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Dissolving density

Residential high-rise | downtown Brooklyn
Pratt GAUD M.Arch studio 03 | Professor Kutan Ayata | Co-teacher Alex Tahinos
This residential high-rise in Downtown Brooklyn subverts expectations of its building type, by appearing on the horizon to be a typical high-rise building, but dissolving that impression on closer inspection.
Inspiration for this design came from Rosalind Kraus’ writings on experiencing minimalist art, in which she describes how an experience of a minimalist painting transforms with the viewers’ proximity to it.
This concept framed an imagined approach to this building. At first, it is viewed as a monolith, the archetypal residential high-rise (elevation, right). On first sight of the building from street level, an observer glimpses the dissolving top-edge of the building, which moves in and out of the constrained downtown site.

In-situ persective rendering + photograph composite


Section drawing






Chunk model isometric






Ground floor plan drawing








Upper level plan drawing

Plan drawing | mid-level with residential and amenities




Flat elevation



Facade elevation and wall section 

Wall section detail