Tadao Ando's first ever NYC building — the brutalist condo tower project 152 Elizabeth Street — is kicking into high gear with the release of new renderings, photos of the completed sales gallery, floorplans for the first residences coming on the market, the launch of a new website for the building, and the unveiling of a video interview with the Japanese master and the project's interior designer, Michael Gabellini of Gabellini Sheppard Associates.

Read on for more details we've received, and watch the video interview below.

"For 152 Elizabeth Street, Ando harmoniously balances fundamental elements including water, metal, glass greenery and concrete. His inventive use of concrete, a material that’s ubiquitous in a majority of his projects, has become famous around the world.

Part concrete, part jewel box, the building makes a strong yet quiet statement with a façade comprised of voluminous glass, burnished metal and flanked by poured in-place concrete and a living green wall that rises the height of the building. Located at Kenmare and Elizabeth Street, the combination of materials, an unparalleled level of craft and quality are signature elements of Ando’s work. Like crystal grows within rock, the corner of the building is metaphorically thought of as a crystalline box emerging from the solid concrete volume which bookends the site."

"The building features many sprawling views, which round out the spaces, bringing the outside in and the inside out. It takes its inspiration from New York City, embracing the urban landscape of Nolita while creating a sanctuary apart from it. Sound was also a key consideration as the building uses airport-quality exterior glass to create an acoustic cocoon."

"152 Elizabeth Street will feature one of New York’s largest living green walls, measuring 55-feet-high and 99-feet-wide and spanning the entire southern façade of the building. Renowned landscaping firm M. Paul Friedberg and Partners collaborated on the design, which will evolve organically through the seasons. It will comprise seasonal vines selected for a mix of textures and colors, including English Ivy, Boston Ivy, Virginia Creepers, Jasmine Clematis and climbing Hydrangeas."

"AIA award-winning architects Michael Gabellini and Kimberly Sheppard of Gabellini Sheppard Associates, will design the interiors of the building and serve as the Architect of Record. The firm is known for their work re-designing The Rainbow Room, Top of the Rock and collaborations with hotelier, Ian Schrager on The Edition in Istanbul and The Public Hotel in Chicago, as well as fashion houses Armani, Jil Sander and Ferragamo for retail spaces."

"Gabellini is a master of creating timeless spaces. For 152 Elizabeth Street he is outfitting each of the seven bespoke residences with rich materials that evoke warmth, purity, and spatial complexity and surprise with striking details and intricate layers.

Gabellini honed in on elements like light, air, sound and water to define interior and exterior spaces and complement Ando’s architectural design. [...]

For 152 Elizabeth, Gabellini’s basic principle was to create a sense of openness by having very few walls and doors, while still allowing separation and privacy from room to room and from inside to outside."

"The interiors for the residences evoke a thoughtful sense of craft. The wide-plank oak flooring from Dinesen is emblematic of this, enhancing the different spaces throughout each of the residences and creating a continuous surface. The flooring, which comes from trees that are more than 250 years old, is atypical of any luxury development, ranging from 16 to 20 inches wide and 8 to 20 feet long. The corridors will also be fully wrapped in Dinesen and pocket into walls to allow a seamless aesthetic and flow of space."

Rendering of the proposed kitchen design

Photo of the display kitchen in the sales gallery

"The kitchens are outfitted with custom cabinetry, appliances by Gaggenau, and a custom sliding countertop island by Italian brand Minimal, as well as counters made of honed Fango marble. The residences on the second and third floors will feature illuminated privacy glass in place of a kitchen backsplash. The southern light will simulate daylight, providing a feeling of natural ambient light layering into the kitchen throughout the course of the day."

Rendering of the proposed bathroom design

Photo of the display bathroom in the sales gallery

"Master bathrooms are clad in honed Bianco Sivec marble and equipped with a radiant floor heating system.  They also feature floor-to-ceiling windows and operable skylights that frame the oversized Japanese-style soaking tubs and flood the bathrooms with light. Vanity drawers are made of glacier white Corian."

Wanna get your own minimalist, ultra-luxury NY abode designed by a Pritzker Prize-winning master of concrete and just happen to have some extra cash sitting around? Time to crack that piggy bank open now: The project's developers, Sumaida + Khurana, already announced a collaboration with Portuguese spatial poet Álvaro Siza on a residential tower in Midtown Manhattan.

All renderings by Noë & Associates and The Boundary. All photos by Paul Warchol. Images courtesy of Sumaida + Khurana.

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