Hating on Hallways?

Prompted by NYRA’s Nicolas Kemper over whether to “cancel” the double-loaded corridor, architects, developers, and researchers convened in person and on Zoom to discuss alternative housing paradigms.

Larch Lab’s Michael Eliason highlighted the example of a European “point access block” model, rarely permissible under U.S. building codes, in which apartments clustered around a single-access stair accommodate diverse floor plans and energy-efficient cross-ventilation. SO-IL’s Florian Idenburg described his work designing housing with outdoor circulation, whether as part of a low-cost development in Leon, Mexico, or within the recently completed 450 Warren Street condominium in Brooklyn, where in-person portions of the event were held, limited in attendance by the occupancy of its top-floor unit.

A consensus emerged that corridors could be positively reimagined; moderator Vivian Loftness summarized that “this crowd wants to celebrate the corridor, not cancel it.” Similarly, the 450 Warren Street developer, Sam Alison-Mayne of Tankhouse, marketed the building’s open-air corridors as a new type of shared amenity space worth investing in. However, when asked about potential social divisions produced by the building’s luxurious residential program, he acknowledged moments where its design also had to grapple with “the truth that doors exist.”