October 21, 2009

The Northside's Haunted House

With Halloween only ten days away, Forgotten NY today takes a look at "one of Brooklyn's more notable 'haunted houses'"—Williamsburg's 539 Driggs. In addition to the all the original, decrepit details and odd detritus visible through the windows, 539 Driggs is also notable for its rear house, accessible through a narrow side path. We still remember taking a quick duck down the alley shortly back in the early days of Brownstoner when we were still living in the 'Burg. Neat stuff. More photos and descriptions on the link.

October 16, 2009

House Tour Double-Shot This Weekend

Lots of ground to cover this weekend for house-tour lovers...Tomorrow, the 31st Annual Bedford Stuyvesant House Tour runs from 11 am to 4 pm; you can buy tickets in advance from Brownstone Books at 409 Lewis Avenue or pick them up at the kick-off spot at Brooklyn Academy High School at 832 Marcy Avenue. On Sunday, the action shifts to Prospect Heights, where ten homes—including three architects' residences—will be open for viewing. The self-guided tour goes from 12 to 5 p.m., and you can purchase tickets ($20 ahead; $25 same day) at Forest Floor Antiques at 659 Vanderbilt Avenue. For more info., call 718-393-7653 or visit their website.

October 14, 2009

2 Lefferts Comes Into Focus, Exceeds Expectations

The developer of 2 Lefferts Place (at right) deserves some kind of medal or something. Though the property is not within the Clinton Hill Historic District, he still made every effort to build a contextual new building, down to the cornice (which actually looks a little big) and the choice of brick. Hopefully his choices will be rewarded by the marketplace. Meanwhile a few lots down across the street, at 19 Lefferts Place (photo on the jump), a developer's effort to create some kind of penthouse apartment has just marred the otherwise charming stretch of facades. Nice goin'.
Development Watch: 2 Lefferts Place Gets Windows [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 2 Lefferts Place [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark
Mini Flatiron Building Coming to Clinton Hill [Brownstoner] DOB

Continue reading "2 Lefferts Comes Into Focus, Exceeds Expectations"

October 9, 2009

Open House New York: Much More Than Houses

The seventh annual openhousenewyork event will take place this weekend; all told, there are over 350 events in all five boroughs showcasing New York architecture and design, and the scheduled tours and talks span a wide array of cultural key points. The line-up in Brooklyn, for example, includes a tour of the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel, BAM, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Lyceum, the City Reliquary, Tom Otterness' studio, and a long list of historical sites that may or may not be on your radar, such as the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House, the oldest home in New York City, or the St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. For the full (very full) listing, check out openhousenewyork's website. And did we mention that it's free?

October 2, 2009

The Venetian Unveiled

We took a look at The Venetian, Gravesend's attempt at classical opulence, last year when it was still in the throes of construction. A reader just sent in this photo with the news that all the scaffolding and other construction paraphernalia had recently been removed. Honestly, we're not entirely sure what to make of it. We had been assuming it would be entirely mock-worthy but it looks a lot better in reality than we had expected. We don't care much for the roof or those rounded upper corners but the lower floors actually look decent. Plus, judging from the renderings, the interiors are also not as garish as we would have thought. Of course, the whole thing rides on the choice of materials, which is hard to judge without being up close. We've got no idea about sales status, though last year Gowanus Lounge reported that condos there were asking $1 to $4 million. What do you think?
The Venetian: 16th-Century Living, Gravesend-Style [Brownstoner]
$2,000 a Foot in Gravesend? You Betcha [Brownstoner] GMAP

September 10, 2009

Ourousoff Weighs In On Barclay's Center Design

The results, unveiled on Wednesday, are somewhat more promising. Some of Mr. Gehry’s original ideas, like opening views from the sidewalk into the arena, have been restored. Mr. Ratner has reduced the size of the structure, moving team offices to another site. And Shop has wrapped it in an appealing rust-colored steel skin, which will make it less harsh on the eye. But it still falls short of the high architectural standards set by the design the city was originally promised. And too many questions remain unanswered about the overall plan — in particular, when and whether Mr. Ratner’s company, Forest City Ratner, will ever build the surrounding buildings, and, assuming it does, who will design them. Without them the cohesion of the original plan falls apart. - New York Times, 9/10/09

September 4, 2009

Bay Ridge McMansion

Returning from our refinancing closing a couple of weeks ago, we drove down Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge for a few blocks. There were some very charming houses we saw. This one at the corner of 86th Street was not one of them.

August 20, 2009

How the Argyle Greets 4th Avenue

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Following in the footsteps of another 4th Avenue ~~masterpiece~~ new condo, the Crest, behold the latest grate addition to the Park Avenue of Brooklyn's streetscape, this time c/o the Argyle. Jane Jacobs would love this! GMAP

July 16, 2009

Starchitect Power at Brooklyn Building Awards

The annual Brooklyn Building Awards ceremony, the results of which we told you about last month, was held last night at Stage 6 of Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As you can see from this photo, the event had some serious star power in the form of internationally renowned architect Richard Meier. After food and drinks on the 4th floor terrace, the crowd adjourned to the third floor where Meier received an award in the Residential Multiple Dwelling category for On Prospect Park, the glassy, modern structure overlooking Grand Army Plaza; other winners included Galapagos Art Space in Dumbo and Brooklyn Children's Museum in Crown Heights. For a full list of awardees, click here.

