The CurbedWire Inbox exploded yesterday with reports of giant metal flowers being lifted to the roof of 305 West 16th Street. Dark Lord Chelsea likes flowers? It was a surprise to us, so we headed over to the building to get the details (our photos and installation shots from the sales team in the gallery above). The sculpture is called "Perhaps," which is fitting given the building's uncertain history, and it recently made its way to 16th Street from the West Coast base of artist Rob Buchholz.
How that happened: developer and art enthusiast Harlan Berger saw Buchholz's work at the 2006 Burning Man Festival just when the building's skeleton was going up. Because it's visible from the street at the Chelsea/MePa intersection, Berger says he thought the sculpture, which was designed by the artist to represent his family and is equipped with spotlights, had the potential to be "ultimately iconic" for the neighborhood. Now, he also says he sees it as a symbol of the city coming out of the recession. To which we can only say: perhaps!
If the flowers seem oddly cheery for the Chelsea Death Star, well, the building's in a celebratory mood. The offering plan might be approved as soon as today, Berger told us, and the project could go on the market as soon as two days from now. Model units should open up within the next two weeks. And given that the statue's installation was filmed, we might even?spoiler alert!?be seeing the building on Selling New York sometime soon. It all seems like a rapid transformation, but hey, so was Darth Vader's.
· Chelsea Death Star Adds Not-Menacing-at-All Metal Flower Garden [Curbed]
· 305 West 16th Street coverage [Curbed]
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