New York High Life

New York City has seen its share of being “Ground Zero” for monumental events in pop culture history. From the birthplace of hip hop music, Pop Art, Skyscrapers, Punk Rock, real Pizza and sadly, the World Trade center attacks. Since that tragic day, New Yorkers have done what they do best, by picking up the pieces and making New York even more appealing a place to live today as ever. New museums, restaurants, music venues and truly inspired residences have sprung up all over this great city since the September 11th event. Construction cranes can be seen all over Manhattan and construction has just begun on one the cities latest architectural inspirations located in trendy Tribeca. “Five Franklin Place” by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel of UNStudio has all the marking of a hit in the Big Apple. Architecturally interesting, dark, sleek and ever so slightly subtle with its visual impact, this space cleverly uses its staggered black metal facade to obscure the activities of its residence, unlike most fishbowl style glass towers we are used to seeing. The interior takes some interesting design direction as well. Van Berkel adds “The apartments at Five Franklin Place do not follow a strong grid. They are organically designed in how the stairs swoop upward, how the balcony loops you back indoors. There’s an idea of looping around the apartments, without many dead ends, so that all of the space really accommodates life and the flow of life.”

Architect: UNStudio [ Via: Dezeen ]