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Architects: Diane Lewis Architecture, Fuller/Overby Architecture
- Area: 1200 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Marco Petrini, Paul Warchol
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Manufacturers: Duravit, Antonio Lupi, Boffi, FLOS, Fantini, Knoll International, Leucos, Ligne Roset, Norman Copenghagen, Selux
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Lead Architects: Diane Lewis, Emma Fuller
Text description provided by the architects. Three kinds of spaces are woven together within a classic New York City cast iron building – a working studio, a gallery, and a living space. The client, a painter, commissioned a gut renovation of a neglected loft directly above Walter De Maria’s Dia Earth Room. Situated in one of the original Fluxhouse cooperatives, this location was a generator of Soho’s 1970s transformation from a warehouse district to an artistic neighborhood.
In this renovation a millwork Pangaea is inserted into the 19th century structural framework. The project unfolds around a centralized coffered space into program-specific areas, each tailored to site conditions and pragmatic requirements. The studio embraces the windowed façade, the domestic areas are a thickened permeable perimeter, and the linear entry gallery frames views both close and beyond with various degrees of privacy. The spaces oscillate between openness and moments of enclosure, defined through layers of cabinetry volumes, operable planes, and wrapped existing elements.
Clusters of furnishing elements hover within the open millwork field. A pond-like rug designed in collaboration with the artist seeps from the living room suite, the irregular borders amplify the ambiguity of space under the pronounced ceiling grid. A custom Boffi kitchen slides along the south wall, transitioning from the culinary to the studio wet space. Materials, color, and light converse. Gentle tadelakt and homasote walls meet the three-dimensional waxed wood armature. Sunlight from the eastern window wall filters throughout the depth of the space, accompanied by lighting fixtures tucked within the cabinetry details. The harmonious existence of parts exudes a peaceful atmosphere; each moment is quietly assertive.
This project commenced in the studio of Diane Lewis where Emma Fuller was the Lead Designer and Associate. Upon the premature death of Diane, Fuller/Overby Architecture continued and completed the design work and oversaw construction.
