In a decade bookended by a recession and a pandemic, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg saw an “architectural renaissance,” as New York City underwent an unprecedented residential building boom. Star architects designed projects in Manhattan with private porte cocheres and lustrous curtain walls that set record prices. Yet, one in four of those apartments remains unsold, and sales only tell a portion of the story. In 2015 it was estimated that most apartments in Rafael Viñoly’s 432 Park Avenue would likely remain unoccupied for ten months out of the year, with similar projections for other luxury buildings.
On March 22, when New Yorkers were asked to shelter-in-place due to the outbreak of Covid-19, those living in a piece of this architectural renaissance decamped to their countryside retreats. Working from home takes on new meaning when you have four of them.
During this quarantine we will increasingly look toward architecture for entertainment. One could say that this turn inwards toward our buildings will cast well-deserved attention on the quality of our domestic sp…