Leaving the Ruin at Kickstarter HQ

A short documentary by filmmaker Margarita Jimeno profiles architect Ole Sondresen and his plans for remaking one of the landmarked Pencil Factory buildings in Greenpoint into Kickstarter headquarters. It sounds pretty cool. The idea is to keep the building at 58 Kent Street — or what is left of it — as is and build a glass box on the inside in which the crowdsourced fundraising company’s offices will be housed. Or, as the copy for the film says, “Oleʼs design leaves aspects of the ruin in place.” The glass box will also bring light into the center of the space. The building’s insulation is made out of recycled jeans; Sondresen claims it is edible. “A ruin to me is a manifestation of our species battle with ourselves and our natural environment,” said Sondresen. “Do we celebrate the wonder of life and death like the Capuchin monks or do we bring in the bulldozers and start anew?”
Conversion Plans in a Greenpoint Historic District [Brownstoner]