Architect Profile: Morris Adjmi Architects

This post is the second in a series profiling architecture firms that Boston Valley Terra Cotta has worked with, highlighting some signature projects. This post will cover our work for Morris Adjmi Architects in New York City.

Morris Adjmi Architects is an architecture firm based in New York City that performs services in architecture, interior design, industrial design, and art. The eponymous studio was established by Morris Adjmi in 1997 after a 13 year working relationship with Italian Architect, Aldo Rossi. Since its inception, Morris Adjmi Architects have created innovative buildings and interiors, exhibited artwork and designed products. Boston Valley Terra Cotta has worked on several projects with Morris Adjmi Architects, supplying terra cotta for both 7 West 21st Street and 363 Lafayette in New York City. Morris Adjmi himself has also participated in the inaugural year of the Architectural Ceramic Assemblies Workshop in 2016.

7 West 21st Street

Located in the Flat Iron District in Manhattan, Morris Adjmi’s 7 West 21st street is a marvelous mixed-use structure, featuring a TerraClad® façade. With a total 290,000 square feet, there are 288 apartments in the complex and 8,000 square feet at the ground floor dedicated to retail spaces.

Boston Valley’s facade created for this building features unique window surrounds. Through the course of production, 4,000 units of architectural terra cotta were produced in the factory. The units of terra cotta produced for this project are noteworthy for their scale: single width units range in width from 16″ to 24″ with a column width of 45″.

The terra cotta panels and window surrounds were created using the extrusion forming method, where clay is pushed through a large extruder and metal die to create a linear profile with a hollow cross section and cut to the desired length. The terra cotta on 7 West 21st Street features a white glaze application. This surface treatment is a timeless style, as white glazes tends to be popular in building applications for its simplicity and elegance.

Read other blog posts about 7 West 21st Street here.

363 Lafayette

Located in New York’s NoHo neighborhood, 363 Lafayette is a 10-story commercial office building by Morris Adjmi Architects. The design of the building takes account of the unique wedge-shaped lot it stands on. One of the key features of the building is the dark grey façade of terra cotta masonry manufactured by Boston Valley.

The façade on the exterior of 363 Lafayette consists of terra cotta spandrels, coping and sills between each floor of the building and terra cotta mullions on either side of the windows. In the factory, terra cotta masonry was fabricated using the extrusion, hand press, and RAM press forming methods. After the masonry units were produced, they were then brought into the finishing department, refining details in the units such as the geometric projections on the spandrels.

Click here to read other blog posts about 363 Lafayette.