Future Past Now: The Zaha Hadid Building in NYC

Mining through my photo archives recently, I was reacquainted with a visit to an art show last summer in Chelsea with my son and a kindred friend. After wandering through the gallery and admiring the artworks, my little guy stopped us in our tracks out front. A fancy car in a fancy garage had him turning a double take. Super cool! A generous door man started telling us about the futuristic automated underground garage that is part of the Zaha Hadid residential building, 520 W 28, that was revealing above us. Looking up, I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, curiously drawn to see more.

The curved steel and glass was pulling me up the stairs of The High Line as I saw more of the building’s marvelous sculptural quality. Hadid’s curvilinear facade was handcrafted I would later learn in this New York Times article. There is a welcomed awareness in the way the building’s design connects with the landscape architecture of the High Line’s elevated garden promenade. Though this residential building has all of the trademarks of the future now with fully wired “smart home” residential units, the organic lines that most definitely are its signature sound the call to a classic ancient understanding: We are rooted in the earth, yet we long for an ethereal connection. Thank you Kady for indulging me my discovery detour.

The Sculpture Deck will feature rotating signature artworks.

This New York Times article has a wonderful collection of a few of Zaha Hadid’s most striking designs.The artworks we admired in the galleries.

iPhone shots Beth Horta for Sweet Sabelle.