1355 First Avenue Facade Project

For structural purposes, the brand-new ultra-luxury skyscraper on 1355 First Avenue had a sheer concrete wall on the south-facing side of the building. The developers at BlueRock thought to treat this as not a drawback but an opportunity, and decided to use the wall as though it were the largest canvas in the city. We designed a series of purely geometric abstracts to make the wall stand out from the skyline. Our favorite, shown largest below, creates an illusion of curvature on the flatter-than-flat surface, which we thought would make this the most fascinating facade on the Upper East Side. The designs have been approved. Now if only the painting would commence …