Architecture rarely titillates, but the Standard Hotel in downtown New York is not your average building. Its glass facade straddles the High Line, Manhattan’s eminently Instagrammable elevated park, giving park goers a direct view into the rooms. Courageous guests are known for leaving their curtains open and putting on a show.
The design for the Standard began as all of Ennead Architects’ designs do: in response to a provocative question. In that case, the architects asked, “Can a hotel galvanize an entire neighborhood?” The answer, it turned out, was yes (and then some).
This approach has helped Ennead, formerly Polshek Partnership, find fresh solutions to vexing urban design challenges, from wastewater treatment to refugee housing. During the Fast Company Innovation Festival this week, the firm shared examples from its own portfolio, then led a workshop urging participants to ask big questions about some of New York’s most intractable problems. “It’s not so much about asking the right questions, it’s about asking good questions,” partner Don Weinreich said. “It helps you turn some stubborn entrenched problems on their head.”