UNStudio’s recently completed design for an existing loft in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, rather nicely explores the interaction between a gallery and living space.

Architect Ben van Berkel explains:

“The loft really is a hybrid space; as much a private museum as a living space. Because of that, flexibility is all; few rooms are actually fixed and most are interchangeable, so that in the end the areas devoted to living and to art are completely merged.”

The main walls in the loft flow through the interior, and together with articulated ceilings, create hybrid conditions in which exhibition areas merge into living areas.

The existing loft space was not without problems to be solved in the form of some pretty challenging proportions: long and wide, but also rather low.

Not to be deterred, the studio introduced gently flowing curved walls to virtually divide the main space into proportionally balanced spaces. This created zones of comfortable proportions for domestic use, while simultaneously generating a large amount of wall space for the display of art.

While the walls form a calm and controlled backdrop for the works of art, the ceiling is more articulated in its expression of this transition. By interchanging luminous and opaque, the ceiling creates a field of ambient and local lighting conditions, forming an organizational element in the exhibition and the living areas.

The wooden floor and the lighting system furnish the space with warmth and intimacy, whilst the lighting in the loft is linked to both the art works and the living spaces -  creating different atmospheres at different times of day.

The meandering walls frame an open a space that privileges long perspectives, with more sheltered corners and niches nestled in the curves. In this hybrid space a floating exhibition wall blends into library shelves on one side and into a display case on the other side.

Added to this sophisticated mix is the appreciation of the city whereby the impressive view is framed.

The former windows in the South wall have been replaced by full floor to ceiling glass panes that frame and extend compelling views, over a full glass balcony, toward downtown Manhattan.

Photography Iwan Baan.