Phillips Announces Massive New Manhattan Headquarters
Boasting the first-ever auction room that is visible from the street.
Phillips recently served up new images of its forthcoming headquarters in New York City. Situated at 432 Park Avenue, the corner establishment boasts 35,000 square feet complete with gallery spaces and a grand auction room designed by studioMDA.
“The two key factors for the design concept were driven by maximising visual transparency and creating a high degree of flexibility,” said studioMDA’s founder Markus Dochantschi to Wallpaper. “The answer lay in removing a floor to allow views from street level down into a sunken mezzanine, leading on to a subterranean auction room.”
Instead of following conventional design cues, the architecture firm opted for a more experiential approach that marries functionality with viewers’ experience. Phillips’ forthcoming space will also host the first auction room that will be visible from the street. For the auction house’s HQ, Dochantschi referred to the firm’s designs consisting of over 250 art fair booths, multiple galleries and museums.
“By removing the most valuable floor area on the ground level at the corner of 56th Street and Park Avenue, we visually connected the large auction room to the public pedestrian level. We also took the 35,000 sq ft of exhibition space and subdivided it into three main zones, each featuring well-proportioned gallery spaces that can be further subdivided as needed,” added Dochantschi.
Check out renders for Phillips’ forthcoming HQ in NYC above and then let us know your thoughts below. Elsewhere in art, Christie’s is set to host a second Trespassing sale featuring works by acclaimed street artist, Invader.
