New York's Dueling Chelsea Buildings - Gehry and Nouvel

The last day before we left New York, we headed to 18th Street and 11th Avenue to photograph two dueling buildings in New York's Chelsea Neighborhood - Frank Gehry's IAC Headquarters and Jean Nouvel's Design for Living Building at 100 11th Ave.

Early in this project, Frank Gehry taught me about the importance of CONTEXT in designing an iconic structure, and how design is all but impossible independent of the building's context.  He is excited about the possibility of a waterfront site for Trinity Spire, using as an example the way that water and bridge were so important to the design of the Bilbao Guggenheim.  I can't wait to see that work in a few weeks.

These two buildings are a great example of context, because they serve as architectural context for each other.  More on that in a moment.

Jean Nouvel's Design for Living

Nouvel's Building is a great example of the power of repetition and variety.  With a design of repeating rectangles and squares of various shapes and sizes and glass of various colors, the building is a cacophony of shape and color.  In many ways, the structure reminds me of the art of Paul Klee, or the pioneering architecture of one of my college heroes, Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic dome inspired so many architects and thinkers to come.





A Klee painting and a Fuller dome: 

Flora by Paul Klee and Bucky's Domes

Frank Gehry's IAC Building occupies the same part of Chelsea, and stands right next to the newer Nouvel Building.

The IAC building is a great example of Gehry's work, with a pattern of white dots of various densities creating the illusion of frosted glass, and the sail-like waves in the front of the building creating the illusion of billowing canvas sails filled with wind:

The two make quite a pair:

 

 This may be my favorite shot reinforcing the lesson of context - in it, Nouvel's building is reflected in the face of Gehry's, creating a unique in the world effect of Nouvel By Gehry.  Wow.

"Nouvel by Gehry"  :)

We can only aspire to have the context of Trinity Spire work so magically.