180 East 88th Street

Upper East Side / New York

Architecture

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180 East 88th Street

Residential & Commercial

New York

Upper East Side

48 Residences

32 Stories / 524 ft Ground-up

Designer, Developer, Builder

DDG

Branding

Jakob Jakob

This tower in the square has a base punctuated by two entrances, a middle expressed with a belt of triumphant arches defining an outdoor garden, and an arched top for the two story penthouse residence.

Rising over 500' this tower in square, a byproduct of the Upper East Side zoning, balances density with ample light and air for the surrounding buildings. Amenities are stacked below saving the views for the residential floors above.

Grasshopper scripting was used to design window patterns according to light and air requirements and to act as a contrast to the hand crafted brick material, linking old and new technologies in common purpose.

We turned once again to our beloved Petersen brick for this tower in the square. The grey hand-made brick connects to the storied prewar residential buildings of the Upper East Side and anchors a major through line of the project with its celebration of craft.

Guthrie leads his team on a trip to Denmark to pick the brick

Branding

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The branding for 180 East 88th Street centered on the interplay between celebrating the revival of artisanal craftwork, reminiscent of the storied, prewar luxury residences from the surrounding neighborhood in the Upper East Side of New York, and acknowledging this very modern building, soaring more than 500 feet above the street.

We found an inspiring artist and rococo plaster restoration specialist, Jan Hooss, to collaborate with us for this project. The art installation he created for the main lobby of the building evokes the spirit of fire in an abstracted rococo plaster relief.

The Art Deco period in New York City served as further inspiration to marry old world craft with the modern age.

We designed a pair of companion books for buyers; one telling the stories behind the building design, from arches to brick making and plaster work to even dioramas; the other explaining the facts of the building as "notes."

We developed the concept for the advertising campaign based on the unusual 16 foot high ceilings, showing how dreams can come true within such 'heights.'

Interiors

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The iconic arched theme from the exterior is reinforced in the interior immediately upon entering the lobby where a modern reinterpretation of the romanesque has been created. This is followed by the arched motif in residence entry doors followed by the egg shaped foyer entry and the plaster details throughout that connect past to present. A specific and seamless language has been created from outside to inside and from micro to macro.

Product-design

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master vanity

24 x 72 x 28

materials

stone, stained wood, brass

powder room vanity

16 x 20 x 34

materials

marble

secondary bath vanity

16 x 20 x 28

materials

solid surface, white lacquered wood