The Art of the Matter: On the site of a former parking garage, Annabelle Selldorf creates a gallery building that exudes restrained drama and quiet rigor.
'It is special and ordinary at the same time,' says architect Annabelle Selldorf while standing on West 20th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood. She's gazing at the board-formed-concrete facade of the new gallery her firm has designed for art dealer David Zwirner. The exterior has the texture and warmth of Le Corbusier's b'ton brut and the precision of Tadao Ando's poured-in-place structures. With rows of teak-framed windows set just a few inches in, the elevation reads as both a skin, stretched taut, and a hefty, weight-bearing mass. It acknowledges two seemingly incongruous aspects of the surroundings, making a nod to the area's not-so-distant gritty past while seeming perfectly at home in a district now dominated by art galleries and the High Line.
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