John Pawson

Located alongside Manhattan’s only
surviving private park, 50 Gramercy Park
North incorporates the remodeled
Gramercy Park Annex — completed in
1930 by Thompson & Churchill as a
complementary extension to the
neighbouring Gramercy Park Hotel —
and a slice of entirely new architecture,
slipped into the space that lies between
the two existing structures. The design
simplifies Thompson & Churchill’s original
elevations, revealing an underlying formal
refinement and allowing the verticals of
brickwork to read as contemporary versions
of the classical pilaster — monumental in
scale but free from any form of ornament.
A specially designed window condition
articulates the clarified grid. The new
architecture is a predominantly glass
composition, also articulated in bronze,
whose more loft-like proportions bring
quiet strength to the elevation.

Project Team
Mark Treharne, Vishwa Kaushal

Photography
Gilbert McCarragher