DESCRIPTION OF I-BEAM DESIGN
I-Beam Design, founded by Azin Valy and Suzan Wines, is an award winning New York based architecture and design firm. Their key personnel have a broad range of design and construction experience including corporate, commercial, cultural, landscape and residential projects located primarily in NYC. A proposal by I-Beam Design won the International Open Competition for the redesign of Lt. Petrosino Park in Lower Manhattan as well as an award for the International Competition for Temporary Refugee Shelters in Kosovo that was recently featured at Prince Charles’ Royal Gardens for an exhibition on sustainability that was sponsored by IBM and The Financial Times in London along with The Earth Awards. Their projects have been published in numerous newspapers and architecture magazines and have received much praise for their sensitive yet highly innovative solutions to the design.
Personal attention by the partners and their team to each project is assured through their active participation in all phases of research, site analysis, space planning, schematic design, design development, construction documents, specifications, and construction.
Ms. Wines and Ms. Valy both attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture on full scholarships and graduated in 1990. Suzan Wines is now teaching in the Architecture School of The City College of New York, is licensed in New York State and writes regularly for the Italian Art and Architecture magazine, Domus. Ms. Valy is a guest critic at Parsons, Pratt, Columbia and City College.
This 2200 square foot apartment renovation, in the Upper East Side,
was designed to accommodate the clients' modern design sensibilities
and combine their work environment with their home. The apartment is
located in the Sovereign Building on East 58th street, and was
originally conceived as a 2-bedroom apartment with a maid's room,
which was clearly defined as individual rooms.
The renovation attempted to open up the space from the existing
traditional apartment to a contemporary open loft space, allowing
more view and light to filter through. The prime objective was to
maximize storage space and to minimize maintenance due to the
presence of the client's dog. To protect the existing Eileen Grey
sofa and all the new built-in furniture from the dog, an extensive
amount of black leather was used for its durability. To offset the
black, "de Stijl primary colors" were used in order to create a more
playful environment. This was achieved by creating a band of birch
cabinetry, toped with yellow Fincolor plywood with exposed dark
stained edge that ribbon through out the apartment. It starts from
one end as the office, and moves thru dining area to the other end as
the living room. The living space remains free of walls, using custom
built architectural events to define the spatial character and use of
each area rather than partitions. These playful elements satisfy
multiple functional needs simultaneously.
The yellow surface changes height as it meanders through the
apartment functioning as the client's desk top in the office, counter
top with storage underneath, built-in sofa in the living area, book
shelf above the stereo system and office, sink counter in the powder
room, and built-in seating in the kitchen.