July 7, 2009

BBG Visitor Center Design Unveiled, Award Announced

Yesterday the Brooklyn Botanic Garden gave the public its first views of its new Visitor Pavilion and announced that the design by Manhattan-based Weiss/Manfredi had won the Award for Excellence in Design by the Public Design Commission of the City of New York. There's lot of detail (and more renderings) over on the BBG site about the environmentally-friendly building, but the center, to be located at 900 Washington Avenue, will house new garden shop, an orientation room for tours and classes, an information desk, an event space, a refreshment bar, and restrooms.
A New Visitor Center [BBG]

June 24, 2009

It Came From 4th Ave: The Electryifying Conclusion!

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When we last checked in on the 4th Ave sliver at the corner of Carroll, the rental building's facade was sporting a snazzy new layer of cinder blocks. More recently, however, the cinder blocks have been covered with the same materials used on the side of the building—though the colors of the two sections of street-level facade are now different, and it's unclear when, if ever, the discrepancy will be remedied. Still: Progress! The other new thingamajig on the structure is a gated garbage can area that may well turn out to be the best looking thing about this building.
It Came From 4th Ave! [Brownstoner] GMAP

June 19, 2009

The Last of the Bungalows

How far Far Rockaway has fallen. (The Rockaways are technically in Queens but we're making a rare geographic exception in this case.) In the 1920s, the seaside community was a popular summer spot for the New York elite. Now, as these recent photos from the intrepid photographer Nathan Kensinger show, the beachside bungalows that define the Rockaways in the public's mind are largely abandoned, though some are occupied by squatters and others are being used for illicit activities like dog-fighting. Sad, indeed. Check out the Kensinger website for more interior and exterior photos.
Far Rockaway: Abandoned Bungalows [Kensinger]

Brooklyn Building Awards

When the Brooklyn Building Awards dinner is held on July 15, twelve projects will be honored, including the 221 McKibbin Street Industrial Center (left), the Perry Building at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (top right) and Greenpoint's Block Building (lower right). To have qualified for recognition, a project must have received its C of O or TCO by December 31, 2008. Other winners include the Galapagos Arts Space, the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Morris Manor. A complete list is provided on the jump. For more information about the winners or the awards ceremony, please contact Lori Raphael at the Brooklyn Chamber, (718) 875-1000 ext. 140.

Continue reading "Brooklyn Building Awards"

June 11, 2009

Scarano Opens Up to The Brooklyn Paper

Embattled architect Robert Scarano found the time to sit down with The Brooklyn Paper recently. Of course, that wasn't so hard given that he's gone from getting 600 projects a year back in 2006 and 2007 to "basically doing zero" now. He did have plenty thoughts about some of the higher-profile projects in the borough. On the new design for the Atlantic Yards Arena: "It’s a more buildable job... It’s not a great anchor, because it’s a lower-scale building." On Downtown Brooklyn: "The Oro is a typical 1980s design and it doesn’t speak well for the skyline. But the Toren is not a bad job." On Fourth Avenue: "They put up solid street walls and no storefronts. They isolated the street scene from the buildings." On Richard Meier: "There’s a tremendous slavery to Modernism in what he’s doing. But at least they’re trying to raise the bar and that’s what we’re trying to do, too."
Checkin’ In With…Robert Scarano [Brooklyn Paper]

June 10, 2009

More Renderings of New Arena Design

In the wake of Nicolai Ouroussoff's hammering review of the new design for the Atlantic Yards arena, the Times' City Room blog dug up some additional renderings from the architecture firm Ellerbe Becket.
Atlantic Yards Development: Two Designs, Many Opinions [NY Times]
Battle Between Budget and Beauty, Which Budget Won [NY Times]
Ouroussoff, Tell Us How You Really Feel [Brownstoner]
The View of the Arena from Flatbush [AY Report]
Hello, Cleveland! [I Cover the Automat]

June 9, 2009

Ouroussoff, Tell Us How You Really Feel

New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff doesn't mince words in reviewing the new design for the Atlantic Yards Arena. "The recent news that the developer Forest City Ratner had scrapped Frank Gehry’s design for a Nets arena in central Brooklyn is not just a blow to the art of architecture," he writes in today's Arts section. "It is a shameful betrayal of the public trust, one that should enrage all those who care about this city." But wait, there's more: "In a stunning bait-and-switch, Forest City Ratner has now decided that it can’t afford an architect of Mr. Gehry’s stature. Neglecting to tell the public, the firm went out months ago and hired Ellerbe Becket, corporate architects known for producing generic, unimaginative buildings. And although it has refused to release details of the design, the renderings, obtained by The New York Times, tell you all you need to know." Indeed they do.
Battle Between Budget and Beauty, Which Budget Won [NY Times]

