The condo conversion at 371 Madison Street might be the wackiest one in Manhattan. Developer Thomas Sung and broker Michael Bolla worked together to turn the former P.S. 12 building into 110 apartments with low ceilings and "modest" kitchen finishes?and over-the-top amenities like a juice bar with room service, 24-hour vegetarian organic room service, organic laundry, nutritional therapy, and cranial sacral therapy. Just to add a little more wackiness to the mix, the building is now also home to a showhouse. The folks at BOFFO brought in more than 100 artists and designers (the full list is here) to redesign four of the building's apartments. The general idea, according to BOFFO reps, was to turn the apartments into "a cutting-edge experiment in living." Which does kinda fit with the building's overall approach.
A press release from the BOFFO folks gives the flavor of the showhouse:
"Upon entering the BOFFO Show House, visitors will be transformed from the exterior world by passing through an immersive interactive lighting installation...In the Nature room, visitors enter an enchanted forest of hanging trees, a unique installation by Ovando floral design & event production, coupled with mind bending photographic landscape images." Our favorite might be this description of the "Play" apartment:
The Play apartment opens up with colorful Pox balls by LMNOQ extruding from the walls and a rubber band stairwell installation by Margarita Mileva....Ben Jones ladders (Johnson Trading Gallery) from his Deitch Projects exhibition rest against the side and Um Project nesting tables snake around the edge meeting with Harry Allen’s Shed (Matter) which looks like a chic cedar outhouse. Upstairs visitors will find a teenager’s punk bedroom with a Ben Venom heavy metal t-shirt bed spread, Kirk Van Wormer anime murals and a BOFFO Show House highlight: an eerie Victorian doll house by internationally renowned architecture firm Snøhetta. · Official website: The Madison Jackson [madison-jackson.com]
· Official website: BOFFO [Boffo-ny.org]
· Five Worrying Things About Crazy New Condos on Madison [Curbed]