The high ceilings, elegant interiors and super-tall windows of the 16-story Selldorf Architects-designed 200 Eleventh Avenue are fit for any magazine spread. Not to mention a celebrity ratio that assumes the space is opulent, if not very, very liveable (Nicole Kidman, ahem).

The tower features a slightly undulating façade in stainless steel and terra cotta which looks better in reality than in the renderings, and it’s set to open this fall of 2010. But like many Annabelle Selldorf projects, the interior proportions and sense of calm luxury will make it sell… to Oscar winners at least. The 19 apartments in the building, of which only one is still available, were listed between $2.76 and $29 million for a combined penthouse.

The completion of such an extreme building (two words: sky garage) is a positive note amidst the punishing recession that has sidelined so many other projects. Selldorf Architects’ newest buildings suggest a growing demand for sensual buildings that are well-designed and don’t scream for attention.

200 Eleventh Avenue in progress, after the scaffolding was removed at the end of July. [via Curbed]

200 Eleventh Avenue (Rendering), New York

200 Eleventh Avenue (Rendering), New York

So about that sky garage. The innovative luxury, perhaps the cause behind those hefty price tags, is a car elevator that allows Ms. Kidman and friends to park outside their apartment doors. While other architects might have done it for the press (thought it seems to be getting a lot of that), there is no doubt that Selldorf valued its function and experiential value.

Selldorf Architects is driven by classic architectural values: “The thing that interests me the most in my own work is proportion,” she told the New York Times. “Typically, what I do is make clear rooms.” But it’s the calm, sensual quality of the space that has become a Selldorf trademark—not cold architecture, but modern with touches of warmth—like an sleek, metallic iPod playing a mix of Dvořák and Wilco.

520 West Chelsea, New York. Photo courtesy Selldorf Architects

Nearby, Selldorf is also just finishing 520 West Chelsea, a 11-story terra cotta and glass tower that is a bit darker and hipper, but with a similar vibe of straightforward interiors. An interesting departure from this type of work is the SIMS Municipal Recycling Facility in Brooklyn’s 20th Street Pier South in Sunset Park. It will be intriguing to see how Selldorf’s lush but elegant style is incorporated into an industrial project. The simple geometry and sustainable features are appropriate–maybe the visitors center and administration will be the showcase; hopefully Selldorf can find the beauty in grit and steel.

SIMS Municipal Recycling Facility, Brooklyn, New York

Many of Selldorf’s clients are residential, commercial or art-related. The dark, warren-like Abercrombie & Fitch retail stores — as well as the Gant flagship boutique in New York — are vivid and memorable spaces that don’t make you think too much about architecture; it’s all about the clothing. But it’s the residential work that perhaps can most easily be attributed to Selldorf.

Philip Johnson collaborated with Selldorf on his last residential project, the “Urban Glass House” in lower Manhattan. A modern variation of the classic, the tower played to both architect’s strengths and was a hit for buyers. The landscape of Manhattan come inside the spaces, with light touches by Selldorf that are improvements over the classic original.

Urban Glass House by Philip Johnson and Annabelle Selldorf for Selldorf Architects.

by Jim Wegener

posted in New Projects

tagged 200 Eleventh Avenue, 520 West Chelsea, Selldorf Architects, Sensual interiors, SIMS Municipal

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