The Manhattan apartment building is located next to the High Line Park, Frank Gehry's IAC headquarters and Jean Nouvel's 100 11th housing estate, and is not inferior to all of these structures for originality of the solution.
The 36-meter building contains 8 duplex apartments facing simultaneously both the north and south facades. Each of the apartments can be accessed directly from the elevator, which allows residents to practically forget about their neighbors.
Also, the sense of autonomy emphasizes the ability to regulate the connection of the living space with the environment: from the north and south, the facades of the house are completely glazed, but each tenant can protect his apartment from the sun and the views of passers-by using metal blinds - on one or both sides, from floor to ceiling or partially. This retractable and retractable "screen" with the help of a motor reminds of similar devices that protect the windows of shops or art galleries at night, which are especially numerous in the area (there is even one in the building itself).
But the connection between facades and industrial devices does not end there: the glazing in each apartment can also be removed by completely opening its space to the outside: the scheme of operation of such windows is borrowed from the doors of aircraft hangars.
Ban was also involved in interior design: instead of partitions, sliding glass doors are arranged there, with which you can quickly turn an apartment into a single room or divide it into functional zones. In addition, the architect thought over the bathroom and kitchen equipment, built-in wardrobes, and various fittings. The area of the apartments varies from 180 m2 to 430 m2.
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