{"id":113613,"date":"2015-10-26T19:55:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T19:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/james-turrell-enlivens-nyc-office-by-lee-mindel-and-a-i\/"},"modified":"2023-07-03T17:01:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T21:01:55","slug":"james-turrell-enlivens-nyc-office-by-lee-mindel-and-a-i","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/james-turrell-enlivens-nyc-office-by-lee-mindel-and-a-i\/","title":{"rendered":"James Turrell Enlivens NYC Office by Lee Mindel and A+I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lines stretched around the block to see James Turrell<\/a>\u2019s light installation filling the rotunda of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum <\/a> a couple of years ago. But the latest Turrell in New York isn\u2019t in a museum. To see this piece, you need to have business to conduct with\u00a0this family-run office. Rising through its double-height main recep\u00adtion area is Turrell\u2019s enormous hollow egg shape, a chamber that required a laborious six-month process to construct from white solid-surfacing and concealed LEDs. Typically for this master of light and space, his mysterious conceptual sculpture alters our perceptions. Once you enter the egg and encounter the shifting colors inside, everything outside it looks different for a few seconds.<\/p>\n

How a James Turrell Installation Shapes a Manhattan Office Design<\/h2>\n

Like the Turrell, its surroundings make us see the world differently. A Manhattan office, it turns out, can be as graciously proportioned and serene as a Palladian villa. That\u2019s thanks to the impressive real estate, 125,000 square feet on five levels of a brand new tower by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill<\/a>, and even more so to the joint efforts of the two interiors firms, Shelton, Mindel & Associates <\/a> and Architecture + Information<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interior Design <\/em> Hall of Fame member Lee Mindel relates the egg installation to the philanthropic work done by the client: \u201cThis is a metaphoric think tank. They really desired contemplative spaces, as\u00a0opposed to some others that we all know of. That\u2019s something beyond interior design.\u201d A+I senior associate Sommer Schauer<\/a>, recalling long client meetings to ensure that everything was perfect, adds of the president: \u201cMore than any other person of that stature that we ever worked with, he had the desire and ability to look at everything from big-picture concepts to details.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Design Concept Hatches<\/h3>\n

One of those details is especially telling. For the entry to the reception area that holds the Turrell, the team received permission to actually carve out part of\u00a0the elevator core to sculpt walls into a\u00a0gentle curve that follows the egg\u2019s. Value engineering was clearly not on the table. Schauer credits this subtle move with establishing \u201ca hierarchy of space and intimacy.\u201d When you\u2019re standing there, looking up, the core-scoop indeed feels like a game-changing gesture, breathing humanity into the eminently urban rectilinear geometry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace was the biggest luxury,\u201d Mindel adds, demonstrating with his own wingspan that hallways are always well wider than someone stretching his arms out. \u201cNot many people would pay for this kind of gracious circulation.\u201d Sight lines stretch virtually uninterrupted. Relatively minimal furnishings add to the open feeling of what he describes as \u201can enriched environment,\u201d referring to the white-oak flooring and the white terrazzo treads of the floating staircases, among many other touches.<\/p>\n

As a result, the layout manages never to seem typical despite the standard overall plan of elevator banks at\u00a0the center, conference rooms and the most senior solo offices at the perimeter, and smaller offices and swaths of desks between. Internal areas that don\u2019t have natural light are illuminated with the help of what Mindel calls \u201calmost-chandeliers,\u201d basic linear fixtures assembled into snazzy configurations recalling Dan\u00a0Flavin <\/a> artwork. They\u2019re housed beneath raised sections of ceiling made possible by concealing HVAC above the offices at the perimeter.<\/p>\n

Those perimeter offices are designed to encourage employees to look at the stunning views. \u201cWe never lose the connection to the city,\u201d Mindel says. Orienting the desks sideways, built into the dividing walls, minimizes visual clutter that might distract from what\u2019s outside. Hugging the glass in each office is a deluxe window seat, a shorter version of the pale gray banquette that runs through the reception areas and other shared locations.<\/p>\n

Color Defines the Office Parameters<\/h3>\n

Geometries are remarkably thought-out. Woven into the main reception areas\u2019s gray rugs, a quiet wave pattern echoes the\u00a0longitudelike lines etched into the surface of the Turrell egg. Mindel and Schauer gave additional rationality to their plan by designating a color for each of the levels\u2014in keeping with the theory developed by artist Josef Albers<\/a>, also one of Turrell\u2019s touchstones. The entry level\u2019s collaborative spaces got green in various shades, since it\u2019s closest to the earth below. Traders inhabit the \u201cred\u201d level, where hues run the spectrum from fire engine to an intense magenta that hasn\u2019t been seen lately outside of Paris runways and gummy bears. When applied to chairs by Warren Platner <\/a> or Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec<\/a>, however, it clicks. And the top executives, highest up, of course, got royal blue as well as darker, richer woodwork. Mindel\u2019s vision is that good ideas rise to\u00a0the top, and you earn your way up to\u00a0working among the more luxurious materials.<\/p>\n

The bursts of color are kept in check by the conceptual rigor. Mindel has a particular genius for imposing order but not making it feel like a forced march. He even gave a talk to employees about how to take advantage of their new workplace. Don\u2019t allow yourself to be confined. Do respect the generosity of space.<\/p>\n

Project Team<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Grace Sierra; Margaret O\u2019Connor; Maggie Martinez: Shelton, Mindel & Associates<\/a>. Brad Zizmor; Dag Folger; Cheryl Baxter; Nisha Mary Prasad; Chris Shelley; Abby Kuskin; Aaron Whitney; Katina Max Kremelberg: Architecture + Information<\/a>. Lighting Workshop<\/a>: Lighting Consultant. TAD Associates<\/a>: Audiovisual Consultant. Longman Lindsey<\/a>: Acoustical Consultant. Arup<\/a>: Structural Engineer. AMA Consulting Engineers<\/a>: MEP. Bauerschmidt & Sons<\/a>: Woodwork. Wilkstone<\/a>: Stone\u00adwork. Jonas<\/a>: Upholstery Workshop. SITU Studio<\/a>: Art Installation Contractor. Modworxx<\/a>: Solid-Surfacing Contractor. Reidy Contracting Group<\/a>: General Contractor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experience the captivating synergy of art and design as Lee Mindel and A+I Architecture transform a NYC office with mesmerizing James Turrell installations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3546,"featured_media":113614,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"featured_image_focal_point":[],"legacy_django_id":10910},"tags":[],"id_tax_domain":[14],"id_tax_product":[],"id_tax_program":[],"id_issue":[],"internal_flag":[4220],"class_list":["post-113613","id_project","type-id_project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","id_tax_domain-workplace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJames Turrell Enlivens NYC Office by Lee Mindel and A+I<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Experience the captivating synergy of art and design as Lee Mindel and A+I Architecture transform a NYC office with mesmerizing James Turrell installations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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