Chelsea Pied-à-Terre by Michael Rubin Architects

A small apartment can often be made to feel larger by continuing a theme throughout. That certainly goes for this pied-à-terre in Chelsea, with aqua-colored louvers and cabinetry uniting the entire apartment:

The repetition of the colorful ceiling fins in the otherwise white space create a rhythm that makes the space feel like it stretches on. That's helped by mirrors and generous windows that really open things up.

Visit World Architecture and Michael Rubin Architects to see more of the small apartment.

Images: World Architecture

Comments (21)

Great space, I love the ceiling treatments and great use of colors!

The mirrors do a great job making the space look bigger. I think having the colored ceiling treatments reflected in the mirrors really help verses just a white ceiling.

That looks HUGE!
Wow!

Good use of optical illusions!

It might just be the mirrors tricking me, but calling this a 'pied-a-terre' makes me realize the true scope of the class/wealth division in NYC. I think it could have easily been labeled 'amazing huge alcove studio' by the architects and I'd have felt less put in my proper [income-bracket] place - i.e. reiterating this space is only used part time. I'll admit it - I am suffering from real estate envy.

Love the bedframe! Where it comes from?

Wow! Very different in a nice way.

Is there a kitchen? From the floor plans it looks like "no", and there doesn't seem to be a refrigerator either. Is the kitchen on another floor?

I never really believed that mirrors made a space look larger until I saw those photos.

"Is there a kitchen?"

Lower LH Corner of the floorplan - and behind the blue counter seen in pic #2
They likely installed an undercounter fridge - a full-sized fridge being unnecessary for an apartment that isn't lived in full-time.

I think I just fell in love.

The apartment looks so much bigger than I expected, and THAT VIEW!!!

@home body - You're not the only one suffering from real estate envy. ;-)

Looks like an airport lounge. A nice one with a bed but not homey at all.

beautious!

the bedframe, which i love, is the Legnoletto bed made by Alias. at one time this was sold by DWR and Moss, but not sure about where it's sold nowadays.

So beautiful, I am speechless!

Lovely. Very beach cottage in the city.

I don't think this works at all, largely because of the two big elements of those ceiling fins and the two facing mirrors. The ceiling fins just tip the whole thing into "too much blue" and so make it look chilly, and also make the space look narrower than it is. Especially when they are repeated infinitely in the mirrors at both ends of the space. I really dislike mirrors facing each other for this very "infinity" reason. And in this case the combination of the fins and the mirrors make the place look like a corridor which would, as patfm pointed out, look right at home in an airport (a stylish airport, admittedly).

I think without the fins (or without them painted blue) and with a mirror at only one end of the room this would have worked much better. I do like the shade of blue, but I think with the fins there is just too much of it.

I like the simplicity of the space but I really, truly dislike the TV mounted near the windows. Really? You're going to ruin a view like that with a big plasma screen jutting out? In my opinion that just adds to the "airport" feel...like CNN should be on all the time with the captions at the bottom of the screen for people passing by.

That view is really the selling point. It's the reason people live in Manhattan.

Just gorgeous. I love the ceiling.

I love it! Except for the TV...maybe it would have been better to have it on a cart that they could roll out to the middle of the room when needed. That's what we do b/c we live in a house that was designed before TVs were so ubiquitous.

I agree with the too much blue. Blue kitchen. Blue living room and blue ceilings. Its overwhelming. I do like the way it takes on a smokier tone at night.