40 Mercer, New York City


Related people
Robert Wandel (was created by)
Jean Nouvel (architect)
Date
2004-2006
Description
"The Soho project was founded on two propositions which were elaborated by the qualities offered by the site. It has the particularity of leaving three of its sides free, which is a rare opportunity in New York. The most obvious reaction would have been to lean the building against the neighbouring wall but I preferred to pull it away from the wall. Hotels are always very functional (lifts, fire exits), and I wanted to take the staircases one sees on all the New York façades to propose an interpretation: I conceived a very narrow staircase, a kind of ladder which spans the first five levels of the hotel. The continuity between this fractured volume and the neighbouring block is ensured by a swimming-pool. installed in the basement, it follows, along all its length, the neighbouring wall which seems to dive in. from above to below, by length and width, an effect of transparency dresses or undresses the hotel and reveals its anatomy. A series of games on the typology of the rooms by matter and the color of the glass combines with the general structure." -- http://www.jeannouvel.com/
Style/Period
2000s (2000 - 2009)