Now here’s a condo I wouldn’t mind owning. Ranging from a 1,950-square-foot three-bedroom to a 3,180-square-foot four-bedroom penthouse with three terraces, these Metal Shutter Houses operate exactly like the rolling grates of the Chelsea galleries and Korean delis that inspired them.
Shigeru Ban, the Paris-based Japanese architect, designed a mechanically adjustable 20-foot window wall in each unit for jaw dropping views of Manhattan’s West Side. They’re scheduled for completion in fall 2008.
(via CubeMe)
Wow, the view from an apartment is, I find, the most important feature and is what I would consider most when purchasing a new place. Shigeru Ban really maximizes that quality.
Though I wonder what’s on the other side of that street. I wouldn’t want anyone peering at me through my gigantic windows O.O
That’s the nice part. You can completely shut the windows with metal shutters when you wanna prance around naked! :D
The first picture has those both door open on either side. It would be an inconvenience if one door would not function, safe to say managing those doors is a troublesome (especially during the winter). The house is the party penthouse, having a few friends over to dine and have a drink would be great for that kind of space. My posters are in a dire need of wall that needs to be covered. I wonder what kind of space do you get the the bedrooms. :)
You see on MTV cribs how indoor swimming pools can seamlessly transform to an outdoor pool, and now having the ability to do that to your entire crib is truly a unique concept. The metal shutters will surely make heads turn, just like chrome wheels on a car. Surely a place I wouldn’t mind owning either.
Well if you live in New York people will definitely be looking into your place, and vice versa. I remember My cousin and I could watch the hours pass by watching the neighbors’ antics in the other condos, but I digress. The Korean inspiration is true to form and would be very useful in New York, good design.
@Terry:
Convenience for walking/dancing in the nude eh? hahha
The first picture looks like my dream house! I love the clean and openess to it, for me, it would be beyond luxury. Talk about privacy..If you carefully look in the second picture, you see that EVERY single room has the metal shutters option, even on the first floor, the only thing that doesn’t have a shutter is the entrace! Another benifit of having these solid shutters is, you can create artifical nights if you ever have the need. With the interior, I love how the area in the picture is so OPEN and spacious, and the beige color makes it feel really relaxing, and the structure itself is artistic, its very RIGID and all the Lines are straight, everything seems to flow very well, if anything, I’d just have to change the entrance, remove the shelter, and it’d truely be perfect.
-AllaN
Wow, this would be THE place to live. Great looking, probably great scenery. The only problem I see is that the metal would attract a lot of heat.
I like the concept. Japan has been pushing the envelope in terms of architecture for condominiums/high rises so it’s no surprise that a Japanese designer developed something like this. I am a big fan of clean lines and openness – there’s nothing better than natural light and lines that run for ages, so I’m suitably impressed by the design. The shutter style is really nice too, a throwback to store-front shops (I know that’s where they were inspired from, but it’s nice to see the reflection in actual homes) like the ones in Taiwan I used to wait for to open when I was a kid to get my morning soy milk and chopstick donuts. They’re effing huge too, which is always a bonus, although I can’t imagine what one of those is going to run your pocket – probably a burned hole in it with traces of leather ash dripping from it where your wallet used to be.
Actually, now that I think about it, these resemble some lofts that have a similar style here in my city. They’re built more sideways though, less up. They’ve got the whole open concept as well, except with all windows and no shutters so you can peer in from the street and observe the manic life of young entrepreneurs via direct view. I think that if I’d change anything, I’d have the sides of the building with open windows too so light can come in from all sides rather than from one dimension, which would severe restrict you dependent on where the Sun is facing at the time. 20 feet ceilings…gosh…
-j
@jbmko
Yea, I understand your concern about the amount of sun that gets in, but, im sure in the blueprints and design process, it was thought over. It would probably be better if it did have windows on the side, but it can pose a structural threat, since the rooms are focused on openess, the structure will lack some support strength, so I assume that the sides are solid/windownless because they provide the support necessary for the building.
-AllaN
Allan,
I’m no engineer, so I’m not even going to pretend that I can argue your point. Obviously structural design has merit (hell, if it didn’t then we’d have buildings faltering in the wind) over beauty, and I have (beyond a doubt) that Ban took that into consideration when he was drawing up the plans, but you have to agree the more natural light a place has, the better then ambiance.
From what I can see in the schematics, the interior looks weak in comparison to the exterior, which is likely why your idea of the greatest structural integrity being in the lateral walls is, to my opinion, sound. I know that if they built a stronger central core (ie. the steel reinforcing trusses in, say, the World Trade Center), the building would likely be able to withstand having simply a glass exterior, which would be a marvel in it’s own. After all, how many downtown highrises do you know that are covered in windows all around? I can think of a few.
That being said, I’m sure that Ban thought about his design and the benefits of simply having open shutters on his non-penthouse flats. Maybe that’s just his vision. Who am I to disagree?
-j
This is a really cool place!