Alexandra Christmansson
Handledare/
Ulrika Karlsson, Cecilia LundbäckSupervisor
Examinator/ Per Franson Examiner
No Standard, New York
no stndrd, new york
a creative incubator for global nomads
The Standard Hotel, reimagined and transformed into a vibrant, dynamic hub for global nomads who value transience over permanence. Repurposed to inspire the cross-pollination of ideas, it serves as a temporary home for those in a perpetual state of transition.
Designed to generate serendipitous interactions, it exists to connect people of different social classes and histories.
Unified within the walls of the No Standard, if only for a brief moment..
graduate: supervised by:
Alexandra Christmansson Ulrika Karlsson studio 5 Cecilia Lundbäck
the transformed no stndrd the existing standard hotel the meatpacking district, manhattan, new york
meatpacking district, manhattan, new york
grid: rem koolhaas
rem koolhaas /delirious new york/p. 20:
”the grid is, above all, a conceptual speculation.
In spite of its apparent neutrality, it implies an intellectual program for the island: in its indifference to topography, to what exists, it claims the superiority over reality.”
manhattan grid
12 avenues 155 streets
13x156 = 2 028 blocks
the existing standard hotel
”The Standard Hotel,
when it existed, was notorious.
It was the epicenter of the divide in the world, the people who were inside, and the people who were outside, looking in.
The Standard Hotel was not for everybody.
It was exclusive. You could see through the transparent glass facade, barely getting a
the story of no stndrd
“New York, the city of immigrants.
One of the most diverse and populous cities in the world. I had finally reached my destination. The Statue of Liberty reminded me of New York as the original Sanctuary City, promising shelter for immigrants.
A hub of creativity, finance and inventions.
New York, a place I wished to be part of.
My home for the next couple of months was the No Standard in the Meatpacking District, New York. There was something strange about the No Standard...
You could see traces of an old structure,
no stndrd from the high line
no stndrd from street level
“I started to stroll down to the
meatpacking market on ground level for my morning coffee. There were always new things tested out in the lab bar.
One morning, Paul, one of the other residents, asked me to taste his new
“fennel matcha latte”. It tasted horrible.
He asked if I wanted to try the new beer from the micro-brewery, but I thought I had enough taste adventure for one day.
I told him I would meet him there again tomorrow.”
view from street level (looking into the brewery)
view from lab bar
view from kitchen lab/ brewery
“I wondered about the name, No Standard. Because life inside the No Standard was anything but standard.
It was a dynamic, vibrant place to be.
Life here seemed to go on in a continuous sequence;
people working, living, testing new ideas, or hanging out together in the lounges, restaurant, workshop kitchen or lab bar. I had rented one of the cheaper hotel rooms, but quickly discovered there were also studio and roomie apartments.
My favorite place quickly became one of the garden lounges, giving some momentary relief to the wonderful,
but exhausting experience to be a newborn New Yorker.”
rendered facade of no stndrd
The longer I stayed, the more I realised there was an incredible cross-pollination of people of all ages and histories, inhabiting the different spaces together.
The No Standard seemed to combine two atmospheres: an innovative, optimistic chaos, and at the same time the feeling of a big, open-minded family.
It was home for all of us, if only transitory.
But we were unified within the walls of No Standard, if only for a brief moment.
view from staircase restaurant (looking south)
view from kitchen workshop (looking west) view from staircase restaurant (looking north-west)
process .
existing standard method 1 method 2 method 3 method 4
method 1: breaking up scale
method 3: linear dissolvement
method 2: distorting the orthogonal
method 4: non-linear dissolvement
1.
1.
3.
2.
hotel room apt transformed
repurposed 1. existing standard rooms
studio apt 1/2 bdrm
roomie apt 2/4 bdrm 2. existing deluxe king rooms
3. existing deluxe queen rooms
1. transformation from existing hotel rooms into living spaces
process .
1. hotel room module
2. studio apt module
3. roomie apt module
office S
office M
office L added space
2. transformation from living modules to co-working spaces
1.
2.
3.
process .
program .
ground floor:
coffee & spirits lab > drink lab
food market > meatpacking market public spaces:
elevator encounter > elevator bar shared cooking > kitchen workshop staircase spotting > staircase restaurant gathering spaces > lounges
working:
small meetings > S small workspace > M co-work space > L living:
compact, efficient > hotel room apt workspace > studio apt shared living > roomie apt hotel room
office S studio apt office M roomie apt office L
public spaces
private > social/ public
apts > office space > meatpacking market rooms lounges lab bar
kitchen workshop staircase restaurant elevator bar
roof garden
> deviate logic
diagram: movement diagram: program
program .
cross section: program cross section: movement
drawings .
plan 01: connecting to the high lineplan 00: meatpacking market & lab
drawings .
plan 23: living and working
plan 14: living and working
plan 06: staircase restaurant
plan 03: kitchen workshop
drawings .
section aa: life inside no stndrd
model photos .
site plan of the existing standard hotel