In an architectural nod to the neighborhood, Herzog & de Meuron created this aluminum, graffiti-inspired gate for the entrance to 40 Bond, a residential building in Manhattan. All this twisting metal is not really graffiti or street art but rather this is art for the street inspired by graffiti, oozing with as much street cred as any architect can garner. But this graffiti gate keeps people out, like would-be taggers, and away from the surface of the building, which at street level is also covered with wiggly lines. The graffiti pattern continues to inside surfaces of the lobby, where wood becomes carved and mirrors become etched with the über graffiti lifted from the streets outside.
Alex
This is very cool but to me I thought it looked like a membrane or something organic not graffiti. i love the idea of taking something that is existing in the surrounding neighborhood and making it apart of the new construction. Making the transition seamless and un-intrusive to the area.
Used to walk by that building all the time, it’s awesome.
Actually the gate is inspired in the work of the spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, specifically in the balconies of a building he did in Barcelona, called “La Pedrera”. It really has nothing to do with graffiti. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CaMilá25062006(005).JPG