THE WOMEN’S BUILDING

Location: New York, USA

Design Director: Raya Ani

Company Name: RAW-NYC Architects

Category: Architecture

Year: 2016

RAW-NYC  was  shortlisted  from  a  list  of  forty  seven women  architects  to  participate  in  a  design  competition  for  a  new  cultural  organization  in  New  York  City,  the  Women’s  Building.  Situated  in  a  historic  building  designed  by  Shreve,  Lamb  and  Harmon,  the  architects  of  the  Empire  State  Building,  the  Women’s  Building,  once  used  as  a  women’s  prison,  will  be  a  new  public  place  for  a  mission-driven  program  to  empower  women  and  girls.   

The  main  focus  of the design was  opening  up  the  building  to  new  uses  and  new  spatial  experiences  to  serve  women  in  different  ways.  We  envisioned  welcoming  women  at  a  new  street-level  public  space with green  landscape to compliment the urban context  and to enhance their  experience  of  arrival.

RAW-NYC  created  a  new  spatial  sequence  which  allows  women  to  ascend  from  the  street  level  through  the  new  "vertical  neighborhood"  in  open  spaces called  the "volumes  of  light",  or lenses,  carved  out  of  the  existing  building  structure.  This  sequence  both  mirrors  and  enables the  growth  and  liberation  that  women  can  achieve.  Each  of  the  lenses,  with  its  own  character  and  color,  will  provide  orientation  and  “front  doors”  to  shared  resources  and  individual  programs.  Additionally,  they  form  part  of  an  unfolding  of  spaces  which  brings  light  in  from  above  and  opens  up  the  building  spatially.    Respecting  the  historic  character  of  the  original  building and overcoming the building’s limitations was a primary goal of the design.  However,  we were able to transcend these limitations and ultimately transform the space into something more meaningful and special.