New York City’s Chelsea neighbourhood is surely close to bursting at the seams. With a slew of residential projects concentrating around the High Line all simultaneously in the works, it’s a wonder that the area’s street grid has been able to absorb the number of high-profile developments it already has.
That said, one project that we’re grateful there is still room for is Jardim, an otherworldly two tower building on West 27th Street, designed by the Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld. Boasting the same monumentality of Weinfeld’s other projects, albeit in a more urban form, Jardim cuts a striking figure with its private driveway, ample gardens and simple, monolithic structure that creates a distinct break from its surroundings.
Rendered mostly in brick and concrete, Jardim’s warm, tactile appearance is enhanced by the addition of latticed wood screens and a generously planted second-floor terrace that envelops the site.
‘In the beginning, we tried to play a little bit with the volumes because there were many specific rules and restrictions of where volumes could be recessed, or where building on the line of the site could take place,’ Weinfeld explains about the decision to have two buildings instead of just one. ‘Together, we tried to make many adjustments until we found a good resolution for the site.’
Rather than feeling squeezed in, the presence of two buildings (each 11 stories tall) with the resulting negative space creates a sense of movement that counteracts the neighbourhood’s density, a shrewd and commendable move by Weinfeld and Jardim’s developers, Centaur Properties and Greyscale Development Group. (Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th Street building will eventually loom next door.)
At almost every juncture, Jardim displays a graceful sense of restraint that imbues the spaces with a quiet dramatic tension. The driveway – an artful tunnel made from bricks – stretches through the site to connect 27th and 28th streets. Glass skylights in the terrace allow natural light to filter through to the residence’s swimming pool and gymnasium below. The apartments themselves are an elegant mix of smoked oak, marble, brass and limestone, for which panoramic windows looking out onto Manhattan provide the perfect backdrop.
‘This isn’t a kind of architecture that shouts, it’s an architecture that speaks low. I try to conduct people through the spaces, like a movie. You hope that people feel something from their proportions,’ Weinfeld muses. ‘What is very important for me is to have a very well-designed plan. For me, the function of a project is very important. It’s not a question of beauty. The building has to work to make sense.’
Already two years in the making, Jardim marks Weinfeld’s first residential development in New York City and will complete in 2017. Why not any earlier? ‘I was waiting for a call,’ the seasoned architect quips.
Jardim cuts a striking figure with a private driveway that runs through the block, ample gardens and simple, monolithic structure that creates a distinct break from its surroundings
The building is a warm mix of materials. Latticed wood screens separate the driveway from the minimalist reception desk and a granite spiral staircase
The building's elegant swimming pool is flooded with natural light, thanks to four skylights
Panoramic windows provide the perfect backdrop in the apartments, which elegantly mix smoked oak, marble, brass and limestone accents
In the kitchen, Gaggeneau appliances are complemented by light oak cabinetry
Jardim's master bathrooms are equipped with lava stone counter tops, grooved wood vanities and lacquered brass fixtures. All interior accents have been selected by Weinfeld
‘This isn’t a kind of architecture that shouts, it’s an architecture that speaks low. I try to conduct people through the spaces, like a movie. You hope that people feel something from their proportions,’ Weinfeld muses
INFORMATION
For more information, please visit the Jardim website
ADDRESS
Jardim
527 West 27th Street
New York, New York
-
‘120 years of artistry, of character’: How Paula Gerbase is breathing new life into historic Danish design house Georg JensenPaula Gerbase, the newly instated creative director of Georg Jensen, speaks to Wallpaper* about bringing the 120-year-old silversmith into a new era
-
For designer and craftsman Kodai Iwamoto 'good design should be able to speak for itself'In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Kodai Iwamoto about the interconnectedness of design, communication and culture
-
Wallpaper* and Cartier’s guide to Miami
-
Entelechy II: architect John Portman's majestic beach home hits the marketEntelechy II, architect John Portman's beach residence in Georgia, USA, goes on the market; roll up, roll up for a home that is as grand as it is playful
-
First look: Honolulu's Victoria Place blends cosmopolitan living with Hawaii life and natureVictoria Place is a new residential tower at Honolulu's Ward Village; take a first look at its interiors
-
A look inside the home of George Homsey, one of the fathers of pioneering California modernist community Sea RanchGeorge Homsey's home opens for the first time since his death, in 2019; see where the architect behind some of the designs for Sea Ranch, the pioneering California modernist community, lived
-
Step inside a Brooklyn Brownstone that bridges old and new'Brooklyn Brownstone' has been refreshed by Jon Powell Architects (JPA) and the result is a contemporary design rooted in modern elegance
-
The new Frederic Church Center at Olana complements its leafy Upstate New York siteTour the Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape, now open at Olana, a historic site in Upstate New York, courtesy of architecture studio ARO
-
On a sloped Los Angeles site, a cascade of green 'boxes' offers inside outside livingUnStack, a house by FreelandBuck, is a cascading series of bright green volumes, with mountain views
-
This New York brownstone was transformed through the power of a single, clever moveVoid House, a New York brownstone reimagined by architecture studio Light and Air, is an interior transformed through the power of one smart move
-
A new Texas house transforms a sloping plot into a multi-layered family homeThe Griggs Residence is a Texas house that shields its interior world and spacious terraces with a stone and steel façade
