The first key premise is to design a penthouse club for the numismatics. If one looks at the old skyscrapers of Manhattan, at the very top most point, they will find the most exclusive space within the most exclusive city - the penthouses (top floor of a building). These are reserved for the most selective, wealthiest tenants. Because my club, which studies money, has an characteristic of exclusivity (see the following post on the New York Numismatic Club) - why not design them just a penthouse? They don't need the lower floors of the building. In a penthouse, they could be in a private, secure space with million dollar views over Battery Park and out to the Atlantic Ocean.
The second premise of the design is that the clubhouse would be an island. This stems from numismatic nature, but also from the site. By placing the penthouse on a structural support (with an elevator inside) in the middle of a freeway, no one would know how to enter the building. Entry would occur underground, where a secure space for the currency vault and library books would be safely housed. So the project would utilize the space high above the ground and the space below the ground.
The third premise is sustainability. By building on and under a freeway, this project is taking space that has been left for dead and turning it into a new site - creating a site where none existed before. Could this be a model for other countless acres of land in desirable locations such as downtowns, that have been devastated by other mid-century freeway projects?
For the form of this first design, I looked at the intricate beauty to be found on coins and dollars - the organic craft. Could this influence the design of the building?
No comments:
Post a Comment