160 Leroy

160 Leroy

"I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe." –OSCAR NIEMEYER

It will be apparent when Ian Schrager's 160 Leroy building rises out of the ground that it was inspired by the philosophy of the great Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer—which Pritzker Prize winning architects Herzog & de Meuron used as a starting point in conceiving this original, new iconic structure. The building is exactly as Niemeyer describes: curvaceous, sensual, free-flowing, seductive and sexy. Much like at the hand of a sculptor, this creation possesses a tactile quality and evokes a sense of purity and pristineness with its white concrete façade and diamond faceted floor-to-ceiling windows that reflect the sky and the water. There is a distinctive inherent rhythm to the building, making it otherworldly at any perspective.

Despite its shape, 160 Leroy was designed from the inside out. The bespoke layouts of the 57 one-of-a- kind apartments are spacious and comfortable, maximizing the expansive views of the Freedom Tower, the Hudson River, North towards the George Washington Bridge and city views East. Some of the apartments even possess views East and West from the same Great Room for rare, idyllic sunrise and sunset views. The layouts were designed for the modern lifestyle—open floor plans to accommodate both entertaining and family life, with just the right amount of privacy. "The only thing that mattered to me was to turn a residential apartment into a real home," says Schrager, "I sought to capture the details of life in the details of the architecture." The thoughtful layouts maximize light and views while taking into consideration a specific market of art collectors by offering an abundance of wall space for hanging art.

Situated in the West Village, the project reunites Schrager with Herzog & de Meuron, whose previous collaborations in Manhattan include 40 Bond, a radical redesign of a traditional cast-iron building that was the architects' first residential project in the United States, and 215 Chrystie, a groundbreaking hotel and residential project on the Bowery set to open in 2016. In the last decade, new developments designed by world-class architects have grown up in the handful of waterfront lots available in the West Village. Schrager identified the site of 160 Leroy as the last chance to create an important contemporary addition to this special neighborhood and possibly the last chance to own a home on the water in the West Village. Stretching a full city block, set on a plinth of white concrete and floating on a bed of light, the building connects with the surrounding streets while also seeming to hover above them—like a spaceship, with its illuminated base that glows at night.

 

For over 5 decades, since the 70s, Ian Schrager has achieved international recognition for concepts that have revolutionized the entertainment, hospitality, food and beverage, retail and residential industries. He has changed the way we live our lives, entertain ourselves, party, dance, socialize, holiday, work, dine, drink, play, shop and even how we see the world. His passionate commitment to the modern lifestyle has been expressed through a series of pioneering concepts and the creation of numerous original innovations that have become standards and continue to be imitated throughout the world.

His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed during the 70s and 80s, when he and his late business partner, Steve Rubell, created the legendary and groundbreaking Studio 54 and Palladium nightclubs. They soon turned their attention to the hotel business opening Morgans Hotel in 1984, introducing the concept of the “boutique hotel” to the world. The partners saw the opportunity to challenge the traditional “take no offense” white box and mass-market mentality in favor of something more unique, daring and original that gave people an elevated experience and elicited an emotional, visceral reaction. What was accomplished, for the first time, was that a hotel could appeal to a sensibility and be freed from the constraints of traditional demographics. The entire hotel industry was turned on its head.

Part visionary, part social scientist, part businessman with a gift for seamlessly integrating art and commerce, everything Ian Schrager has accomplished chronicled the cultural narrative of that time and has been an unequivocal success.

Established by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron in 1978, Herzog & de Meuron is a partnership led by five Senior Partners – Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Christine Binswanger, Ascan Mergenthaler and Stefan Marbach. An international team of 38 Associates and about 362 collaborators are working on projects across Europe, North and South America and Asia. The firm‘s main office is in Basel with additional offices in Hamburg, London, Madrid, New York and Hong Kong.

Herzog & de Meuron have designed a wide range of projects from the small scale of a private home to the large scale of urban design. While many of their projects are highly recognized public facilities, such as their stadiums and museums, they have also completed several distinguished private projects including apartment buildings, offices and factories. The practice has been awarded numerous prizes including “The Pritzker Architecture Prize“ (USA) in 2001, the “RIBA Royal Gold Medal“ (UK) and the “Praemium Imperiale“ (Japan), both in 2007.