WestView

166 Perry: Total Design Living

April 2009, by Victoria Monjo

Crossing the Line Between Art and Architecture

Internationally acclaimed architects, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote, have labored over every detail of their first New York building to create a live-in sculpture. It turns out their critical and modern design has hit a note with locals: of the 10 pre-sold apartments, nine were bought by current residents of the West Village, reported Henry Hershkowitz of Corcoran Sunshine Realty, head of sales at 166 Perry. The eight-story, 50,000 square foot luxury condominium will feature 21 apartments total. Still under construction, it’s scheduled for occupancy later this summer.

Rashid and Couture have designed more than just buildings in the past. They have also designed interiors, produced experimental art installations involving multimedia technologies, and have done their fair share of product design. It is no wonder then that they took the same attention to detail when designing the exterior and also the interior of 166 Perry, both of which undeniably carry their particular, almost otherworldly aesthetic. “Because of what New York is on the world stage, everything is magnified in New York. We knew that the building of a nine story building in New York was going to be scrutinized as much as a 50-story tower in Dubai. It’s one of the few buildings we have spent a huge amount of time and energy on. We have done everything, the detailing, the interiors, every stitch. This is very much a labor of love,” said Rashid.

In addition to interior features like lighting fixtures, kitchens, bathrooms and even custom radiators, Asymptote also designed the lobby, which Rashid explained, serves as more than just an entryway. “You come home, but you come home to a very modern and sophisticated place. The lobby will serve as a transitional moment or a decompression chamber,” said Rashid.

The façade of the building is very striking and worth a trip outside one’s daily route to see. Made of undulating glass and brushed metal, it reflects the area around it including the cobblestone street, the brick building across the way, the trees, and the sky. Because of this striking quality, the building captivates the viewer at different times of day. It changes its color as the day progresses: from the bright blue of mid-day, to the fire-red of the sunset and finally the purple of twilight. The inspiration behind the design came from Rashid’s first stay at a hotel in Times Square when he was 17. He described the grid of the windows, the light of a fire engine at night, and the colors of the outside world, all of which created a “visual symphony of reflections and colors” inside his hotel room. His goal at 166 Perry was to recreate that sort of visual music, which would put into play the City’s dynamic.

The building’s cutting-edge design also includes the use of a honeycomb structure embedded into the glass of some windows. While it allows residents to see out and for light to enter the apartment, anyone on the outside wanting to look in will find their view obstructed. This added element of privacy is especially important since the apartments feature floor-to-ceiling windows and the west façade looks into the north Meier tower.

So how does a modern, sleek building fit into the West Village with its history and historical houses? While this project is re-using the skeleton of a previous building (a parking garage), Rashid stressed that they took careful consideration of where they were designing. “When we got the job, we knew it would be our task to graft the building into the West Village. The West Side Highway and the Richard Meier buildings with their granular quality seemed disparate to the fine grain of the West Village. We thought it would be important to find the transition from the hyper-modern to the other grain, and that is what we were going after. And yet, we also wanted our building to work with the Meier building [which 166 Perry is adjacent to]. In the end, we wanted to show our fidelity to the quality of the West Village.”

Finding a balance between preserving the old and building the new has been a battle in New York since the demolition of the original Penn station in 1963. When asked about the architectural future of the City, Rashid responded emphatically, “Sometimes I have a bittersweet feeling coming back to New York from my travels. It has fantastic qualities that no other city in the world comes even close to, but at the same time I don’t want to see it become a museum city like Rome. We don’t want a city that doesn’t move along.” Rashid stresses that he understands the needs of the City because unlike so many architects building here, he and his wife call New York home. “We were looking at international architects like Renzo Piano or Jean Nouvel getting important commissions, but we have to remind our clients that we are native,” said Rashid.

The apartments at 166 Perry range from a one-bedroom at 1,126 square feet with an asking price of $2.050 million, to a three-bedroom, 3,000 square foot apartment for around $6 million. The highlight of the penthouse apartments are small, private, outdoor pools resting on 1,200 square feet of outdoor space. The penthouses also feature 12-foot ceilings and incredible views of the City, all for the price tag of $11.5 million. Residents will have access to pantry stocking and room service from Jean-Georges’ nearby restaurant, Perry St.

For more information on the building, visit www.166perryst.com or call Henry Hershkowitz at (212) 229-9200. The architects’ other work can be seen at: www.asymptote-architecture.com.

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