LOT-EK, Van Alen Books

Van Alen Books

an architecture bookstore and a public reading room in conversation with the street

Type

Cultural Education Public space

Client

Van Alen Institute

completed

2010

Location

22nd street, New York

Size

approx. 500 SF

collaborators

Sara Valente, project architect / Silman, structure

fabrication

Craft Workshop / Andreas Scholtz

photography

Danny Bright

award

2012 NCSEA Excellence in Structural Engineering

Awards

concept & vision

a 14-foot-tall seating platform crafted from a stack of 70 recycled doors ascends to create an amphitheater overlooking 22nd Street through glazed storefront windows

design & architecture

a new architecture and design bookstore and public reading room motivated by an urgent need for spaces where architecture books can be discovered and discussed, and by the equally urgent desire to engage with the street. The triangular installation splits the space in section creating a shared area for reading and conversation

impact & significance

lots of solid wood doors are sourced from Build It Green! NYC, a nonprofit supplier of salvaged building materials, and reimagined aas a public space to gather

related object:

door

related project:

GUZMAN penthouse midtwon, New York