23 East, 22nd Street. New York

Site
Twenty-three East 22nd Street will complete Slazer Enterprises? One Madison Park, a residential tower currently under construction on 23rd Street. Taking advantage of the more intimate scale of 22nd Street, the building will serve as the residential entry for the entire development.

Stepping
The building stretches up and to the east, gaining additional area as well as views of Madison Square Park. At the upper part of the building, the west fa?ade steps back to preserve southern views from One Madison Park. At the east, it gradually steps out, maximizing light penetration to the neighbors below.

Context
At times counterpoint, at times complement, the building?s relationship to its neighbors changes as one moves through the city. One Madison Park, 23 East 22nd Street, and the Metropolitan Life building form a trio of towers that provide a new skyline for the Flatiron District.

Structure
The 30-foot cantilever to the east is supported by a structural fa?ade: a set of shear walls with openings for light and air. The seemingly contextual punched window is harnessed for spectacular ends.

Living
The typical high-rise residential building stacks a confined pallet of ?unit types,? a repetition that dictates a presumptive sameness on its occupants. Harnessing the potential of the mid-rise,
23 East 22nd provides a mixture of different living and spatial conditions. The building?s form and the distribution of floorplates within create a collection of living spaces that are each unique interpretations of urban living.

The typical multi-unit apartment building provides different apartment types on each level, repeating their arrangement floor by floor. Here, diversity is accommodated by the shifting form of the building. As the building steps out to the east and then back from the west, the area of every other floor differs. Together with the balconies and floor windows that appear at each step, this provides a variety of unit types and features throughout the building. Each unit is unique.

While the units differ in area, the smaller floor plates are higher, creating a near constant volume for each unit. Floor-to-floor heights are compressed toward the larger middle floors, providing greater structural rigidity and a variety of spatial conditions throughout the building. Equality through difference.

Public
At the street level, the CAA Screening Room and the
building?s residential entrance together form a seamless
identity for the building.

ABOUT OMA
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is a leading international partnership practicing contemporary architecture, urbanism, and cultural analysis.

The office is led by six partners ? Rem Koolhaas, Ole Scheeren, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Floris Alkemade and Managing Partner, Victor van der Chijs ? and employs a staff of over 230 people of more than 30 nationalities. Architects, researchers, designers, model makers, industrial designers and graphic designers of multinational origin work in close collaboration and expert consultants are intimately involved from the beginning of the design process.

OMA has completed numerous projects including the Zeche Zollverein Historical Museum and master plan in Essen (2006), the Seoul National University Museum of Art (2005), the much acclaimed Casa da Musica in Porto (2005), the Prada Epicenter in Los Angeles (2004), the Seattle Public Library (2004), the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art (2004), the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin (2003) and the IIT Campus Centre in Chicago (2003).

The work of Rem Koolhaas and OMA has won several international awards including the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2000, the Praemium Imperiale (Japan) in 2003, the RIBA Gold Medal (UK) in 2004, the Mies van der Rohe ? European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture (2005).

To accommodate a diversity of projects throughout the world, OMA maintains offices in Europe (OMA Rotterdam), North America (OMA New York) and Asia (OMA Beijing).

AMO
The counterpart to OMA?s traditional architectural practice is AMO, a design and research studio based in the company?s Rotterdam office. While OMA remains dedicated to the realization of buildings and master plans, its subsidiary AMO is a think tank that operates in areas beyond the boundaries of architecture and urbanism - including sociology, technology, media and politics.

AMO?s resume includes work for Universal Studios, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Harvard University, Cond? Nast, Heineken, and Ikea. Recent works include the development of in-store technology, fashion shows, pavilions, exhibitions and websites for Prada, a strategy for the future of Volkswagen, a strategy for a new organic fast food chain and work for a new design institute in Amsterdam, a think-tank in the Middle East and for the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

FIRM HISTORY
OMA was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas, Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp as a collaborative office practicing architecture and urbanism.

The office gained renown through a series of groundbreaking entries in major competitions: Parc de la Villette, Paris, France (1982), ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany (1989), Tres Grande Bibliotheque and Two Libraries for Jussieu University, Paris, France (1993). During these formative years OMA also realized ambitious projects, ranging from private residences to large scale urban plans: Villa dall?Ava, Paris, France (1991), Nexus Housing, Fukuoka, Japan (1991), the Kunsthal, Rotterdam (1992) and the House in Bordeaux (1998). In 1994 OMA completed Euralille, a 70-hectare business and civic center in northern France comprising the European hub for high-speed trains.

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