ALEXANDER AND BONIN GALLERY
Tribeca, NY
The site for a new gallery for Alexander and Bonin consists of the ground floor and lower level of an 1867 cast-iron building on Walker Street. The former factory has loft proportions and a central line of cast-iron columns that recall iconic art spaces such as 112 Greene Street, that are inseparable from the history of contemporary art in New York.
The design divides the upper level into thirds to create a sequence of distinct spaces. Elevated above the sidewalk by two feet, an entry gallery overlooks Walker Street, forming a space of transition between the city and the gallery sequence. An opening in a new wall leads into the main gallery space, a 35-foot square with 14-foot tall walls. At the rear, offices and meeting spaces are organized under a continuous skylight with vertical views of the inner block and the sky. By cutting a new opening in the floor and adding a steel stair, we extended the gallery sequence to the lower level. Here, spaces dedicated to video and private viewing are joined with storage and support areas.
Our goal was to create an environment for art that is simultaneously neutral and site-specific. The large-scale white display walls take advantage of the proportions of the original loft, while the use of materials and architectural detail introduces sensory qualities that complement the experience of art. The historic cast-iron columns, stripped of paint, are left without their missing ornamental capitals; a new wood floor forms a continuous surface throughout; and new steel assemblages of wire mesh and bent plates form a delicate frame to the stair and double-height space connecting the floors.
PROJECT TEAM: Tim Bade, Jane Stageberg, Martin Cox, Rob Bundy, Alissa Chastain
Photo by Carlos Bunga
Photo by Carlos Bunga
The site for a new gallery for Alexander and Bonin consists of the ground floor and lower level of an 1867 cast-iron building on Walker Street. The former factory has loft proportions and a central line of cast-iron columns that recall iconic art spaces such as 112 Greene Street, that are inseparable from the history of contemporary art in New York.
The design divides the upper level into thirds to create a sequence of distinct spaces. Elevated above the sidewalk by two feet, an entry gallery overlooks Walker Street, forming a space of transition between the city and the gallery sequence. An opening in a new wall leads into the main gallery space, a 35-foot square with 14-foot tall walls. At the rear, offices and meeting spaces are organized under a continuous skylight with vertical views of the inner block and the sky. By cutting a new opening in the floor and adding a steel stair, we extended the gallery sequence to the lower level. Here, spaces dedicated to video and private viewing are joined with storage and support areas.
Our goal was to create an environment for art that is simultaneously neutral and site-specific. The large-scale white display walls take advantage of the proportions of the original loft, while the use of materials and architectural detail introduces sensory qualities that complement the experience of art. The historic cast-iron columns, stripped of paint, are left without their missing ornamental capitals; a new wood floor forms a continuous surface throughout; and new steel assemblages of wire mesh and bent plates form a delicate frame to the stair and double-height space connecting the floors.
PROJECT TEAM: Tim Bade, Jane Stageberg, Martin Cox, Rob Bundy, Alissa Chastain
Photography by Michael Moran unless noted otherwise.
Photo by Carlos Bunga
Photo by Carlos Bunga
Ground + Lower Level Floor Plans
Gallery Section
Mockup