The Suffolk Gallery Bench

• Prize
  Winner in Bench
• Company/Firm
  JG Neukomm Architecture
• Designer
  Matthew Gray, JG Neukomm
• Other Credit
  Fabricator: DCM fabrication
• Photo Credit
  JG Neukomm, Scott Frances Photography
• Location
  55 Suffolk St. New York, NY 10002
• Project Date
  July 2023
• Client
  Gotham Organization
• Web URL
  view

JG Neukomm Architecture designed The Suffolk, a new 30-story residential building located in the Lower East Side, or LES, of Manhattan. It is in this project, borne from the social and cultural richness of its surroundings, that the Suffolk Gallery Bench is found. Our approach to the design of the bench recalls the complexity and layering that drove design decisions throughout, from the program of the lobby and gallery to its custom interior design elements. The disconnect between its sections and the intentional lack of alignment echoes the dynamic juxtapositions found within the LES, while the patinated bronze surface engages with and at the same time stands out against the textured, monochromatic walls. An abstraction of the typical city park bench, the piece eludes definition referencing both the human and architectural scales. This sensibility is derived from an investment in creating a residential building that is a vibrant modern and engaged space connected to its urban environment. As with the lobby, the bench is an integral component that tells the story of encountering difference and layering together a design that is deliberately, and joyfully, disjointed.