking garage favored by a smuggling gang.
Architect Griffin Frazen reimagined the Khaite space (he is married to its founder and creative director, Katherine Holstein), creating a brutalist environment rich with materials like concrete and curved steel that incorporates natural light to dramatic effect. To wit: An evergreen tree planted in a deep corner of the space, located directly under a skylight. 165 Mercer Street, khaite.com
Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History
If one could only visit one new architectural marvel in New York, the Gilder Center would be an excellent choice. It was designed by Studio Gang with a dramatic, undulating pink granite facade set in a pattern meant to evoke geological layers.
Upon entering the entrance, a five-story atrium topped by skylights, visitors may be tempted to look upward. If they do, they’ll notice the organic shapes above them—bridges and openings inspired by the canyons of the American Southwest. These features were created by spraying concrete directly onto the rebar, without traditional concrete pouring (this technique is called “shotcrete” and interestingly was invented by a museum naturalist).
Featuring new galleries, classrooms and a library, the Gilder Center serves an important but unclear purpose: it bridges the gap between buildings, connecting the entire museum campus for the first time. 200 Central Park West, amnh.org
Perelman Center for the Performing Arts (PAC NYC)
By day, the Perelman Center for the Performing Arts is a monolithic marble box set, though stately, in the shadow of the towering glass towers on the World Trade Center campus (and above multiple subway lines). But at night, the veined Portuguese marble, laminated with glass on both sides, becomes translucent, and the eight-story building positively glows.
The nonprofit performing arts center was designed by Rex, led by Joshua Ramos. Inside there are three flexible spaces that can be combined or transformed into more than fifty configurations, as well as a lobby level designed by Rockwell Group that features a terrace and a restaurant run by Marcus Samuelsson. New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman called the building “the most enchanting civic building to land in New York in years.” 251 Fulton Street, pacnyc.org
International objects
Those who attended International Objects’ inaugural exhibition show last spring remember it well: That night, crowds waited in lines around the building to get inside. That speaks volumes about the gallery’s founders (a crew of four, including two artists, a graphic designer, and a manager at Salon 94), the gallery (which primarily featured artists and designers with a New York connection) and the location (Bushwick). , in a building that the architects describe on their website as “maximizing architectural impact with a minimal budget and material palette”).
The gallery’s third exhibition, “Extra Taste,” is on view until May 19. It includes more than a hundred pieces that, as the exhibition description says, “exhume the icons and myths embedded in everyday consumer culture.” 53 Scott Street, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn; object.international