Apartment, West 17th St

The design concept is based on shaping the interior spaces with a furniture-like element, fabricated at the scale of architecture. A cubic volume composed of black color-ply combines several different functions in a single architectural entity. The black ‘cube’ floats in the floor plan, creating living spaces around and within the volume of the object. Additional volumes, like the black granite kitchen island, continue to define open living spaces, testing the difference between furniture and architecture.

The owners’ art collection and library were an inspiration for the design strategy. The black cubic volume shapes the livable spaces of the loft while offering human-scaled interaction with books and art. The exterior, more public partitions of the cube, conceal a private interior that serves as the dressing room for the owners. The interior finishes in this project represent some of our favorite materials: black color-ply, satin laminates on Baltic Birch plywood, plaster, and natural cork.