Items Tagged ‘New York City’
Jefferson Market Library
Project Name:
Jefferson Market LibraryLocation:
New York City, New York, USACompletion Date:
1967Original Use(s):
courthouseNew Use(s):
libraryProject Description:
History
Designed by architects Frederick Clark Withers and Calvert Vaux, the Jefferson Market Courthouse was built in the Victorian Gothic style over the years 1875 to 1877. In the 1880s, the building was chosen as the fourth most beautiful building in America. In 1945, the courthouse was shut down due to redistricting. It was then used by a number of agencies including the Police Academy. The building was empty and vacated by 1958.
(Re)Developer
Community members rallied together to convince New York City to preserve the building rather than follow through with its plans to demolish it and replace it with an apartment building. Margot Gayle (preservationist), Philip Wittenberg (lawyer), Lewis Mumford (historian), E.E. Cummings (poet/playwright), and Maurice Evans (actor) succeeded when Mayor Robert F. Wagner announced in 1961 that the city would convert the building into a public library.
Outcome
The adaptive reuse project of the courthouse began in 1965 and was completed in 1967.[1] The police court became the Children’s Reading Room, the Civil Court the Adult Reading Room. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977, both under its name as “Third Judicial District Courthouse”.[2]
The old fire bell in the tower began it ring again in 1996 after over 100 years of being silent. That bell, along with the library, has reconnected this community and reinvigorated the idea of “village” for Greenwich Village.[3] What once upheld the laws of the land now provides knowledge and community space for the neighborhood.
[1]The New York Public Library
[2]Wikipedia
[3]The New York Times
Images courtesy of wallyg, WanderingtheWorld and hersterk.
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts Center
Project Name:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Arts CenterLocation:
Governors Island, New York City, New York, USACompletion Date:
2010Original Use(s):
munition storage; military officesNew Use(s):
art studioProject Description:
History
The U.S. Army originally constructed Building 110 on Governors Island in 1870 to hold munitions at this strategic location off the southern end of Manhattan Island. During it’s time as an Army facility, Building 110 was eventually converted to house Army offices. The consolidation of the U.S. Military in 1966 saw the transfer of the base and Building 110 to the U.S. Coast Guard, who continued to use the building for office space. The base was shut down in 1995 and with it Building 110 was vacated.[1]
(Re)Developer
The Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) was created in 2003 when the United States sold Governors Island and its structures to the people of New York.[2] GIPEC is responsible for the planning, redevelopment, and operations of Governors Island which includes establishing the island as a location with great public open space, educational opportunities, and not-for-profit and commercial facilities.[3]
Founded in 1973, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) is the nonprofit dedicated to presenting, advocating, and providing for artists and the arts throughout Manhattan.[4]
Outcome
As part of its mission to open Governors Island to the public, GIPEC has partnered LMCC to convert Building 110 into an arts center. Opened in March 2010, 14,000 square feet of the building has been repurposed into large, divided studio spaces. LMCC manages the arts program which provides four-month residencies in the space. Artists take the morning ferry from Manhattan to Governors Island and take the last ferry (5pm) back home to the city. Building 110 is situated at the docks making it easily accessible to the artists as well as the visiting general public.
The arts center provides space to artists who have struggled to find adequate and cheap locations. The artists find Building 110 and its location perfect as they are able to get away from the busy city to concentrate on their work. The general public can observe their artwork as well as view them as they work during three weekends over the course of the summer. The adaptation of the building has also fostered a community for the artists who work the same “shifts” and share the large but partitioned space.[5] The building will continue to evolve as new groups of artists cycle through with changing residencies, adding a new outlook and sense of opportunity to Building 110.
[1]Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation
[2]Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation
[3]Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation
[4]Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC)
[5]The New York Times
Images courtesy of Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Nozkowski and Robins Residence
Project Name:
Nozkowski and Robins ResidenceLocation:
New York City, New York, USACompletion Date:
1969Original Use(s):
underwear factory, shower-curtain factory, neighborhood still, Chinese laundry, fabric storeNew Use(s):
studio residenceProject Description:
History
This synagogue on Hester Street in New York City has seen many uses over its lifetime. Aside from its original use as a place of worship, the building has also served as an underwear factory, shower-curtain factory, the neighborhood still, a Chinese laundry, and a fabric store.
(Re)Developer
Thomas Nozkowski and Joyce Robins married in 1967 after they finished art school. Nozkowski is a painter while his wife Robins is a sculptor.
Outcome
The couple purchased the building in 1969 and undertook the adaptive reuse project with only $3,000. They had to install the electrical and water lines. The building’s simple, open plan was consistent with their work and living philosophies. Through their studies with Abstract Impressionists, they solidified their belief that it is morally important to live and work in the same place. The synagogue-turned-studio where they worked on their art (and raised their son, Casimir) is unchanged since those renovations.
Items in the photos:
- The skylight and windows
- The balcony where women sat to be separate from men during services
- Robin’s workspace with some of her sculptures
- Refinished wood floors
- Large geometric wood-frame couch build by Nozkowski’s father
- Stained-glass window
- Rear wall used to project movies for gatherings
- Open studio space[1]
[1]New York Magazine
Images courtesy of New York Magazine.
Chelsea Market
Project Name:
Chelsea MarketLocation:
New York City, New York, USACompletion Date:
1997Original Use(s):
factoryNew Use(s):
retail and officeProject Description:
History
Opening in 1913, the 11-story full-block structure from 10th to 11th Avenue and 15th to 16th Street in the Chelsea district of New York City became the most prominent part of the National Biscuit Company Complex. Designed by Albert G. Zimmerman, the complex was built on landfill. By 1958, Nabisco (National Biscuit) was had moved its operations to New Jersey. The buildings were sold in 1959 and had spotty use for the next few decades.
(Re)Developer
Irwin B. Cohen organized a syndicate to purchase the complex. The purchase was successfully done in the 1990s and the conversion began.
Outcome
The adaptive reuse of the complex began by converting the upper floors for office tenants. The building has become a hub for technology companies. The ground floor was reconfigured and a long interior arcade was created as home for food stores. “To walk through the Chelsea Market is to stroll through a sort of postindustrial theme park, carefully festooned with the detritus of a lost industrial culture, interspersed with food stores and restaurants.”[1] The rebirth of the Nabisco building ushered in a new beginning for the Chelsea neighborhood as new ventures and residences have made their own home in surrounding old factories.
[1]Chelsea Market
Images courtesy of Wikimedia, The Midtown Book and The New York Times.
The High Line
Project Name:
The High LineLocation:
New York City, New York, USACompletion Date:
2009Original Use(s):
elevated railwayNew Use(s):
public parkProject Description:
History
Opened in 1934 as an elevated railway, the High Line was established to provide greater safety by separating rail and street traffic. As the US invested more money in the interstate highway system in the 1950s and 60s, rail lines across the US experience decreasing traffic and use. The High Line was eventually shut down as a railway in 1980.
(Re)Developer
The non-profit Friends of the High Line was founded in 1999 to advocate for the reuse of the railway as a public open space. Through their efforts and research, New York City worked with the federal government in order to establish this new park space. The design of the park was developed through an open ideas competition.[1]
Outcome
The park offers residents the opportunity to relax and walk through the city with an exciting lofted view. Still under construction, the park when completed will be a mile and a half long. It will run through the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea, and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen.[2] What once was a derelict expanse of unused metal now is cohesive and welcoming public amenity.
[1]The High Line
[2]The High Line
Images courtesy of The High Line.