With no apparent fanfare, an impressive new mixed-use facility has opened on West 37th Street. Modestly named 37 Arts, it houses three Off-Broadway theaters (ranging from 290-499 seats) and, upstairs, is the home to the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation, which has both offices and studio space.
I noticed the construction sometime last year because it happens to be the path west from my garage, and the finish materials and layout made it hard to conclude what sort of use the final form would house. I decided to stop by in the nice weather to see what the status was, and to my surprise, it was mobbed by theater-goers and the building appears by-and-large complete. I’m pleased to share that it should stand as an exemplar for the coming development on the West Side, and as an impressive memorial to architect
John W. Averitt, who passed away during construction.
The building is very tall (150 feet) six stories, though the bulk encountered on the 37th Street side (the main entrance) is more modest, with a cornice that finishes at about two-thirds the full height, with a set back only visible from Tenth Avenue.
A very simple gesture of an open, glazed ‘atrium’ (actually just the vertical circulation with very little open space exclusive of the stair runs) surrounded by an unfinished concrete façade that can be read as either Brutalist or Ando-ish, depending on your age. It is punctured by what appears to be arbitrarily located service vents. The glazing is welded glass block, though beam is perhaps a better term, since they are vertical units that run full height from floor to floor. Solid but clear, their the depth and welds distort the interior enough to produce a pleasant abstraction of the interior finishes, which appear to be a mixture of painted steel and wood panel (
Hurlyburly just relocated there and I passed just at curtain, so a more detailed exploration was difficult).
At what is presumably the terminus of the third theater, the building steps back and presents a completely blank face, continuing the raw concrete that frames the lower portion. Behind this sits a radically different configuration, three levels of dance studios with extraordinary south and west facing expanses of glazing. The mullion pattern mimics the industrial character of the surrounding buildings, and the cladding is corrugated aluminum.
I’m often ambivalent about these binary conjunctions: light versus heavy, interlocking forms with contrasting materials. They reveal a diagrammatic formalism that often appears the result of either compromises in materials, or a facile handling of elevations. If it seems like undue harping, it is: the building makes such a strong statement on the 37th Street façade that the simple gesture of cleaving the form down the middle is a tad easy, even as it both responds to program and site issues — there are no opportunities for openings on the lower levels, and the possibility of adjoining development would obscure most of this portion in any case, and there is a strong local traditional of skimping on cladding for party wall construction.
But this resolution does fulfill one crucial program requirement — those dance studios must be stunning to inhabit. Again, I’m quibbling. The building, experienced from the various vantage points (north and south of 37th Street on Tenth Avenue and the 37th itself), is a confident and elegant form. Given the extended run of
Hurlyburly, I expect to have an opinion on the interior in the coming weeks. One hopes that the
Prince of Pulsation, Mr. Charles Gwathmey (who has his offices across the way, along with another local titan Richard Meier), looks over occasionally and takes inspiration on what restraint and simplicity can produce.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the
permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
And occassionally, I like something.
With no apparent fanfare, an impressive new mixed-use facility has opened on West 37th Street. Modestly named 37 Arts, it houses three Off-Broadway theaters (ranging from 290-499 seats) and, upstairs, is the home to the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation, which has both offices and studio space.
I noticed the construction sometime last year because it happens to be the path west from my garage, and the finish materials and layout made it hard to conclude what sort of use the final form would house. I decided to stop by in the nice weather to see what the status was, and to my surprise, it was mobbed by theater-goers and the building appears by-and-large complete. I’m pleased to share that it should stand as an exemplar for the coming development on the West Side, and as an impressive memorial to architect John W. Averitt, who passed away during construction. The building is very tall (150 feet) six stories, though the bulk encountered on the 37th Street side (the main entrance) is more modest, with a cornice that finishes at about two-thirds the full height, with a set back only visible from Tenth Avenue. A very simple gesture of an open, glazed ‘atrium’ (actually just the vertical circulation with very little open space exclusive of the stair runs) surrounded by an unfinished concrete façade that can be read as either Brutalist or Ando-ish, depending on your age. It is punctured by what appears to be arbitrarily located service vents. The glazing is welded glass block, though beam is perhaps a better term, since they are vertical units that run full height from floor to floor. Solid but clear, their the depth and welds distort the interior enough to produce a pleasant abstraction of the interior finishes, which appear to be a mixture of painted steel and wood panel (Hurlyburly just relocated there and I passed just at curtain, so a more detailed exploration was difficult). At what is presumably the terminus of the third theater, the building steps back and presents a completely blank face, continuing the raw concrete that frames the lower portion. Behind this sits a radically different configuration, three levels of dance studios with extraordinary south and west facing expanses of glazing. The mullion pattern mimics the industrial character of the surrounding buildings, and the cladding is corrugated aluminum. I’m often ambivalent about these binary conjunctions: light versus heavy, interlocking forms with contrasting materials. They reveal a diagrammatic formalism that often appears the result of either compromises in materials, or a facile handling of elevations. If it seems like undue harping, it is: the building makes such a strong statement on the 37th Street façade that the simple gesture of cleaving the form down the middle is a tad easy, even as it both responds to program and site issues — there are no opportunities for openings on the lower levels, and the possibility of adjoining development would obscure most of this portion in any case, and there is a strong local traditional of skimping on cladding for party wall construction. But this resolution does fulfill one crucial program requirement — those dance studios must be stunning to inhabit. Again, I’m quibbling. The building, experienced from the various vantage points (north and south of 37th Street on Tenth Avenue and the 37th itself), is a confident and elegant form. Given the extended run of Hurlyburly, I expect to have an opinion on the interior in the coming weeks. One hopes that the Prince of Pulsation, Mr. Charles Gwathmey (who has his offices across the way, along with another local titan Richard Meier), looks over occasionally and takes inspiration on what restraint and simplicity can produce.