May 28, 2009

The PLG House & Garden Tour is This Weekend

Fenimore Street Garden, recipient of 2006 award from Assoc. of Professional Landscape designers (By Jennifer Rish)

The 39th Annual Prospect Lefferts Gardens House and Garden tour will happen this Sunday, May 31st, from noon until 5 p.m. According to the organizers, the tour will include 11 stops ranging from "a 1905 brick home where 'urban archaeology' has revealed original beauty beneath a century of paint and various remodeling; restoration/rejuvenation is given an exotic twist by adding ancient Moroccan, Portuguese, and Turkish accents" to "the eco-friendly renovation of a two-family 1910-11 home, with an abundance of stained and slag glass, maintains its historic detail while providing an open, airy and contemporary feel." The photos above give a taste of some of the tour's stops. Tickets cost $20 if you buy them in advance and $25 day-of; tickets can be purchased on the day of the tour at K-Dog & Dunebuggy at 43 Lincoln Road, which is also the event's starting point. Tour proceeds will benefit the Lefferts Manor Association. More info is available by calling 718.284.6210 or 718.462.0024.

May 27, 2009

Postcard from Amalfi: Convent in the Hills

Yesterday we took a two hour hike up into the mountains overlooking our rented house in Praiano. About half way up, we stopped at the 16th-century Convento San Domenico, pictured here and on the jump. Like most things around here, postcard-worthy.

Continue reading "Postcard from Amalfi: Convent in the Hills"

Gehry Finito as Lead Designer for AY Arena?

barclays%20rendering%205-27.jpg The Sports Business Journal had an item yesterday saying that the firm Ellerbe Becket, which has designed recent NBA Arenas in Charlotte and Memphis, might become the lead designer for the Nets arena at Atlantic Yards, thus supplanting Frank Gehry. The article said Nets "officials declined to confirm Ellerbe’s involvement or whether Gehry is still part of the project." Ellerbe has been consulting on the arena design for the past few years. The Daily News, meanwhile, picks up on the story today and fleshes it out with a lot of interesting details. First off, a Forest City Ratner spokesperson tells the paper that Gehry's design will be reevaluated in July to "determine whether the world-famous architect would remain on the project." And a former Gehry employee who worked on Atlantic Yards until he was laid off from the project has this to say: "Because Gehry's designs are fairly complex, any real changes would probably end up looking like an Ellerbe Becket project...[Gehry's projects are] relatively difficult to execute."
Brooklyn Bound? [Sports Business Journal]
Architectural firm Ellerbe Becket tapped to reevaluate Frank Gehry's Atlantic Yards arena design [Daily News]

May 15, 2009

Horror Show Friday: Mutant Facade Repair

We were biking through Wallabout earlier this week and were struck by the rather odd design choice at 33 Vanderbilt Avenue. For some reason, someone decided to put a layer of screamingly new brick on the lower half of the facade. What possible reason—other than pure bad taste—could account for this decision? Is it cheaper than repairing the existing facade? GMAP

May 14, 2009

The Synagogues of Brownsville

A book called The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn has just been published and we've got some of the photos for you above. Author Ellen Levitt, a lifelong Brooklynite, examines 91 former synagogues in Brownsville, East New York, East Flatbush and Bedford Stuyvesant that, largely through shifting demographic patterns, are no longer used for their original purpose. In most cases, like the five from Brownsville above, they have been converted to churches despite retaining their Jewish symbols.

May 1, 2009

Time Puts Its Stamp on South 4th Street

When we first moved to Brooklyn in 2003, we lived in the upper duplex of the yellow house on the far left of the top photo. We stayed there for two years; the second year was when we were doing the renovations on our newly purchased house in Clinton Hill. When we lived on the block, neither the heinous new building in the top photo or the super-modern building in the second photo existed. We walked down the street a couple of weeks ago for the first time and struck by both of them. While we hope there's some utilitarian reason for the tiny windows in the latter, we find it interesting; the former has no business ever having been built. Anyone like the modern one?
99 South 4th Street: GMAP DOB
107 South 4th Street: GMAP DOB

It Came From 4th Ave!

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Pictures can't really do justice to the latest addition to 4th Avenue's much-vaunted streetscape and retail scene. Cinder block-o-licious! GMAP

April 29, 2009

Inside the New Issue Project Room Space at 110 Livingston

We were well aware that the Issue Project Room, the cutting-edge performance art program that for years was housed in a silo along the Gowanus Canal, had been awarded a free 20-year lease at 110 Livingston Street by Two Trees Management. But since we didn't make it to last week's fundraiser featuring Moby, we had no idea what their new space looks like. Thanks to a reader who forwarded this slideshow to us, now we do. How cool is that!

April 27, 2009

Louis Bonert in The Slope

Save The Slope has a fascinating post today about a group of buildings at the corner of 6th Avenue and 5th Street. In 1892, prolific builder Louis Bonert put up a row of five apartment houses on the southeast corner and another four across the street on the northeast corner. Total cost of the nine buildings: $60,000. Lots of interesting architectural description and historical clippings from the Eagle on the link. GMAP

Architecture