Posted October 17, 200915 yr another thread on an annual october ‘open house new york’ weekend site: http://www.ohny.org/ this thread is about i.m. pei’s kip’s bay towers (1961) 300 & 330 between E30th St-E 33rd St/ 2nd Ave, New York neighborhood: Kips Bay website: http://www.kipsbaytowers.com/ about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kips_Bay Designed by I.M. Pei & Associates for legendary developer William Zeckendorf Sr., this innovative residential complex is among New York's most significant of the Post-War era in terms of both architecture and planning. Completed in 1963 and originally named Kips Bay Plaza, this was Pei’s first major project built in New York City and one of the most important of his early career. Zeckendorf was hand picked for this 3-block Title 1 urban renewal project by Robert Moses. The Towers include two residential high-rise buildings each with 20 floors. There are a total of 1118 units and around 4000 residents. It encompasses 7.5 acres nestled between 30th and 33rd Streets. This is a rare opportunity to visit the 3-acre private garden. DOCOMOMO docents will interpret the site and its significance. Kip’s bay towers (formerly plaza) was inspired by courbusier’s unite de habitation in marsielle (1952): the approach from second avenue in the lobby the rest are from the courtyard, which was fenced off in the 1970’s the slightly newer south building has central air so no visible ac’s & other tweaks the use of poured concrete was innovative at the time the lady on the right was the docent and the guy in the striped shirt both lived in the neighborhood before kips bay plaza was built, so it was interesting to hear 'living history' about the area before and during construction. they have lived in it ever since. it’s very nicely maintained and they make small improvements regularly. There is an architect on the condo board, so the next project is adding solar panels on the roof: http://blog.coolerplanet.com/2009/03/23/new-york%E2%80%99s-kips-bay-towers-a-prime-use-of-solar-energy/ south tower is the oldest, the two buildings are offset the east side, which used to be bellevue and rendering plants, now a hospital and nyu dorms central garden area pei came back in 1993 for the garden dedication to him these are london plane trees, chosen because they do so well in the city they’re starting to lose their globe lights there is an extension of the grounds over a garage on the NE corner. the greatest thing about kip’s bay towers is the way pei gradually and gently sloped the formerly hilly site down from north to south, you don’t even notice it looking west at a side view of the north tower lastly, these are construction photos in what was originally a storage area, but was recently redesigned into a party room by pei-cobb architects. they were there and talked about him. *** this was a great opportunity to see i.m. pei’s earliest major project up close ***
October 17, 200915 yr Oy. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
October 17, 200915 yr It was all downhill from there. What?! Great photos of this place, I worked right around the corner when I was in New York.
October 17, 200915 yr I always wonder about the poor people who were displaced whenever I see this project (as well as the massive Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village). I had a friend who lived across the street in a walk-up at 33rd St. ages ago and we would walk around the neighborhood quite a bit, and it's changed considerably (e.g. all the yuppie hi-rises on 34th St.--those would have seemed unthinkable 25 years ago. Also the Armenian Cathedral on the corner of 2nd & 34th--this used to be an Armenian neighborhood--used to hold a festival every fall. I think they stopped that). The site originally probably contained scores of tenements with thousands of working-class tenants. However, I do like the cineplex on 2nd Ave in that complex; it's the closest thing Manhattan has a spacious suburban style one. http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
October 17, 200915 yr ^ i walked by that church that day and there was a huge, hopping armenian wedding party going on up on the deck. no doubt that same era church displaced a lot of apt buildings as well. the displacement of the towers was a big topic of discussion. apparently many of the people who lived around there ended up living in the towers and later were able to buy in cheap when it went condo. It was all downhill from there. in this case only for corbu's inspiration. unite is a ghetto now. this one is going better than ever and 1 bdrms go for around a mil.
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