Bruce Munro to create ‘Anemone Chandelier’ for W Downtown New York

The commission follows on the heels of Munro’s project to make a chandelier for an apartment in I.M. Pei’s new Centurion building in New York.

Located at 123 Washington Street, one block from the new Freedom Tower, W Downtown is a collaboration between W Hotels Worldwide and developers The Moinian Group. It will be the first W residential development in Manhattan.

The newly constructed modernist 58-storey building has been designed by Gwathmey Siegel Architects to house a 217-room W Hotel, due to open in summer 09, and 223 condominiums, opening in the fall.

The hotel and residence interiors have been designed by Graft, the award-winning practice founded in Los Angeles by Thomas Willemeit Lars Krueckeberg, Wolfram Putz and Alejandra Lillo. One of Graft’s current projects involves rebuilding the lower 9th Ward in New Orleans devastated by Hurricane Katrina- a project initiated by Brad Pitt and the Make It Right Foundation. 

At W Downtown, Bruce Munro’s fibre optic Anemone Chandelier will create a large and striking feature in the hotel lobby. “Graft is very excited to team up with Bruce Munro, whose design ideals and artistic pursuits very much match our own” said Jeremy Fletcher, project manager at Graft.

Unusually, Munro has collaborated closely with Graft on the chandelier’s design. “Because the architectural style is so strong, Graft wanted all the elements to flow in that way, so we’ve gone along with that,” says Munro happily. “It’s been great working with Jeremy. He’s very chilled.”

The chandelier will be made of 1,260 translucent ‘tear drops’ covering an area of roughly 4m x 5.5m. The drops are hung from different heights, creating the illusion from a distance of a large mass. It will be illuminated by two, 150-Watt metal halide DMX projectors. Each fibre optic strand is fixed by a grommet at the bottom of each teardrop, so that light sparkles through the length of each drop.

The Anemone will cascade over a first floor frosted glass bridge down to the ground floor level of the entrance lobby.

Graft has lent its signature, avant-garde style to the building’s interiors, combining classic modernism with a fresh look at comfort and luxury, which they describe as Punk Minimalism. Of the 223 condominium units, 64 will be furnished and 159 unfurnished, all accessible via an exclusive residents-only entrance. In addition to the W hotel signature amenities, there will be a resident-only Digital Lounge, Show Room for screenings, Cafe, Sweat Residential gym and Bliss spa.

LINKS
www.brucemunro.co.uk
www.graftlab.com
www.moiniangroup.com
www.whotels.com