NYAA: New York Academy of Art, Tribeca Historic District
from Trade School to Institution
105-111 Franklin Street, TriBeCa, NYC Completion: 2001-Ongoing Storefront Completion: 2021 Size: 52,000 SF
Master Planning, Historical research, Preservation, Architectural Design + Documentation, Interior design, FFE, Lighting, Architectural Signage, Project Management, Agencies’ Filing
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF ART
Graduate School of Figurative Arts TriBeCa, New York City
TriBeCa, New York City,Graduate Art School
The New York Academy of Art, founded by Andy Warhol, is a Graduate Art School housed in an 1861 Landmarked loft building. The NYAA project represents a long collaboration between the NYAA’s and TRA studio, which started in 2001 when the 42,000 sq ft historical Italianate loft building, suffered a fire which destroyed approximately 50% of the interior.
The 2014 Master Plan devised a long-term strategy schedule that allows for the work to be phased during the ten summer weeks. The new organization simplifies circulation, clarifies way-finding, provides a diverse range of flexible gallery spaces and offered the necessary programmatic ambiguity to ensure long term growth strategies within the existing footprint.
The design of the interior spaces progressively developed an authentic and responsible loft aesthetic with the often-precious quality of the figurative paintings, the new organization allows for the gritty studio spaces where art is produced to completely transform into refined elegant galleries where the Art is routinely sold.
The recently completed façade restoration, returned the appearance of the façade above the ground level to closely match what it was originally, while largely preserving original historic materials. The image of the pre-existing conditions shows the façade as it was prior to the renovation, the stone stained grey, cluttered by the fire escape, with a secretive1930s stucco and glass block storefront, which completely obliterated the column. The only known historic photo shows the colonnade from the side, opening the possibility to the theory that there was no storefront at all, the limited being secured only by the rolling shutters whose original tracks could still be seen.
The limited documentation, far from being a negative, was used to support the application at Landmarks, rather than reconstructing a typical recessed wood and glass storefront with transoms and bulkheads, the proposal consists of more imaginative, minimalistic solution characterized by very transparent projecting niches that exhibit the art offering it to the city, while completely freeing the original columns, leaving them visible from both the exterior and the interior. The display windows become doors, since they open the school to the passerby.
The restored façade, completely transformed the way the Institution presents itself to the Community and the overall perception of what was called, during one of the LPC’s Hearings, the last “bleak block” in Tribeca.
The project demonstrates that Porticos and Storefronts, are more than thresholds: they are “in between” spaces, simultaneously the edge and the link, public and private, they convey the narrative of what they give access to and talk about the space beyond. The portico is essentially the school’s outdoor gallery and the interior cast classroom, it is also a stage, the official portrait background, the red-carpet entrance, the meeting place, the lunch lounge and the missing Quad. I t is the recognizable but also functional, element of the interior art gallery beyond. The public space and the private institution, the exterior and the interiors flow one into the other.
The museum-like vitrines extend within the columns onto the stepped platform, physically augmenting the usable gallery space. The niches housing the casts create an impromptu classroom on the interior and invite the passersby to explore the art being produced inside. The beautiful minimal detailing shapes the visitor’s experience while accommodating the gallery needs of display.
The storefront design, part “reverse intervention”, part new reinterpretation of the historic cast-iron portico, completed the transformation of the NYAA from specialized trade school to a global institution and a visible participant in the Community and ignited the development of the Tribeca Art District.
The Franklin Street loft building is a rare case of "reverse" reuse, one that brought the historic significance of the building back to its original use. The Academy, similarly to the Judd Foundation in Soho, offers the chance to visit the last single user loft building in Tribeca, whose historic significance is amplified by the fact that it is in essence used for light manufacturing, purpose for which these buildings were originally built.
The studio’s numerous projects in Downtown Manhattan have all played a spin off role in reinvigorating their respective neighborhoods and all have given back with overarching citywide importance, each intervention adding to a catalytic reaction at urban scale.
Recognition:
AIA Tristate Merit Award 2024
AIA NY Interiors Committee 2025 Speed Presentation
Case Studies in Preservation and Adaptive Reuse for Academic Buildings - 11.18.2019 CFA
AIA New York, TRA Studio Restores NYAA’s Façade, by Linda G. Miller, March 22 2017
AIA Tri-state conference 2024 Merit Award
TIMELINE OF THE ADAPTIVE REUSE AND RESTORATION PROJECT OF 111 FRANKLIN STREET:
2002: Loft Building Reconstruction, following the fire which destroyed 50% of the interiors, 42,000 Sq ft
2010: Master Plan and Phasing
2010: Phase 1: Library Annex, Galleries, and Fifth Floor renovation
2011: Phase 2, Vertical Circulation, Second Floor studios, Garden Level Sculpture Department, Kiln and Workshops
2012: Phase 3, New Elevator, Restrooms
2013: Phase 4, Infrastructure Upgrade, new Storefront design
2014: Phase 5, H.C. access,
2017: Phase 6, new West Egress Stair
2020: Façade Restoration and New Storefront Reconstruction
Team:
Structural Engineer: Wexler Associates
MEP Engineer: Jack Green and Associates